Wasteland Development Diary.

Chapter 295 Dead Sea Channel

"Please see, this is the normal natural water supply situation in a region."

Gongsun Bao pointed at his hand-drawn picture.

This is a large parchment scroll with a piece of land drawn on it in ink, with mountains, plains, rivers and other markings on the painting.

"Land water supply mainly relies on natural rivers or lakes. Here I am mainly talking about rivers that pass through part or all of the land."

He pointed with his finger on the map: "After the water from the Dead Sea enters the land, it settles in the soil environment and becomes drinkable. Generally speaking, the further inland you are and the farther away from the Dead Sea, the purer the water is and the safer it is to drink."

"The water near the Dead Sea is somewhat harmful, at least for humans, as drinking it can cause various diseases or abnormalities."

"So what we usually do is to fetch water, use a water tank or puddle for secondary sedimentation, and then drink the purified water from the upper half. A better way is to drink boiled water based on this, but this consumes a lot of fuel. Fortunately, many residents have now purchased the Flame Cup, and the water diversion problem has been greatly alleviated."

Zhou Yi listened carefully.

"Except for some suitable areas where fish, shrimp, algae, water chestnuts and other aquatic species can be raised, the vast majority of water resources are difficult to use. On the one hand, there are water quality issues, and on the other hand, the water flow is seriously affected by the Dead Sea."

When Gongsun Bao talked about water conservancy projects, he exuded a sense of confidence from the inside out, and his ugly face with buck teeth seemed to have a different kind of charm.

"The normal flow of water is from high to low, but under the influence of the Dead Sea, this is not the case."

He drew a circle with his finger around the Dead Sea area on the parchment.

There are whirlpools representing rapids, high-pressure areas with a lot of downward arrows, and light bursts representing explosion scatter icons.

"Mr. Zhou, you see, in fact, it is the rapids that control the water flow, which makes the water flow from high to low and from low to high."

"This is especially obvious in Fullmetal Alchemist City. In spring and summer, the river flows from north to south, but in autumn and winter, it flows from south to north."

“The reason for this is that the rapids in and out of the area change during different seasons.”

This was the first time Zhou Yi knew about this.

He usually either drank beverages or groundwater extracted and filtered from underground in Emerald City, and never paid attention to the direction of the river.

"But no matter how it changes, the rapids will generate strong enough thrust on the water flow to form a river passing through the land. This is also the natural force I want to borrow."

Gongsun Bao pointed to an area on land near the sea, where a circular ditch was drawn. One end connected to the Dead Sea, while the other end meandered around the land, forming an arc and returning to the Dead Sea.

"A channel is dug along the coast to introduce the Dead Sea force, which will drive the river at the entrance to speed up and enter the channel for circulation."

"We can build a soot port next to this ditch and put collection tools in the ditch in a stepped manner. By using the natural thrust of the Dead Sea, we can collect the soot sand in the Dead Sea, making it easier to collect semi-automatically."

"That's one of them."

He said confidently: "Then we built a waterwheel. When the Dead Sea pushes water into the water tank of the waterwheel, the water force will drive the wheel to rotate, and the wheel will drive the water pump to work through the transmission device."

"Then the water pumps can draw water from the lowlands to the higher ground for irrigation, which greatly reduces the cost of irrigation and allows water to be stored in many places. Even if it is hot for a long time like this summer, there is still a large amount of clean water that can be directly drunk."

"Although the cost of this project will be very high, if we extend the time to ten or twenty years, we will definitely make a profit."

"It is more advantageous to build a canal in Shagang because there are a lot of farmland and farming needs there, as well as land that can be propped up in the air, which also needs water transported from the bottom up."

Zhou Yi listened carefully.

Although this idea sounds bold, it is indeed feasible.

He asked, "Gongsun Bao, how much do you think such a circular Dead Sea channel would cost?"

"I have conducted experiments at the river mouth. According to geometric calculations, if a 4-kilometer-long and 8-meter-wide ditch is built, it will be effective. However, considering the hazards and destructive power of the Dead Sea, in addition to the need to use a large number of bricks and stones, it also needs to be anti-seepage, anti-leakage, and earthquake-resistant. The cost should be 300 light seeds per kilometer, which means the first phase of the project will cost about 1 light seeds."

"However, if we want to ensure the project is safer and more stable, we need to hire professional electromechanical engineers, and the budget will need to be increased. But in general, as long as we have hydraulic electromechanical engineers, we can complete this small project."

Gongsun Bao said: "I have also calculated the benefits. If we can continue to earn income from Guangxu sand, according to the Guangxu Port model, a ditch of this length can earn back the cost in about 15 years. From now on, it will be pure profit."

Zhou Yi didn't say anything for a while.

Gongsun Bao was waiting nervously.

At this moment, Zhou Yi's mind was full of thoughts.

Gongsun Bao's idea will not bring much direct benefit, but it belongs to the field of people's livelihood infrastructure. It can achieve long-term water storage and irrigation, and can play a huge role for farms.

Especially as the number of suspended floors is still increasing, these farmlands that are high above the ground need water diversion, which is too cumbersome and laborious to do manually. Using optical printing equipment will cost more and more.

As long as the Dead Sea Channel is repaired and water pumps and ditches are installed, a continuous water supply can be achieved at a very low cost.

This is a good direction.

Zhou Yi came back to his senses and saw Gongsun Bao's face full of anxiety.

He smiled immediately and said, "It's a good design. Our company has a lot of farmland, and the Dead Sea Channel can solve the irrigation problem. This alone is worth it."

"Gongsun Bao, I formally invite you to join our Wasteland Development Company as the chief designer of the Dead Sea Channel to carry out the construction of this project. Are you willing?"

The other person's face froze for a moment, and then he said in ecstasy: "I'm very willing, I am willing!"

Zhou Yi shook hands with him and found that Gongsun Bao's palms were sweaty. "The sooner the better. Let's go back and discuss the details of the Dead Sea Channel. The sooner this water conservancy project is completed, the better the water supply for our farmland."

Zhou Yi and Gang Lian said goodbye and took Gongsun Bao back to Feicui City and flew towards Shagang.

……

Gongsun Bao walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looked at the clouds outside and the ground below which was getting smaller and smaller, wondering what he was thinking.

Assistant Yuanxiao handed the guest a cup of tea - although it was just iced black tea poured into a paper cup.

"Please drink."

"Thank you."

Gongsun Bao took it with some trepidation.

Zhou Yi said to the angel of death: "Just do your thing, I'll talk to him."

"Yes."

Yuanxiao returned to the study and closed the door gently.

Zhou Yi also walked up to Gongsun Bao and asked, "Have you been in Steel Refining City?"

"No, Chairman."

Gongsun Bao sipped his tea: "This is really delicious... I'm from Fanyun City."

"Our place is at a very high altitude. It is actually a piece of land covered with many high mountains. It is cold in winter and cool in summer. It is covered by clouds and water vapor all year round, so it got this name."

"The houses in Fanyun City are all built on the hillsides and cliffs because there is no particularly flat open space available. I work as an architect there, helping everyone design and build houses. There is no shortage of various building materials, as there are local stones and trees."

"It's just that our population is small and houses can be lived in for a long time, so architects like us need to look for work elsewhere. The first time I saw a mushroom house in Fullmetal Alchemist, I was surprised and scared."

Gongsun Bao held the paper cup in both hands, with a look of confusion and melancholy on his face: "As long as you plant the mushrooms, use wooden sticks to help them grow naturally straight, and then do some post-arrangement, it will be a breathable and sturdy house."

"Such a house can be placed on any land, on a mountain, in a valley, or on a cliff, without any clever thought. It will hold fast to the ground by itself, more firmly than the foundation of any house."

He said somewhat dejectedly: "All the experience I had in design and drawing, as well as geographical survey and construction... was completely useless."

Zhou Yi consoled him, "Technological innovation is something that everyone must accept. What we can do is learn to change and strive to lead the change."

"You are quite right."

Gongsun Bao nodded: "Architects must learn to adapt to the environment in order to build the houses they need. We can't choose the place ourselves, but we have to build houses according to different places."

"But because I know so much about houses, I was quite shocked when I saw the mushroom house. It turns out that the final competition among architects is not about materials and design structures, but about planting techniques."

The architect gave a wry smile.

Zhou Yi also opened a bottle of oolong tea and took a sip: "How did you come up with the idea of the Dead Sea Channel?"

"At first I was thinking, isn't Steelmaking City for smelting steel? If we build an inner canal, we can transport the ore from the mining area all the way to the steel plant by ship, and then return to the mining area through an inner bend."

"But I didn't expect that as soon as my design came out, I learned that Fullmetal Alchemy City was under sanctions and steel production was reduced... I had no choice but to modify the blueprint. But the idea of using the Dead Sea actually came up when I was working on Cloud City, and an architect even succeeded in it."

He said: "In the past, there was an architect in Fanyun City who changed the course of the river that crossed the mountain from the Dead Sea, turning it into a spiral structure that encircled a mountain. This modification not only made it convenient for the settlers on each level of the mountain to get water, but also allowed the water to be used as a raft, which could easily transport many heavy objects and stones to the foot of the mountain."

“That’s where my inspiration comes from.”

“Inland transportation of materials can also be carried out in this way to different areas.”

Zhou Yi suddenly realized.

It turns out that there was successful experience already.

"Unfortunately, an accident occurred in the Dead Sea Channel on that mountain, and many people died... so it was completely abandoned."

"problem occurs?"

"Yes. The circular Dead Sea Channel creates a strange pressure that causes people living nearby to vomit blood, their ears to buzz, they become dizzy, and they feel weak all over. Many people's internal organs rupture and bleed, and more than a dozen people have died."

Zhou Yi immediately realized: "High-pressure stance?"

He had clearly experienced a similar squeezing feeling when he entered the high-pressure area in the Dead Sea before.

"The electromechanical lifeforms that came to investigate also said so. Because the circular channel formed a directional circulation of the Dead Sea's death light, it caused high pressure around the circular area. Its intensity is much lower than that in the Dead Sea, but it still has a great impact on every human's internal organs. It really cannot be used."

"Even if the Dead Sea Channel is narrow, it will be harmful to the human body. If the width is increased... the sense of oppression and heaviness will be particularly obvious, and even birds will not be able to fly."

Gongsun Bao said: "So it cannot form a complete circle, and this risk must be avoided. It is also for this reason that few people use the Dead Sea Channel on the ground, because it is indeed risky and must be kept away from people."

Zhou Yi fell into deep thought after hearing this.

Man-made high-pressure areas do have a place where they can be used...

(End of this chapter)