Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 282 - 125: Infrastructure Meeting, Power Speaks! (Part 2)

"Plan C..." Hou Rui hadn’t finished speaking when someone in the audience raised a hand.

It was Lanni, the Deputy Minister of the Public Works Bureau, one of the few women in the venue.

"Minister Lan, please go ahead."

"Here’s the situation," Lanni stood up, "Regarding the light steel framework of Plan B, our Public Works Bureau conducted an overnight re-evaluation, and it is not feasible."

"We calculated that to build a light steel settlement to accommodate half a million people within two months, at least 80 heavy-duty piling machines are needed to ensure the laying of the underground pipeline network. But the Public Works Bureau currently has only 28 machines functioning, not even meeting half of the requirement."

Lanni continued, flipping through her file, "Moreover, it’s even worse that after the Stand-In Starfish ended, skilled workers who can lay the underground pipeline network have decreased by seventy percent due to death or departure. The remaining thirty percent can’t sustain the work even if they work nonstop unless we recruit workers from the migrants, but working on pipeline laying..."

Before she finished, a low commotion arose in the conference room.

Many people bowed their heads to review the documents in their hands, clearly not expecting the gap in machinery and manpower to be this large.

The machinery issue is manageable; pushing people to work without breaks can roughly ensure operations.

But the manpower gap is a real problem. Laying pipelines is arduous work, usually involving kneeling in the mud to connect pipes and struggling through sewage.

Previously, the ability to recruit workers relied entirely on Happiness City’s economic model. The job offered high income, allowing families to exchange for enough Nutrient Paste and stockpile supplies for the winter.

However, now, with hundreds of thousands, nearly a million migrants pouring in, the entire economic system of Happiness City needs a reshuffle.

Should Nutrient Paste be charged? How much?

Should accommodations be charged?

What can the money earned by migrants exchange for? What changes can it bring to their lives?

Without finalizing these top-level rules, there’s no way to execute the production model on the ground.

"Section Chief Hou, pardon my bluntness, it’s not that we are unwilling to cooperate with the Technology Faction’s plan; it’s that the real conditions simply don’t allow it. The light steel framework looks fast, but most of the outlined areas in the Outer City have sandy soil. Once rain soaks through, the foundation can’t hold. When winter comes, the freeze and thaw of the soil will cause houses to collapse. By then, don’t mention emergencies, far bigger mishaps might occur!"

"Alright, I will take note."

Hou Rui took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling slightly, and drew a heavy asterisk with his pen, marking out the gaps in machinery and manpower pointed out by the Public Works Bureau.

Different professions have their barriers. They can research technological iterations, but they know nothing about outside construction.

Since the Public Works Bureau has stated it like this, they have to find ways to solve the problem.

"Continue, there is still one Plan C, which adopts a masonry structure. Although the four large brick factories in the Industrial Zone have stopped production over the years, the kilns and brick molds are still there. After some maintenance, they should be able to restart."

"According to estimates based on the previous production capacity of the brick factories, each production line has a daily output of about 250,000 bricks. By compressing production capacity to the limit, it should reach 300,000 to 400,000. If all four brick factories are fully operational, they could theoretically gather enough materials for housing about 100,000 people in about a week. Has the Public Works Bureau verified this data?"

"Yes, verified, no issue at all. This is what I wanted to say: the brick arch with earth-covering seepage prevention structure is actually the best solution for now. By utilizing the natural load-bearing capacity of brick-built arch structures and combining it with an outer earth layer for waterproofing, we can completely eliminate dependence on cement and steel frames, which is extremely suitable for the current rainy weather."

Hou Rui pushed his glasses up, with a bit more hope in his gaze: "Explain in detail."

"Alright!"

Lanni swapped in the Public Works Bureau’s storage device, showing the prepared images.

Pointing with a laser pen to a cross-section, "First is the construction technique. The brick arch uses a dry stack method, not using concrete joints, relying entirely on the interlocking force between bricks. This way, rainwater at most moistens the brick surface, not affecting the stability of the structure. Light rain days are even better; we can use clay to make grout, rainwater helps the clay set faster, making the joints tighter."

"Next is the construction pace. The earth-covering process can completely wait until after the soil is slightly moist after rain. The soil’s stickiness is best at this time, less likely to crack once applied, and it can save steps for manual watering, meaning continuous rain is not an obstacle but can save us half the labor for maintenance."

"And then there’s the practicality."

Everyone’s eyes lit up, quietly listening to Lanni explain, "The earth-cover layer itself is a natural thermal and sound insulator, blocking cold wind in winter and heat in summer. Living in it is much more comfortable than in light steel houses, and the waterproof performance of such structures is actually better than ordinary masonry. Rainwater will flow along the slope of the earth-cover layer, not seeping into the arch top at all."

At this point, she changed her tone to a more earnest one: "The only shortcoming is the construction speed is indeed slow. Dry stacking brick arches requires skilled craftsmen to control the curvature and interlocking precision, unlike light steel which can rely on mechanical assembly lines. But as long as we can conduct proper training and standardize the arch template, we should be able to keep up with the schedule."

"Proper training?"

Sitting in the back, Zhao Kai, the head of the Bureau of Human Resources, suddenly shook his head, "Minister Lan, as far as I know, the construction of brick arches requires highly skilled craftsmen, right? I’ve seen in the data that a proficient arch craftsman can at most progress one or two meters of arch length a day. Do you think ’proper training’ is just a phrase?"

The Public Works Bureau only devises plans, but the actual implementation of training tasks will inevitably fall on the Bureau of Human Resources.

Modern construction has long been dominated by reinforced concrete, the "arch craftsman" trade has nearly lost its inheritance, with training costs higher than training a hundred ordinary construction workers.