A week later, Roland officially launched the steel bridge construction project.
"You mean, let me raise two pieces of land in the middle of the river to use as footholds for the bridge piers?" Lian looked at the rolling river and asked in surprise, "Are you planning to build a real bridge instead of a pontoon bridge? Connect the two ends of the river bank?"
"Well," Roland spread out the paper roll in his hand, "Considering the impact of the river water, the two pieces of land need to have a certain volume, and in order to slow down the impact, they need to be processed like this."
"This is... what a ship looks like," Lian looked back at the drawing.
"Yes, it is a spindle type to be precise," he nodded. "As long as it is parallel to the direction of the water flow, its front side will suffer the least impact. The question is, the Chishui River is nearly ten meters deep, can you make the bottom of the river rise? ?"
"It's not difficult to do, Your Highness," Lian replied simply, "Leave it to me."
To be on the safe side, the ship responsible for carrying the witch was the Township. The large concrete hull was flat on the river, the helmsman was still Lightning, and the sail was powered by Wendy.
However, in the past week, the latter would look away slightly when he saw the prince, looking a little uncomfortable. It was not until today that Roland saw her raise her head, looking directly at him as usual, and when passing by on board, he heard a soft "thank you" from the other side.
"You have to credit me for this credit," Nightingale in the mist whispered in his ear.
The Township quickly left the pier and headed towards the middle of the wide river. Carter had already pulled up the hemp ropes on both sides of the river, and the two red cloth belts attached to it were where the piers were expected to be erected. After the cement ship reached the first point, Lian stood on the edge of the ship and started to use her abilities.
I saw that the river surface suddenly seemed to be boiling, surging upwards one after another, forming a "mountain pack". After a while, gravel, grass roots and silt emerged from the surging river, and the water gradually became cloudy.
It turns out that, Roland thought, her ability can not only transform solid ground, but also water, and it is easier to raise the water surface than loose gravel. Although the rising river water immediately rolled around, but the riverbed has been lifted little by little.
It didn't take long for a mass of blue-grey soil to surface, looking very soft and exuding an unpleasant stench, and everyone couldn't help covering their noses.
However, in Roland's eyes, these are all good fertilizers. For hundreds of years, the bones of fish and other aquatic creatures, aquatic plants, and the feces of residents have been deposited in the soil little by little. If it weren't for the inconvenience of transportation, he would rather use the soil to fertilize the fields. Unfortunately, now it can only be shoveled away manually and thrown directly into the river.
In this way, he cleaned one layer and raised a section, and he finally saw the solid yellow-brown soil. The next step was to repeat the process until the two pieces of land were all trimmed into shape.
Roland expects this process to last at least a week, but just lifting the land out of the water means that it can be used directly. The flowing river water will continue to take away the sand and sand. Without protection, even the spindle-shaped land will not last. Over ten years.
He called Karl Vanbert to his side, took out a charcoal pen, and told how to cure the ground next while drawing.
"What do you mean, dig grooves on the edge of these fields and pour in cement?" the current Minister of Construction asked, gesturing at the drawings.
After all, being an outstanding member of the Royal Capital Masons Association, Roland thought with satisfaction that he just reminded him a few words, and he immediately understood his intentions.
"Yes, the length of each section should not exceed five meters, and the depth should be controlled at about one meter. After filling the cement, let the witch lower the groove by one meter. Repeat this to form a cement wall that goes straight into the bottom of the river bed. "This plan came up after Roland saw Lian's ability. Since she can control the ground to descend, she must be able to bring the structures built on the ground into the ground.
"Your idea is so ingenious," Carl's eyes lit up, "so that even if the river water washes away the soil on the outside, it will be blocked by the tightly wrapped wall."
Roland nodded and said, "The key point is to control the overall height of the sinking. If it is less, the bottom will not be tightly wrapped. If it is too much, it will waste cement and delay the construction period. You are responsible for controlling this."
"Yes, Your Highness," he replied, "Including the silt and soft soil dug up, I estimate that the entire height should be around twelve meters."
"In addition, after the cement walls are built around, the land in the middle should not be covered with cement. In the future, I will plant flowers and grass on it." The prince urged.
"Planting... flowers?" Carl was stunned.
After all, these walls cannot be watertight, and if they are constructed in sections, there will be uniform gaps on the walls. If you want to further stabilize the soil, the easiest way is to plant grass, which can balance soil moisture and reduce soil erosion, especially the super-long root weeds after the leaves have been magically modified, which can ensure that the soil is firmly consolidated together.
After briefly explaining the soil conservation function of plants, Roland turned to look at the busy workers on the river bank, "How is the construction of the approach bridge now?"
"Cement and gravel roads are being laid," Carr reported without thinking. "It should be finished this week."
According to the plan, the approach bridges on both sides of the river are made of rubble cement, just like the western city wall. As long as the positioning and measurement work is done, the construction itself is not difficult. The bridge deck ramp has been raised by seven meters relative to the ground. It is connected to the city street through a long and gentle slope with an arc. In addition to the height difference between the river embankment and the water surface, when the iron bridge is completed, it should be able to form ten to ten The clear height of two meters is basically enough for river sails.
At present, only one span of the main bridge has been completed, and the main frame is being tested on the shore. Since the span is not large and the load is extremely low, even if Roland knows nothing about bridge engineering, he is not worried about its reliability at all. In the age of eight rounds without overloading, the I-beam with a height of 30 centimeters is a stable guarantee. Even if it is crowded with people, it is impossible to break the steel beam. What's more, from processing to assembly and welding, Anna did it all by herself, and the probability of bean curd slag engineering is extremely low.
Similarly, its installation is also very simple. After the three-span main bridge is fully prefabricated, Hummingbird will directly lighten it, and then hand it over to Lightning to hoist it in place.
When this steel bridge, which can allow two four-wheeled carriages to pass side by side, stands on the Chishui River, the north and south banks are truly connected as a whole.
"Even the greatest masons would have a hard time imagining such a magnificent bridge," Karl sighed, looking at the sparkling lake, "Your Highness, does this bridge of steel have a name?"
Roland thought for a while, "Let's call it Chishuiqiao." (., Your support is my biggest motivation.)