Chapter 987 The house leaks and it rains all night
Time flies. It is already the third morning since Gao Zhendong and his team arrived at the rescue site. In other words, nearly 48 hours have passed since they started working.

"Leader, the pyrotechnic expert group reports that all blasting charges have been produced, and they have applied to install the charges." The secretary came to the leader on the main dam with an application.

The leader of Shuikou thought about it and gritted his teeth: "Install it, but the detonator cannot be installed. It must be temporarily placed at a safe distance!"

Before taking on the water conservancy work, he was once a famous general. Although he did not understand the latest technology of pyrotechnics, he was very familiar with explosive packs and knew how to ensure safety as much as possible.

He also knew that if he wanted it to be effective, he had to start installing it from now on. After all, there were so many gates, and the comrades had to pass through the bottom hole tunnel that ran through the bottom of the dam to reach the maintenance gate for installation. Although the maintenance gate was closed, there was probably some water behind the gate. These water flows were of no use for flood discharge, but would cause great trouble to the comrades who were working on the operation.

Not to mention that according to the plan, pre-stressed components and cables need to be installed, which all takes time.

"Yes!" The leader signed his name on the application report, and the secretary turned around to arrange the work immediately.

Seeing the temporary dam body of the main dam gradually rising, the leader felt relieved. What he was most concerned about now was not the main dam, but the auxiliary dam. According to the rising water level, the auxiliary dam would soon face the first wave of tests.

If the auxiliary dam fails to survive this test, the main dam does not even need to do anything. The water level will not rise anymore because it will turn into flood peaks at the auxiliary dam and flow downstream.

He called his driver over: "Come on! Take me to the auxiliary dam!"

"Leader, it's dangerous over there!"

"I'm going just because it's dangerous! Let's go!" Death is no big deal. After Emperor Chongzhen of Ming Dynasty hanged himself on Coal Hill, later historians' evaluation of him was raised to a higher level. Otherwise, the overall evaluation of Chongzhen would have made him sit at the table with the children.

He handed over the matters here to the chief engineer who came with him, and then, despite everyone's persuasion, he got in the car and drove straight to the auxiliary dam.

"Leader, why are you here?" More than half an hour later, the hydraulic expert who had been in charge here from the beginning was shocked when he saw the leader.

"I'm worried, so I came to take a look. What's the situation now?" the leader asked.

In fact, he could see without asking that the water had risen and completely covered the bottom edge of the geomembrane. According to water level estimates, the current water level has exceeded the bottom of the auxiliary dam.

He was asking about the seepage situation of the dam. I think hydraulic experts would be able to find out about this situation.

"The situation is very good now!" When the hydraulic expert said this, he relaxed. It really worked!

“Are there any water seepage or pipe bursts downstream?”

This is the most direct manifestation of worsening water seepage.

"No, no, come on, leader, come and see."

The hydraulic engineering expert led the leader to a tent on the dam shoulder, where the comrade from the electronic laboratory of the third factory was staring at the data. Next to his hand was a walkie-talkie with a red mark.

"Come on, comrade, tell the leader about the current infiltration situation."

The comrade from the Third Factory did not show any of the reservedness of the senior leaders. To be honest, he had seen many leaders of the same level in the Third Factory, and they were all very friendly and had the same attitude.

"Yes! It has been more than two hours since the water level exceeded the bottom of the auxiliary dam. Now the seepage pressure of the dam body has not changed significantly. The seepage line of the dam body is basically the same as the initial value. The soil moisture content at the bottom of the dam has slightly increased but is within the normal range. The soil moisture content in the middle and top of the dam has not changed. There is not much water in the water collection pool under the geomembrane, and the conditions for pumping water have not been met."

There was no water level meter in the collection pool, but they threw two stripped wires into it and placed them at the warning point. By measuring the resistance, they could tell whether the water level in the collection pool had reached the warning point.

It is normal for the soil moisture content at the bottom of the dam to increase slightly, and a change is more telling than no change. If there is no change at all, then you may have to suspect that there is something wrong with the sensor.

Listening to this comrade's detailed report, the content was completely beyond the leaders' expectations.

"How do you know so much? How do you keep track of all these situations?"

The comrade from the Third Factory pointed to the six meters and a multimeter in front of him and said, "Reporting to the leader, we have installed three piezometers, three soil moisture sensors and a water level switch on the dam body. Through these sensors, we can understand the current water seepage situation of the dam body."

The soil moisture sensor was later more commonly called the soil moisture meter. As for the water level switch, he couldn't just say that he threw two wires in the pit, so he gave it a name.

Seeing the leader's surprised face, the hydraulic expert reported: "This was made and installed overnight by Comrade Gao from our pyrotechnics expert group on the first night. To be honest, I didn't expect them to have this technology, and the monitoring effect is very good. Our comrade cut open the geomembrane and did a review, and the situation was basically consistent with the test data."

It’s just that I won’t dare to do this kind of review again in the future. Cutting it and gluing it back together will have some impact on the geomembrane.

Pyrotechnics expert group? The comrades of the Third Factory were stunned by this. When did Chief Engineer Gao become a pyrotechnics expert? But he didn't say anything. Chief Engineer Gao could do anything and become an expert in anything. There was nothing wrong with that.

"Wow, I didn't expect he had this ability. Now that this matter is over, we must promote it." Judging from the data, the anti-seepage work of the auxiliary dam body has met the expected requirements. The leaders are relieved and even have the leisure to consider future work.

It's just that this pyrotechnic expert's hands are indeed a bit ridiculous, and he is good at pyrotechnics. Moreover, the water rescue plan he proposed now has obvious results. I didn't expect that he is also good at electronics. It's just that the work is more difficult. He came to install it overnight. He remembered the instructions from the Flood Control Committee. Although he didn't know anything else, just these two hands, he could more or less see why they valued this comrade. It had nothing to do with feelings, it was all about technology.

At this moment, the multimeter at the comrade from the Third Factory started beeping. He took a look and immediately picked up the walkie-talkie to speak.

"Water collection tank pump, start pumping!"

The location of the water collection pool is much lower than the bottom of the auxiliary dam. It is not a big problem if there is some water there. It can be directly pumped away.

Listening to the "da da da da" sound of the diesel engine outside, the leader was very happy. The auxiliary dam seemed safe at least for now. Moreover, with these measures, the situation of the auxiliary dam could be grasped at the first time, and any problems could be dealt with in advance and solved quickly.

He knew very well that being able to directly observe the interior of the auxiliary dam in real time would allow him to deal with it much earlier than waiting for phenomena such as pipe bursts to occur.

time is life.

"Leader, please go back to the main dam. You are more needed there. The situation here is very good now. The dam is being raised, so we are still optimistic."

The hydraulic engineering experts advised the leaders to go back to the main dam. After all, this is a dangerous area. Although the dangerous situation has been obviously under control, it is better to get rid of this great man as soon as possible.

The leaders themselves were also very satisfied. Judging from the strength of the canvas hydraulic membrane, as long as it works, it will continue to work. The seepage problem of the auxiliary dam cannot be said to be completely solved during the rescue phase, but at least there is no need to worry too much.

"Well, okay. Since the situation here is under control, I feel relieved. I'll go back to the main dam. If there are any problems here, please notify me immediately."

"Don't worry, we will definitely defend the auxiliary dam firmly!" The hydraulic expert who came here first is now full of confidence. It really works, comrades.

The leader, feeling slightly relaxed, returned to the main battlefield with the driver.

At this time, above the water surface between the breach and the reservoir dam, a helicopter had completed its transportation mission and was flying over the water.

Suddenly, a soldier in the crew cabin who was in charge of dropping and loading shouted, "Captain, look, what's down there?"

The cockpit of the Mi-4 helicopter is on top of the engine, and the downward view is not as good as that of the comrades in the crew cabin below.

"I can't see."

"Captain, please circle for a moment so we can take a closer look."

The captain didn't know what he saw, but he circled as requested.

Comrades will not joke about the mission. Since they ask us to hover, they must have discovered something.

The plane made a big turn in the air and began to circle. Helicopters do have a hovering function, but they are generally not willing to hover unless the mission requires it.

During the circling process, not only the soldier in the passenger compartment, but even the captain himself saw what the soldier said through the side window.

On the water surface, a large group of things that looked twisted, dome-shaped, and clawed gathered together, floating up and down on the water and drifting downstream.

Something really big had happened. Although the captain was not involved in water conservancy, he was born in a water network area and had a deep understanding of flood disasters, so he immediately realized the seriousness of the matter.

He immediately picked up the microphone and began calling the rescue headquarters.

"Command, Command, this is helicopter No. 4317..."

As soon as the leader returned to the main dam, he saw the chief engineer who stayed on the dam running towards him with very urgent steps.

"Old X, there is a very serious emergency!"

The leader, who was originally in a very good mood, was shocked when he heard this.

Did the auxiliary dam have problems after I left? Or did the main dam discover major hidden dangers? Did the breach upstream fail to be sealed and expand again?

"whats the matter?"

The chief engineer did not answer directly, but first explained the next course of action: "Let's go, the headquarters just called and said that a secondary disaster had occurred upstream, which may pose a serious threat to the dam. We need to go back to the headquarters immediately and call back the expert group to discuss countermeasures."

(End of this chapter)