Chapter 28 Original Intention
Zhou Cheng heard that except for the aerospace sector where the world government was still trying its best to maintain talent replenishment and reserves, almost all other aspects had fallen into irreversible decline.
Bridge construction and building is just a small microcosm of the decline of mankind in the twilight years.
Even in the aerospace sector, although the world government has been trying hard to maintain it, it is now facing many problems.
During these sixty years, not only has the technology not been able to make further progress compared to the peak era, it has not even been able to maintain the same level.
The so-called struggling to maintain is nothing more than slowing down the decline of technology and talent reserves.
The reason for maintaining technological advancements in aerospace is that people believe a relatively high probability of resolving this disaster lies in this area. Maintaining technological advancements in this area ensures that, should future humans need them, they will have access to the technology.
The "Spring Thunder" plan, which freezes millions of embryos and leaves them for later thawing, was also proposed and implemented based on this idea. It is also to leave enough young seeds for the future of human civilization, to leave hope for solving disasters, and to ensure that if there are breakthroughs in the future, there will not be a shortage of young people available.
It's a pity that in today's twilight years, when the human world has seen no hope of resolving the disaster and has become desperate, both the Spring Thunder Plan and the Aerospace Sustainment Plan have begun to have some meaning of "doing for the sake of doing", and their original intentions are almost forgotten by people.
Shaking his head and retracting his slightly scattered thoughts, Zhou Cheng focused his attention again on the current bridge.
The current engineers and skilled workers were bridge experts plundered by the combined efforts of civilization. Beyond supplies and manpower, even the World Government could no longer provide them with support, let alone themselves.
We can only rely on them to solve specific technical problems.
The helicopter gradually rose into the sky.
Looking down from a high altitude, Zhou Cheng saw that on both sides of the canyon, under the protection of countless steel frames, the main body of the bridge was moving from both sides to the middle.
Among them, there are countless white-haired old people performing high-altitude operations.
"I hope everything goes well..."
The helicopter flew deep into the mountains, where the Yangjiagou ruins were located.
But before he flew far, Zhou Cheng, who was high in the sky, heard a dull rumbling sound, like thunder, which could not be covered by even the roar of the huge helicopter.
Zhou Cheng sat up straight instantly, his heart instantly lifted.
The next moment, a hurried voice rang out from the emergency communication system: "Report to headquarters, a collapse has occurred at the construction site of Nantushan Bridge. The current loss is unknown. Report to headquarters..."
"go back!"
Zhou Cheng growled. The helicopter circled and returned the same way.
Soon, the canyon appeared in Zhou Cheng's sight again.
Zhou Cheng saw that dust like fog was rising in the huge and deep canyon, almost completely covering the interior of the canyon, making it impossible to see the scene inside.
Above the fog, at the edge of the canyon, the steel frames that he had seen before, which were closing from both sides of the canyon to the middle, and the main body of the bridge in the steel frames, had now disappeared.
On both sides of the canyon, countless tiny figures were running back and forth, and some people were kneeling on the edge of the canyon, seemingly shouting loudly.
Although he could not hear any sound coming from there, the urgency and grief in it penetrated the barrier of space and pierced into Zhou Cheng's mind.
At this moment, after confirming the occurrence of the accident, Zhou Cheng's mind went blank for a moment.
The helicopter landed with a roar, and Zhou Cheng and his team rushed over and joined in the first aid for the injured.
Time passes slowly.
The smoke and dust that filled the entire canyon slowly dissipated. Standing above the canyon, Zhou Cheng finally got a clear view of the canyon's bottom.
Countless reinforced concrete structures crashed to the bottom of the canyon, the steel bars twisted into a knot, and the concrete cracked into four large pieces and countless small pieces, among which some twisted human limbs could be vaguely seen.
Some rescue workers were searching below, but Zhou Cheng knew that this was meaningless.
Falling from such a high place... there's no hope of recovery.
Above the canyon, the workers were pale and silent.
Nan Tushan Project Construction Command Center.
The engineers in charge of the construction sat there blankly, looking haggard.
"The last time our civilization built a bridge was 39 years ago.
After this, the last bridge-building team disbanded.
Not only was the bridge construction team disbanded, but the materials used to build the bridge, including special steel, connectors, cables, special cement, steel beam structures, etc., were also gradually discontinued.
Factories closed and workers were laid off.”
Chief Engineer Liang Chengdong murmured, his voice filled with fatigue and sorrow echoing in the deadly silence of the command center: "On the surface, it's just building a small bridge, but behind it, it involves many industrial sectors of almost the entire industrial system.
It’s been 39 years, a full 39 years... Even the best bridge designers at that time had long forgotten how to design a bridge, and the best welders had long forgotten how to operate welding equipment.
The current bridge-building team was searched and pieced together from the entire civilization.
We recalled knowledge we hadn't used in 39 years, repeatedly thought about it, repeatedly verified it, and carefully began building this bridge. But unfortunately, science doesn't tolerate luck, and we ultimately failed.
You may ask, even if our civilization has declined, we still have a population of one billion. How is it possible that we cannot even build a small bridge?
Although I am reluctant to admit it, after this incident, I still have to say that, yes, we no longer have the ability to build a bridge with a span of even only a hundred meters.
Because our entire industrial system has almost disappeared. Forcing the result of "bridge" while ignoring its foundation is like building a skyscraper without laying the foundation.
I didn’t believe this conclusion before, but the result... everyone saw it.
I killed them, woo woo, I killed them."
Liang Chengdong covered his skinny face and let out a suppressed sob.
There was silence in the command center.
Zhou Cheng sighed softly and stood up.
"None of us want to see an accident like this happen. But... now that it has happened, there's nothing we can do.
The world government will take care of the subsequent compensation and processing.
The question we need to be concerned about is…what next?
We must complete this bridge. If we can't, it will be useless even if we complete all the other parts of the road."
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