Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

Relatively speaking, Ling Fengxi spent no less time in the tunnel than Wu Yongjie.

Although the workers did not want a supervisory leader watching them work, they could not force him out. Ling Fengxi wore a work hat every day and worked with the workers in the tunnel to study working methods. Some machines would still have problems during the process, so Ling Fengxi would also study the machines when he had nothing to do.

Over time, he actually understood some issues better than the workers. When a problem occurred, as long as he was present, he could sometimes fix the problem on the spot.

By September, everyone's anticipation for warmer weather had disappeared with the increasingly cold wind.

At this time, the tunnel had advanced nearly one kilometer... In other words, under normal construction progress, the progress was still very fast, but the working conditions inside the tunnel were still put to the test.

In the summer, it felt really damn cold in this cave... Now it's winter, but the cave is gradually getting warmer, a little too warm.

Ling Fengxi knew that it was not really warm, but the thin air in the cave caused people to sweat due to weakness, giving the illusion that they were sweating because it was too warm.

Of course, at this time, the ventilation system had already begun to be laid, and the workers in the tunnel were divided into several groups, each doing their own work, but sometimes conflicts were inevitable due to various reasons.

The reason is that the space inside the tunnel is long and narrow. Sometimes two people carrying construction materials walk towards each other and find each other an eyesore. In addition, the ventilation equipment is still being laid and has not been fully put into use, which makes it easier for people to get angry. Before the ventilation equipment was fully put into use, Wu Yongjie basically acted as a peacemaker every day, handling various minor disputes.

There are also various vehicles that transport slag out of the cave, such as mining trucks. They need to transport the broken rocks out of the tunnel and at the same time transport the materials and equipment needed for construction into the cave. In the process, it can be said that the noise, personnel movement, and the parking and stacking of various equipment in the cave, all these situations combined together, have become a situation that makes people sigh and cover their eyes at a glance.

At this time, the technical department put forward new suggestions.

In fact, during the construction period, the staff of the technical department and the engineering department did not dare to be idle for a single day. In order to avoid the sudden dangerous situations that occurred in the previous times, they needed to constantly obtain various geological reports on the construction site.

These reports are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain because, as the tunnel is excavated, the mountain above the dome becomes thicker and taller, making it increasingly difficult for the survey team to conduct surveys.

The heavier the situation is, the more likely it is that some sudden and severe situations will occur inside the tunnel. In short, Yan Zhuoyu and Li Jianguo are becoming more and more scared and nervous.

Finally, they united and made a suggestion to Wu Lao Hu: use the side flat guide hole technology.

They also handed over a few pages of reports that clearly listed the advantages of the side-level pilot tunnel technology. Wu Yongjie did not dare to be careless and pulled Ling Fengxi to study the report together. In summary, they came up with the following points:

First of all, it has great advantages in geological surveying, and it is also an advanced technology widely used in tunnel construction internationally.

Yan Zhuoyu also specifically circled the word "widely", meaning that this technology is used by many people, so it is reasonable for us to use it.

With the side-level pilot tunnel technology, precise geological surveys can be conducted ahead of time, providing an understanding of the geological conditions ahead of the tunnel, such as rock type, geological structure, and groundwater distribution. This provides accurate geological information for tunnel construction. This technology is particularly important for the construction of long tunnels like the West Tianshan Tunnel, effectively preventing geological disasters when traversing complex geological areas such as mountainous areas and karst regions.

Yan Zhuoyu also emphasized the words "effectively avoid geological disasters".

Wu Yongjie and Ling Fengxi saw this and looked at each other. Wu Yongjie said, "Since it can prevent geological disasters, does this report still need to be studied?"

Ling Fengxi sighed, "This Yan Zhuoyu is so quick to shirk responsibility. He's saying that if we don't do this, then if something goes wrong, it won't be their department's fault."

Wu Yongjie actually thought the same thing, but Ling Fengxi called it out. He said, "How narrow-minded! The people in your unit are just like that. They're full of petty ideas, always wanting to take credit but not take responsibility."

This is serious.

Ling Fengxi lowered his head and continued to study the report. It said: "Through the excavation of the side horizontal pilot tunnel, the construction working surface can be increased, and the 'long tunnel short attack' can be achieved. What does this mean? It means that the working area and types in the tunnel can be increased, and various works can be carried out in a coordinated and joint manner to shorten the construction period.

This is an even greater temptation.

"Furthermore, the side pilot tunnel can serve as a ventilation and drainage channel, improving ventilation conditions within the tunnel, reducing dust and harmful gas concentrations during construction, and ensuring the health and safety of construction workers. At the same time, it can promptly drain groundwater from the tunnel, reducing its impact on tunnel construction.

Finally, this technology has been used in other large projects, such as the Daliangshan No. 1 Tunnel on the Zhongchuan-Lexi Expressway, the Dazhushan Tunnel on the Dali-Ruili Railway, and the Liangfengya Tunnel on the Sichuan-Guizhou Railway. This technology has fully demonstrated its superiority. Generally speaking, the cost of a main tunnel plus a side pilot tunnel is higher than that of a simple main tunnel. However, from the perspective of the overall benefits and safety of the project, it can effectively improve construction efficiency while reducing construction risks, and its overall cost-effectiveness is still very good.

In other words, the price-performance ratio is very high.

Wu Yongjie said to Ling Fengxi, "We are only here to do the construction. We are charging labor fees. As for the investment, we will budget it, but we need your consent."

Ling Fengxi certainly understood this.

He said, "I'll think about it."

That afternoon, he went inside the tunnel again, but felt dizzy and nauseous after just a few moments. He then took out the latest plans and data for the West Tianshan Tunnel construction, and the comprehensive data was as follows:

The total length is expected to be 15.7 kilometers, with a maximum burial depth of 2365 meters. It has the potential to become the world's largest large-section highway tunnel.

The climatic and environmental conditions are: high altitude, extreme cold, high latitude, and high earthquake intensity.

Looking at these two lines of words, his heart could not calm down for a long time.

In fact, he had already stared at those two lines of words at least a hundred or eighty times. When he received this project, he had already sighed in his heart, wondering how many people's blood and tears must have paved this road. So in his eyes, everyone who came to Xitianshan to participate in the tunnel construction was a hero with a spirit of passion and fearlessness.