An undated photo shows Zhao climbing up a rope ladder during a task in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province. (Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn)
Some of the team members put on airtight protective clothing, which weighs about two kilograms, and safety belt, and climb up the tower, while the rest stay on the ground as back up.
On the top of the tower, climbers catch a breath and prepare to send one of them to the trouble spot of the cable. The dispatched worker will either take a ride on a pulley cable vehicle or walk on a cable with hands holding on two other cables, just like wire-walking, to reach the spot.
"An ordinary person may quit halfway before reaching the trouble spot because he will run out strength or due to fear of height," said Zhao, adding that the whole process sometimes takes hours depending on the height of the tower.
But the dispatched worker will work on the cables for several hours without eating, sometimes even without drinking, and fix faults on the dangerous metal cable or other heavy equipment even if he is already tired. It usually takes workers half a day, although for some difficult problems it could take up to seven hours, to finish a task.
The work gets harder in the summer and winter, scorching heat makes workers sweat in the airtight clothing, while freezing cold stiffens their hands thus making the work more difficulty which in turn means they have to stay there for longer hours.
Though tough as the task is, one mistake can cost a life. Zhao said that he is unable to sleep before the day of task. "All the details keep running through my mind like a roll of film, and I have to take all scenarios into consideration and constantly make improvements."
