2016年CRI Traffic Policeman in Hangzhou Praised for Saving Lives from an Impending Road Collapse

 

Li Weiqi, a 40-year-old auxiliary¹ traffic police officer from Hangzhou's West Lake detachment of the Traffic Management Bureau, said he noticed something weird² about the road surface of the intersection³ where he was on duty on April 21.

"When I walked by that spot, I noticed a crack emerging on the surface and then I took a further look. I found that the color of the road surface had become abnormally darker and grey compared to elsewhere, which should be black under normal circumstances."

Minor⁴ cracks on the road might have been ignored by most people, but Li immediately recognized the signs of potential danger and decided⁵ to raise the alarm.

He reported the situation via walkie-talkie to Ye Jianjiang, his work team leader.

"When he reported the case to me, I gave him instructions through my walkie-talkie, ordering him to segregate⁶ the vehicle flow and prevent the cars from entering that problematic area, since the heavy weight of a vehicle could easily cause serious collapse⁷ on the road."

Ye said he could also see something was very wrong with the cracked road surface.

"When I took a closer look into the crack, I saw some pebbles⁸ inside sliding to the bottom, just like a large amount of stones and sand sliding down from a hopper of a truck. The area of the hollow had also enlarged greatly."

The police then began to stop the traffic and direct all the passing cars to make a detour⁹ and not to pass over the road surface, which they then cordoned¹⁰ off with traffic cones¹¹.

Just 4 minutes after Li first noticed the crack, and took measures to control the traffic, the hole suddenly widened into a 20-square-meter-wide, 2-meter deep sinkhole big enough to swallow a couple of vehicles.

Thanks to Li's timely response and actions, nobody was injured.

The initial anger of drivers at being stopped by Li, turned to gratitude¹² towards the police officer for saving their lives.

The surveillance video was later uploaded by CNN on its official Facebook account, which received over 3.6 million clicks and about 20 thousand re-posts.

Many people on social media praised Li's heroic and fast actions, hailing him as a hero traffic policeman.

The city government of Hangzhou has also nominated the officer for a first-class public security award.

The cause of the road collapse turned out to be the construction of the city's metro¹³ line 2. Emergency repairs have been made and traffic in the area is now reportedly back to normal.

For CRI, I'm Xie Cheng.

1 auxiliary   

adj.辅助的，备用的

参考例句：

• I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
• The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 segregate   

adj.分离的，被隔离的；vt.使分离，使隔离

参考例句：

• We have to segregate for a few day.我们得分离一段日子。
• Some societies still segregate men and women.有的社会仍然将男女隔离。

7 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

8 pebbles   

[复数]鹅卵石； 沙砾； 卵石，小圆石( pebble的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet. 汽车道上的小石子在他脚底下喀嚓作响。
• Line the pots with pebbles to ensure good drainage. 在罐子里铺一层鹅卵石，以确保排水良好。

9 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。

10 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 cones   

n.（人眼）圆锥细胞；圆锥体( cone的名词复数 )；球果；圆锥形东西；（盛冰淇淋的）锥形蛋卷筒

参考例句：

• In the pines squirrels commonly chew off and drop entire cones. 松树上的松鼠通常咬掉和弄落整个球果。 来自辞典例句
• Many children would rather eat ice cream from cones than from dishes. 许多小孩喜欢吃蛋卷冰淇淋胜过盘装冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句

12 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

13 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。