Chapter 29: Water and Electricity (Part 2)
He didn’t have a particularly strong impression of Zhuo Tianmin. He vaguely remembered that the man had a son and had once gone to Xiao Zishan for a note to get an egg from Wu Nanhai—eggs were a precious commodity, with only three or four produced a day, reserved mostly for the sick.
Zhuo Tianmin, in his mid-thirties, was covered in stone powder and mud. He pointed at the newly built pressure pool, his gaze fixed on the flawed construction. “…according to the design, the bottom of the intake chamber should be higher than the bottom of the forebay. But they’re at the same height.”
The engineering team members stood in a silent circle. Mei Wan, impatient, snapped, “It’s a few centimeters. What’s the big deal? If we followed the design drawings for everything, this would be a shoddy project.”
“That was a compromise due to a lack of materials,” Zhuo Tianmin shot back, his anger rising. “We didn’t skimp on cement, stone, or sand for this pool. Why wasn’t it built according to the drawings?”
“The team isn’t familiar with the drawings,” Bing Feng offered, trying to smooth things over. “They didn’t pay attention…”
“That’s even worse. The workers are novices, not professionals. The responsibility isn’t on them. But we, we make our living from engineering and construction. Are we proud of such a low-level mistake?” A murmur went through the crowd.
The faces of the professional staff flushed with shame. Mei Wan, unable to refute the charge, finally said, “What do you suggest?”
“Tear it down and rebuild it according to the drawings.”
“That would waste materials and delay the project!” Mei Wan protested. “Besides, you’re not a hydropower specialist. Do you even know why the front and back of the pool are at different heights? The drawings aren’t always right.”
“I don’t know,” Zhuo Tianmin admitted. “And that’s precisely why we can’t afford to be vague about the drawings.”
Just then, someone spotted Wang Luobin. “Committee Member Wang is here!”
Zhuo Tianmin, hearing the name, turned and saw Wang Luobin standing in the crowd. He gave a polite nod and fell silent.
“Engineer Zhuo, please continue.”
“I’ve said all I have to say,” Zhuo Tianmin said coolly. “I know nothing about hydropower construction. Committee Member Wang, you decide.” He wanted to see what this executive committee member was made of. All eyes turned to Wang Luobin.
Wang Luobin walked around the pool, measuring the depth with a rod. He then turned to Zhuo Tianmin. “Engineer Zhuo, what do you think we should do?”
“Not building according to the drawings is a quality issue,” Zhuo Tianmin said. “We can muddle through, but I fear there will be problems down the road.”
Wang Luobin then turned to Mei Wan. “And you?”
“It’s different from the drawings, yes,” Mei Wan said. “But we’re short on materials and on a tight deadline. I think we can make do. We can fix it later, when we have the resources.”
Some of the construction team members nodded in agreement.
Wang Luobin nodded. “Reworking it will waste cement and steel, and it will delay the power generation. But this is a matter we cannot compromise on.”
He pointed to the pool. “The forebay must be wider and deeper than the channel, so the water slows down and the sediment settles. That’s the first step. The bottom of the intake chamber must be higher than the bottom of the forebay to prevent that sediment from entering the pressure pipe. This is essential for the safe operation of the turbine.”
Mei Wan realized he had once again misjudged the Executive Committee. The highway project had led him to believe that speed was their only concern. He had prioritized progress above all else. He saw the construction team staring at him and waved a hand in annoyance.
“Stop staring! Tear down the flawed sections and start over!”
The team jumped into the pool and began to break apart the concrete with eight-pound hammers. Wang Luobin watched, a pang of regret in his heart. He didn’t know when they would be able to produce their own cement. The long-range reconnaissance team, sent out to find resources, had been gone for nearly a week.
Zhuo Tianmin stood aside, watching Wang Luobin with a new understanding. His impression of the executive committee members had been one of amiable, slick politicians. Xiao Zishan was a prime example, a man who never said an unpleasant word but whose true position was always shrouded in ambiguity. He admired such men, but he also looked down on them, seeing their skills as a means of survival for those with no real profession.
He knew that by speaking out, he had made an enemy of Mei Wan. But he didn’t care. He had come to this new world to escape the hypocrisy and emptiness of his old life. If he had to continue playing the same games here, what was the point?
The wind picked up, and the sky grew dark. Rain was coming. The reworked sections were torn down, and Mei Wan, his face grim, reorganized his men to rush the repairs. The concrete had to be poured before the rain began. Wang Luobin pitched in, helping to clear the debris. As he worked, he thought of what Wen Zong had told him in private: the affairs of the group were not as simple as they seemed. The cracks within the construction team were already beginning to show.
After the concrete was re-poured, the turbine was installed. It was a delicate operation, requiring precise leveling. A steam crane was brought in, and after a long afternoon, the turbine was finally in place. Lacking bricks and tiles, they built a temporary shed over the generator room.
The team worked through a light rain, cleaning up the construction site and installing the diversion channel gate. Finally, they removed the last of the earth and stone from the water intake. The wooden gate held, the water did not rush in. Now, they had only to wait for the concrete to dry.
The small hydropower station, with a water head of 20 meters and a flow of two cubic meters per second, would provide 200KW of electricity for the base. The long-term plan was to expand to a 1000KW capacity with five units.
With two generators now in operation, the simple power supply system had to be upgraded. Chang Kaishen planned a new power grid, using 110 kV high-voltage transmission, with industrial and civil power at 380 and 220 volts, respectively.
For safety, Mei Wan had wanted to install the transmission lines underground, but they lacked the necessary corrosion-resistant conduits. They settled for overhead lines. The distance from the hydropower area to the main urban area was only 100 meters, and the line was completely within sight. If necessary, the two areas could be connected by a city wall.
With electricity came the next project: the water supply system. The Wenlan River was polluted with waste from the upstream county town, resulting in high organic matter content and a proliferation of algae. Simple sedimentation and disinfection would not be enough. The algae imparted an unpleasant smell that even chlorine could not mask.
Tian Jiujiu, a water supply and drainage specialist, proposed a percolation intake system. The river water would first filter through the soil on the riverbank before entering the reservoir, a natural filtration process that would require little additional treatment.
The simplest solution was a percolation well, but given the large population and the high water consumption of modern life, Tian Jiujiu opted for a more complex percolation gallery system.
A trench was dug parallel to the river, 15 meters from the bank and one meter below the lowest water level. The trench was filled with layers of sand, gravel, and crushed stone, forming a filter bed. A perforated collection pipe, made of a loose, porous concrete, was buried in the middle of the filter bed. The joints were left unsealed, allowing groundwater to seep in. The entire trench was then covered with a layer of soil.
At the northern end of the trench, at the lowest point of the terrain, a clear water well was built. The filtered water would collect here to settle. A reinforced concrete cover was made for the well, and an ozone generator was installed outside the water tower to sterilize the water. Ozone was as effective as chlorine but required no complex electrolysis device and was less harmful to the human body.
To protect against typhoons, the elevated water tank, salvaged from a ship, was firmly anchored to the ground with thick ship cables. The main water pipeline to the urban area was made of PVC and was temporarily buried in a shallow trench, pending the construction of a large-scale underground municipal culvert system.