Road paving veteran set to retire

Yuan Xueqiang, a worker from Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co who has worked on the construction of almost all the bridges and tunnels across the Huangpu River, will retire in about 100 days.

The Shanghai native has been doing the same job of paving roads for 40 years. He was part of the pioneering team of workers that was involved in building the city's highways and tunnels.

After graduating from the Shanghai Urban Construction Engineering School in 1978, Yuan was assigned to work for the city's road management department. That was when he became a road paving worker.

Over the past decades, Yuan and his team have worked on the construction of many of the city's largest bridges and repaired a major runway at Hongqiao International Airport.

Working conditions for a road paver are harsh, said Yuan. These workers have to work under the scorching sun for many hours and endure the fatigue that the heat induces. But this hardship has also made the workers more resilient in the face of new challenges.

Yuan said road paving is important as it affects the safety of drivers – bumps on a highway could cause accidents because cars are traveling at such high speeds.

He added that one of the most memorable projects he was involved in was the paving of the race track for the Formula 1 race in Shanghai. Because the track was managed by a German company, Yuan picked up English from his daughter so that he could communicate with the Germans on the technical problems he faced.

Yuan's team of road pavers even set a world record while doing their job, paving the 5.4-km race track in just five days.