After inspecting the inside of the Dragon head (Son Tra District side), the Da Nang Bridge and Road Enterprise revealed the structure of the fire and water spray system placed neatly in the Dragon’s mouth. According to Engineer Tan Thinh, maintenance staff come every Friday afternoon to check the system’s components.
To access the Dragon’s head, staff lower a steel ladder about 10 meters long with one end fixed at the entrance, on the lower jaw of the Dragon’s head. One person works as a warning on the ground, while three other technical staff take turns climbing into the Dragon’s head to check the installed equipment.
The water sprinkler is placed above the fire sprinkler head, facing straight in front of the Dragon’s mouth. Checking the fire sprinkler system takes longer because it is a more complex device with slide rails, air valves, oil pumps, and ignition. The staff opens the cabinet to check the electrical wiring system, then the air compressor system, water pump, generator, water tank, and fire protection system.
Depending on whether abnormal signs are detected that require maintenance or repair, the inspection process can take from 30 minutes to several hours. Once the inspection is complete, the staff takes turns following the hooked ladder out of the Dragon’s head and gives it a test run.
Electrical systems, generators, compressed air systems, and DO oil tanks are checked every Friday afternoon.
To ensure a perfect water and fire spray performance on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, Mr. Thinh’s team leaves the scene after ensuring the system operates smoothly. Each performance night includes three rounds of fire spraying, with nine sprays in each round. Next is the water spraying performance with three rounds, four sprays each. Each performance night requires 45 liters of DO oil and 5m3 of water.
According to Mr. Thinh, the water gushing out from the Dragon’s head is tap water for daily use, so it is guaranteed to be clean and does not affect the skin if people and tourists come into contact with it. Engineer Nguyen Toan added that all spraying equipment is neatly placed inside the Dragon’s head and operates automatically. Although incidents rarely occur, there are several times when the system operates erratically, forcing engineers to be on duty to avoid interruption.
For example, one time when the Dragon’s head was breathing fire, there was a problem that caused engineers to have to ignite it manually. Or there was a time when the oil pipe burst due to high pressure, so it only sprayed water but couldn’t spray fire. The team had to use loudspeakers to notify people.
@thanhnien.vn
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Source: Vietnam Insider