工程社会学视角下的京张铁路建设

On Construction of Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway from the Perspective of Engineering Sociology

京张铁路是中国自主修建的第一条铁路。京张铁路的修建基于军事与商业双重需求,清廷获得的修建自主权是英俄双方对路权争执不下最后妥协的结果,其修建缘由体现了工程建设的社会需求性;铁路线路最终选择关沟一线而不是之后的“丰沙线”,以及“人”字形路线的采用,都是限于筑路经费、工期和技术水平的结果,这些选择体现了工程与技术的相互制约;在京张铁路建设团队中,詹天佑既是工程的决策者,也是工程的管理者与设计者,其他工程师作为工程的设计者、管理者及工程实现者,中标的当地工头则负责技术含量较低的具体施工工作,以上分工体现了工程实施主体的社会性。京张铁路的路线选择和工程建设,同时体现了工程实施过程中人与自然的关系,即人在改造自然的同时必须要顺应自然。这一工程体现了工程社会学的意蕴,是工程社会学和工程哲学研究的典型案例。

The Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway is the first railway independently built by China.Its construction was a dual requirement of the military and the commercial sector.There was a dispute over Right-Of-Way between British and Russian parties;however,they compromised and the Qing court obtained full autonomy over the construction.The construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway reflects the social demands of the project.Limited by road construction funding,construction period,and technical level,they selected the“Guangou Line”and adopted the herringbone line instead of the subsequent“Fengtai-Shacheng Line.”These choices reflect the mutual constraints of engineering and technology.Zhan Tianyou was not only a decision maker in the construction team of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway,but also a manager and a designer.Other engineers also assumed the roles of designer,manager,and project implementer.The local foreman who won the project bid was responsible for the less technological details.The construction work aptly reflects the social nature of project implementation.Route selection and project construction also reflect the relationship between man and nature,that is,man must conform to nature while also transforming it.The engineering of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway is the result of the coordination of human social needs with those of the natural environment.The Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway project perfectly embodies every aspect of engineering philosophy and is a typical case of engineering philosophy research.