Chapter 46 Provincial Capital
The design of the provincial steel plant used a complete set of drawings from a certain Soviet company.
Because a certain Jiangsu steel plant is located in a frigid zone with cold winters, the dormitory building is designed with an enclosed layout, which can block the cold winter wind and achieve a warming effect.
The first batch of buildings built were small buildings for experts, which were copied exactly. The dormitory building being built now is the second batch of workers' dormitories. After the provincial design institute received the drawings, it made design improvements to the workers' residential area. The provincial capital is cold in winter and hot in summer, so we need to consider both winter warmth and summer ventilation. Therefore, the enclosed layout is adjusted to a north-facing, south-facing, column layout.
In addition, the length of the eaves was increased because the provincial capital is located in the Yangtze River Basin and there is a lot of rain during the rainy season between spring and summer.
Tao Nanfeng nodded as he listened to Jia Wei's explanation. The Provincial Design Institute had indeed put a lot of thought into it and was very professional. Such improvements increase the comfort of residential buildings and make them better adapted to the local climate.
Liang Zhou was very dissatisfied: "Su's drawings are very good, who told you to change them? Now there are problems, right? You still want to shirk responsibility! We have invited comrades from the Quality Supervision Station to come over, you just wait to be criticized."
Two small cars took the group to the residential area of the steel plant in the provincial capital.
The rows of red brick and red tile three-story buildings are neat and beautiful, and the roadside sycamore trees are lush and leafy. The entire dormitory area in front of the factory looks very grand.
The steel mill has good profitability, steel workers have high incomes and good welfare benefits, and they go out with high spirits. In the summer, they give out popsicles and soda, and in the winter, they give out cotton, meat, oil, and all kinds of labor protection supplies. Therefore, girls in provincial capitals all want to marry workers in steel mills.
Listen to it with your ears and keep it in your heart. Now that farm income is slowly increasing due to phosphate mining, these welfare benefits must gradually keep up.
When we arrived at the construction site in the ninth block of the steel plant, a group of people had already gathered there.
The small red building, which had been completed and capped, was obviously tilted towards the west, with an estimated angle of 6 or 7 degrees. Cracks appeared on the right wall, and the workers nearby had to stop work and wait, not daring to do any further door and window decoration work.
Seeing Liang Zhou and the people from the design institute coming over, the construction project manager hurried over and said, "Chief Liang, Engineer Jia, please take a look. How should we deal with this?"
Soon, three inspectors from the Quality Supervision Station also arrived at the scene, their eyebrows knitted into a line: "There is a quality problem with this house, stop the construction immediately."
Liang Zhou spread his hands and said, "I also know there is a problem. I have long said that the eaves length of 1.5 meters is too exaggerated. The people in the design institute insisted that they had calculated it and there was no problem. Now, the house is crooked. Let me tell you how to deal with it."
Jia Wei looked around the house and calmly expressed his judgment.
"Uneven settlement may be caused by improper sampling during geological surveys, resulting in a weak foundation on this side of the soil. It may also be caused by problems with the construction of structural columns and ring beams, as they are all concealed projects, and to find the problems we have to dig out the components..."
When Liang Zhou heard that they were going to conduct a hidden engineering inspection, he immediately jumped up and said, "Don't shirk your responsibility! If it's a design problem, we can ask the comrades from the Quality Inspection Station to find an expert to conduct a first review and find out. Why do you want to destroy the main structure? This is the staff dormitory of the steel plant, which is state property. I don't see who dares to destroy it casually!"
The atmosphere on the field suddenly became tense.
Jia Wei held back his temper and patiently explained: "We can take out the calculations from our design institute and ask experts to review them. There is no problem with that. If it is our fault, we will take responsibility. But what if it is not our fault?"
Liang Zhou said unhappily, "Your design institute should be responsible for this. I can't stand you intellectuals. Just copy the blueprints of a certain Su Steel Plant. Why change anything? Now there are problems, right? Humph!"
Tao Nanfeng stood aside without saying a word. She was now becoming more and more skilled in using her supernatural powers. She guided the warm current in her dantian to flow to her eyes, and when she looked intently, everything in front of her changed.
White lines, green lines and red lines crisscross.
A three-story residential building with two units. The stairwell has prefabricated carved cement baffles, a sloping roof, large eaves, cement base, open gutters... It is a very ordinary brick-concrete building with no complicated structure.
In order to increase earthquake resistance and adapt to the geological conditions of the provincial capital, reinforced concrete structural columns are installed at the four corners and stairwells of the residential building, forming a stable frame system with the ring beams on the first and third floors.
Judging from this structural design alone, the safety factor is quite high and there should not be any problem of uneven settlement.
What's the problem? Tao Nanfeng searched carefully.
There were scattered red areas at the corner of the right wall that began to give warnings, and Tao Nanfeng slowly walked towards the scene.
Jia Wei hurriedly called her: "Chief Tao, don't come close. This building is dangerous now!"
Tao Nanfeng waved his hand to indicate that it was okay, and continued walking slowly forward. Xiangbei followed closely, observing her expression carefully.
Liang Zhou didn't understand what this pretty section chief was doing and pouted at the project manager.
As the man below stretched out his hand to stop him, Xiangbei raised his hand to stop him. This is not a farm. Tao Nanfeng's every move will be interfered with by others. If Xiangbei hadn't taken action, it would have been difficult for Tao Nanfeng to act freely.
As long as Tao Nanfeng puts his energy into something, he will be highly focused. She had no time to care about the comings and goings of the people around her. She walked straight to the structural column in the southeast corner, pointed at the column that was embedded in the wall and said coldly: "There is something wrong with this structural column!"
Liang Zhou's heart skipped a beat, his expression changed, and he shouted, "What are you doing here, little girl? We are all experts here, it's not your turn to speak!"
Jia Wei was delighted. The last time he went to Xiufengshan Farm, he felt that Tao Nanfeng was a girl with great ambitions, and it turned out to be true. Listen to her tone, firm and steady, it is obvious that she has discovered the problem.
Jia Wei pulled Liang Zhou aside and said with a smile: "Chief Tao is the expert I invited. Let her identify the problem. Only when we find the problem can we solve it."
Tao Nanfeng raised his right hand and gestured to the north: "Give me a hammer."
Looking left and right to the north, he saw the project manager holding a 500-gram hammer in his right hand, so he reached out to him.
This hammer is a common tool used by administrators to inspect the quality of construction sites, and he always keeps it in his hand. Xiang Bei had a serious face and a courageous spirit, which made him give up after just half a second of staring at him, and he obediently handed over the hammer in his hand.
Tao Nanfeng took the hammer from Xiangbei, weighed it, and shook his head: "Too light."
But after all, he was not in his own territory, and without more convenient tools, he could only make do with it. Tao Nanfeng raised his right hand and the force gushed out.
“Bang——”
A cloud of dust flew up.
The corner of the wall was cracked by the violent blow.
The bystanders were so frightened that they screamed and took three steps back.
"What the hell is going on? The house is already tilted, and this little girl dares to destroy it!"
"Come quickly, arrest the saboteurs."
"Don't let her hammer again, the house is going to collapse—"
Once Tao Nanfeng takes action, he will never look back.
No matter how others shouted, it could not affect her actions at all.
She swung the hammer and hit the structural column again.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The walls were shaking and dust was flying everywhere.
Liang Zhou was so frightened that his voice became distorted. He hid far away and screamed wildly: "Someone, hurry up and drag her out, don't let her destroy the house——"
Others were afraid, but Xiangbei had great confidence in Tao Nanfeng. He stood firmly beside Tao Nanfeng, staring at the wall under the hammer.
When the smoke and dust cleared, Tao Nanfeng took a closer look, then raised the corner of his mouth and smiled.
There was a hint of excitement in her voice that only teenagers can have: "See, I told you there's something wrong with this pillar, right? The stirrups are all made of bamboo sticks!"
Bamboo branch?
Jia Wei was startled and ran over quickly: "What? Let me see!"
Through a large hole, the concrete surface layer outside the structural column was chiseled open, revealing the steel bars inside. Jia Wei remembered very clearly that in the structural drawings he reviewed, there was a 16 mm steel bar at each of the four corners of the structural column, and a circle of stirrups was installed every 200 mm.
But what he actually saw now was very different from the drawing.
The sixteen millimeter steel bars became twelve millimeters, and the stirrups with a spacing of two hundred millimeters became bamboo branches! The bamboo branches are tough and can be bent and then tied firmly to the steel bars with steel wire.
Jia Wei was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed at the bamboo branch and said, "How audacious! How audacious!"
Lin Shixiu is a structural designer, and he is the draftsman listed in the signature column of the drawings. He had just graduated from college three years ago and was still quite academic. It was the first time he heard that someone dared to do such construction operations. He ran over in horror and grabbed Jia Wei's arm tightly, with an expression of disbelief behind his glasses.
"Is it possible to do this? Use bamboo sticks instead of steel bars! It's a blessing that the building didn't collapse!"
Liang Zhou didn't expect that Tao Nanfeng could find the problem at a glance, and even took the initiative to use a hammer to knock down the hard pillar. On the one hand, he regretted his disrespect for Tao Nanfeng and was afraid that she would retaliate; on the other hand, he was also worried that he would be responsible for the construction quality problems. He was anxious, but he was still stubborn.
"What do you know! Using bamboo branches to replace steel bars was approved by the general meeting of our infrastructure department. Steel is in short supply now, so we need to save as much as we can. The people in your design institute are very timid. The safety factor is so high, so what's the big deal about missing a few steel bars? Bamboo is tough and cheap, and it is a future development trend to replace steel bars. The country is now advocating thrift and diligence, and we are responding to the call!"
Jia Wei was simply stunned by the shameless language. He had seen people who did not respect science, but he did not expect that he did not even respect basic common sense!
"Reinforced concrete has been developed for so many years. Why can these two materials work together? In addition to the strong compressive strength of concrete and the strong tensile strength of steel bars, the two can complement each other. There is also a very important material property. As the head of the infrastructure department, don't you know it?!"
Liang Zhou really didn’t know.
He was not a professional and knew nothing about construction. He climbed up step by step from an ordinary worker through his relationship with the deputy factory director.
Jia Wei took a deep breath and said loudly: "The thermal expansion and contraction coefficients of steel bars and concrete are almost equal, so they can work together! Can bamboo sticks replace steel bars? No!!!"
As he spoke, his voice became louder and louder, almost shouting: "Comrades, since you want our design institute to do the design, you must respect our professional standards. Don't we want to save materials? We do, but safety is the priority, and we cannot give up even a little bit on this."
Jia Wei looked at the staff of the Quality Supervision Station and said, "The problem is now clear. It was caused by the steel plant's infrastructure department's illegal construction and unauthorized replacement of building materials. You guys decide how to deal with it later!"
After that, he pulled Lin Shixiu over and said to Tao Nanfeng, "Thank you very much for what you did today! Let's go back. There is nothing for us to do here anymore."
The group quickly left the construction site.
As long as it can be proved that it is not the design institute's responsibility, the matter will end there. The steel plant is a large factory with a high status in the provincial capital. The infrastructure department headed by Liang Zhou is too difficult to deal with. They always act like the workers' big brother and belittle intellectuals in various ways. Jia Wei doesn't want to take care of this mess at all.
Just as I walked past the wall of Jiujiefang, I heard Liang Zhou's extremely attentive voice behind me.
"Engineer Jia, Engineer Lin, Section Chief Tao..."
The few of them exchanged glances and quickened their pace.
Liang Zhou walked briskly, and together with several people from the Infrastructure Department, he blocked the way of Tao Nanfeng and others, bowed and smiled apologetically: "It's my fault, it's my fault. I am a rough man who doesn't understand science. I saved materials for the factory recklessly and made such a big mistake. I deserve to be beaten, I deserve to be beaten!"
Liang Zhou stretched out his hand and slapped his mouth hard several times, making crisp "Pa! Pa!" sounds.
Tao Nanfeng couldn't help laughing and turned away, not daring to look at him again, for fear that if he looked at him any longer, he would burst out laughing. A fat, dark-skinned man in his forties was beating himself without caring about his face. That scene... was the first time I had ever seen it in my life.
Liang Zhou was a flexible person. Once the truth came to light, he immediately realized a problem: he had to seek help from the experts at the design institute.
The house is tilted and about to collapse, and the quality of the construction is worrying. Only structural experts are capable of solving this crisis.
He immediately lowered his posture and tried his best to flatter Jia Wei and Tao Nanfeng. Things like "domestic architectural master", "professional", "young and promising", "dare to do and dare to take responsibility"... anyway, whatever sounds good.
Jia Wei and Tao Nanfeng had indifferent expressions when they heard the flattery. It was not until Liang Zhou's last words that Jia Wei turned around and looked at Liang Zhou seriously.
"I didn't respect science and suffered the consequences. I know I was wrong. But I didn't intend to embezzle money at the beginning. I just took into account the current shortage of infrastructure funds for the steel plant.
There are many workers in our factory, and the housing conditions are inadequate. The factory has given our Infrastructure Department a strict order that we must complete the construction of ten workers' dormitories this year. It's just a drop in the bucket and it's barely enough. What should we do? We can only find ways to save material costs.
The most urgent task now is to see if there is any remedy? Engineer Jia, you are knowledgeable in the design institute. Please help us and the workers in the steel plant! ”
Jia Wei frowned and thought, and after a long pause he said, "This...we have to test it first before we can come up with a solution. Let's discuss it after we go back."
Liang Zhou was so anxious that he scratched his head and turned to Tao Nanfeng for help.
"Section Chief Tao has extensive experience in construction. He can spot anything wrong at a glance. He must be a top mechanics expert. Can you think of a good way to fix it so that the house can be used normally? The roof of the house has been capped, and so many bricks and tiles have been put into it. It would be a waste if it collapsed."
Tao Nanfeng stopped, turned around and looked at the tilted three-story building.
The red area is concentrated on the right side, while next to the east gable, there are three huge green lines close to the wall, supporting the entire residential building.
What does this mean?
——Just follow the green lines to set up three pillars to straighten the tilted building.
Seeing her confident expression, Liang Zhou felt hopeful and looked at Tao Nanfeng cautiously: "Chief Tao, if you have any ideas, please give me some advice. I can help you solve any problems within my ability."
Tao Nanfeng looked toward the north.
Xiangbei walked with her all the way and gradually they developed a tacit understanding. He knew at a glance that she had a way to solve the problem, and she wanted him to ask Liangzhou for help.
He coughed and said, "We came here this time to buy a tea oil press..."
Liang Zhou was an employee of the steel plant and had a lot of dealings with the provincial capital's machinery factory. When he heard Xiang Bei start talking, he immediately understood: "Wait a moment, I'll make a phone call and ask."
A few minutes later, Liang Zhou came running over excitedly: "Yes, yes, yes, the people at the provincial machinery factory said that they happen to produce hydraulic oil presses there, and they can specially approve one set for you."
Tao Nanfeng heard this and blinked at Xiangbei: "Is this a good bet?"
There seemed to be a starry sky shining in her beautiful big eyes, and her heart was as soft as water. Love was piled up in her chest, and would overflow as long as she moved.
Xiangbei smiled and nodded: "Very good."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
