Chapter 989 Detonation!

"If comrades work hard, there shouldn't be any problem. In this way, if you add 6 welders, 6 sets of welding machines, and a group of laborers, then it will be guaranteed." The main thing is welding, and the others are easy to handle. Now the smelting and casting has reached the last batch.

"Okay! I'll transfer twelve welders to you right away!" The leader was overjoyed and made the decision immediately. As for the laborers, there was no need to mention them. There were a large number of soldiers here on the dam and above.

Comrades all admired Gao Zhendong's sense of responsibility. Originally, he only needed to complete the blasting preparations within 96 hours, which was plenty of time. However, the time has now been compressed to less than 60 hours. However, he still has no complaints and has not evaded his responsibilities.

Fortunately, we were preparing at the fastest speed from the beginning and it was completed in less than three days. It’s not bad if we can compress it a little more now.

"You don't need that much. The working surface is only that wide."

"It doesn't matter. If the space is not wide enough, we can rotate to ensure that our comrades are in the best working condition."

"Okay, then I'll go arrange the work!" Gao Zhendong didn't stop. Since that's the case, he didn't want to say any more words and just got to work. Time waits for no one.

"Comrades, the rest of the comrades, form teams and work in three shifts to go to the dam. If the situation is not good, we may have to race against time with the flood." The leader did not bother to thank Gao Zhendong, and turned to the other comrades.

"Yes!!"

At the exit of the bottom hole of the dam, teams of personnel carrying equipment and materials followed the work path with difficulty, climbed to the entrance of the bottom hole, and drilled into six bottom holes respectively to prepare for blasting.

A female comrade held a loud speaker and encouraged her comrades below the bottom hole: "Comrades, come on! The safety of the property of the people downstream depends on us. The sooner the floodwaters are released, the more hope they will have to keep their spring farming this year."

Entering through the bottom hole tunnel, at the bottom hole gate at the bottom of the dam, in a place that the comrades could not see, six blasting preparation teams that could not see each other started working at the same time. For a moment, sparks flew and lightning flashed.

Although it was January, the comrades who came here wearing thick clothes felt a little stuffy and even a little hot.

They were sweating and concentrating on welding. There were requirements for the angles of cutting the charge and installing the guard plate, and they were very careful, fearing that there would be any mistakes.

Another group of comrades were sorting and connecting the pre-tensioned steel cables and pulling them out of the cave.

At the same time, comrades who were installing the detonating cord were also working hard. In order to ensure reliability, they used nails to hang the detonating cord above the cave wall, away from the pre-tensioned cables.

At about this time, the capital also received this urgent news.

"What? Soil erosion caused debris to clog the spillway?" To be honest, this kind of highly detailed disaster situation has never been heard of before.

"Yes, the auxiliary dam is in very good condition now. Although the water level has been rising, the on-site monitoring equipment shows that the dam has not been infiltrated much. However, the trees washed down by the water have become the biggest problem now."

"It's really like a house leaking in the rain, and the ship is sailing against the wind. What plan are the comrades on the scene going to take now? Is there any solution?"

Sometimes there is no way.

"Yes, they mobilized manpower to race against time with the flood. At the same time, the pyrotechnic blasting team led by Comrade Gao Zhendong is compressing the time and starting the blasting bottom gate at least 96 hours earlier than the original plan of 36 hours, to increase the total amount of discharge as much as possible and make up for the loss of spillway flow."

"So much in advance? Is it in time? How are the comrades safe?" Although the leader knew that the second half of the sentence was meaningless, and even if it was not safe, the comrades on the scene would still risk their lives, he still couldn't help asking this question.

"According to the headquarters' report, we have enough time. Comrade Gao Zhendong's pyrotechnic blasting team was originally rushing to complete the project, which shortened the time a lot. Although it is difficult to shorten the project further, we are still confident that we can make it in time."

"Good! Good! The more comrades like this, the better! Tell the on-site command center to report every change to me immediately! There are tens of thousands of acres of fertile land down there, we can't afford to lose them."

This reservoir was originally built for these ten thousand acres of fertile farmland, but unexpectedly, by some strange coincidence, it became the biggest threat to these fertile farmland.

"Okay. Commander, you should take a rest first. You didn't get enough rest last night. Go to bed early today. I will wake you up if there is anything."

It was getting late and the leader didn't have enough rest time yesterday.

"I know, I know, you little boy, don't rush me."

——At the rescue site, 57 hours after the expert team started work.

"Comrade Zhendong, are you ready?" Gao Zhendong and the leaders of the water conservancy department were all on the left dam shoulder. The people on the dam were temporarily evacuated to the safe areas on the two dam shoulders. In case something went wrong with the blasting, it would be very dangerous on the dam.

"Ready!" Gao Zhendong was very determined.

"Has everyone in the bottom hole been evacuated?"

"Everyone evacuated, and the downstream area was notified again."

Downstream parties must be notified so that they are not caught off guard if any problems arise.

A set of steel cables extends from each of the six bottom holes and connects to six high-horsepower tractors in a safe area on the shore. These are pre-tensioned cables.

Another six sets of wires were connected to a detonator next to them.

Everyone, look at me and I'll look at you.

The leader of the Water Conservancy Department was the first to raise his hand: "I agree to detonate!"

"I agree!"

"I agree!"

"..." The comrades in the expert group raised their hands one by one, their eyes determined. They had calculated that if they didn't blow up, they would be dead, but if they did, there was still hope. When it was time to take responsibility, everyone bravely stood up.

Gao Zhendong himself is also included here. Don’t forget that he is also a member of the expert group.

Seeing that everyone agreed, the leader nodded to Gao Zhendong and said, "Explode!"

At this moment, he seemed to be reminded of his military career.

Gao Zhendong picked up the walkie-talkie: "Preview!"

Six tractors roared at the same time, emitting bursts of black smoke. They moved forward, pulling the six sets of pre-tensioned cables tightly. One could almost hear the creaking sounds.

Gao Zhendong nodded to the blaster next to him and shouted, "First hole, detonate!"

The blaster pressed the detonating handle, and the detonation signal was instantly transmitted to the three electric detonators.

No matter how Gao Zhendong explained the principle, the comrades on the dam always felt that the explosion must be earth-shattering. There was no way, as there were too many comrades who had come from the army or were still in the army, and that was how they imagined the explosion to be.

However, no one saw anything, but only heard a dull "bang bang" sound coming from below, and the ground shook slightly.

Three electric detonators detonated the black mixed 3 charge at the same time, and the metal jet formed by the copper cut the heavy gate open!

Almost at the same time, the comrades saw the pre-tensioning rope at the bottom of the first hole suddenly loosen, and a rumbling sound came from underground.

If they could see inside the bottom hole, they would see that amid the explosion, the inspection gate of the first hole was cut open on the left, right and bottom sides. Under the combined action of water pressure and pre-tensioned cables, the cut gate slowly opened and folded upwards.

Streams of yellow-white water gushed out at high speed, making the opening of the gate bigger and bigger.

Only blast three sides, and rely on pre-tensioning and water pressure to slowly open up a channel from small to large. This is the characteristic of Gao Zhendong's blasting plan.

The entire channel was blown up at once, and the huge water flow hit the slightly lower hole tunnel. It is hard to say what will happen. The water hammer effect is something that everyone who works with water knows. Moreover, the cut steel plate will drill around in the hole. If it gets stuck, the discharge volume will be lost.

As for the problem of not being able to blow it up, according to Gao Zhendong's calculations, it does not exist.

"Success!" Amid the cheers of the comrades, a stream of muddy yellow water carrying dirty debris rushed out, from small to large, from thin to thick, from near to far, and the color changed from dark to light.

"Comrade Zhendong, well done!" The comrades around Gao Zhendong shook hands with him enthusiastically.

Gao Zhendong laughed and said, there are still 5 holes.

"Second hole, detonate!"

"..."

"Sixth hole, detonate!"

In order to reduce the possibility of problems with the dam in the event of an explosion, the six holes were detonated separately, and the first hole was experimental in nature. If the first hole was successfully blasted, the interval between the subsequent five holes would not have to be so long.

Amidst slight vibrations, huge streams of water were gushed out from the other five holes one after another.

People cheered. It worked! There was hope that the dam could be saved!

"Go check it out!" the leader said to several hydraulic experts who were well prepared.

Several hydraulic engineering experts quickly led their men to the dam section where the bottom hole gate was located and began a careful inspection.

"Totally normal, no problem." Their excited voices came from the walkie-talkie.

All the comrades felt completely relieved.

"Success!"

Looking at the rumbling floodwaters, the comrades were in a very happy mood. Although God was causing us trouble, we had successfully taken a step towards defeating them.

Half an hour later, the chief engineer of the water conservancy department was excited in the seepage pressure data monitoring tent.

"There is no obvious change in the seepage pressure of this dam section. The congestion body has not yet come and has not affected the discharge flow of the spillway. You see, with the joint efforts of the spillway and the bottom hole, the speed of water level rise has dropped a lot! Report it! We have succeeded in this step."

Cheers broke out again inside and outside the tent, this time with complete relief.

The leader of the water conservancy department couldn't help but pat Gao Zhendong on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Zhendong, you did a great job! I want to commend you for your work!"

In the resettlement area downstream of the reservoir, the little girl looked at the river in the distance under the bright moonlight and called the village chief again.

"Grandpa Village Chief, the water is getting higher! The water is getting higher!" She was very anxious. Is my dog's nest going to be washed away?

The village chief smiled happily and said, "Don't worry, don't worry. The comrades above said that the rising water is because the dam above has survived the second test."

The smiles of the young and old seemed reassuring in the moonlight.

(End of this chapter)