aircannonsinc Chapter 32 The Impossible Challenge
Chapter 32 The Impossible Challenge
After a day of discussions by the committee, the framework for integrating national transportation resources and organizing the nuclear reactor transportation plan was finally established.
Besides engineering machinery experts, they were also discussing some technical parameters.
The other regional leaders received their assignments and went to their respective regions and departments to mobilize their colleagues to begin taking action.
Lu Yi also received a mission: he would go to the Northern Railway Bureau to organize the bureau to carry out emergency repairs on the railway.
As the "timeline recorder," Li Xiaming would naturally accompany Lu Yi to record the events that occurred.
After half an hour.
Lu Yi and Li Xiaming sat in the helicopter and landed against the wind and snow.
Before them, Zhang Tiechuan, chief engineer of the Northern Railway Bureau, along with several core staff members, were waiting, all wrapped in heavy winter clothing.
After a brief handshake, the group, without any formalities despite the freezing weather, headed to the warm, heated conference room.
"Commander Lu, Comrade Li, would you like some water?"
Zhang Tiechuan handed him the water, but Lu Yi didn't drink it. After sitting down, he went straight to the point:
"Director Zhang, your Northern Railway Bureau controls the five major railway arteries that run through the country: the 'two horizontal and three vertical' lines."
The country now requires you to restore minimum traffic capacity within fifteen days.
Two weeks later, the first batch of twelve special goods, concerning tens of millions of compatriots in dozens of cities, had to be shipped and arrive at the hub city as planned.
Zhang Tiechuan looked up, somewhat bewildered, almost thinking that his ears had been frostbitten and he had misheard.
"Commander Lu, how many...how many days?"
"Fifteen days."
"The nation now has you tasked with carrying out emergency repairs on five major railway lines covered by ice and snow within fifteen days."
"..."
At that moment, not only Zhang Tiechuan, but all the cadres in the railway bureau gasped, feeling as if Lu Yi was joking with them.
A deputy director in charge of public works couldn't help but say:
"Commander Lu, currently, due to extreme cold, freezing temperatures, and blizzards, the main lines of our Dongda railway network are paralyzed by more than 75%."
We estimate that it will take at least a month just to clear the ice and frost heave from a 300-kilometer stretch of heavy-load railway line in Northeast China, and that's assuming we have heavy machinery and enough fuel!
Opening five major railway lines in fifteen days? That... we simply can't do it!
Lu Yi said in a deep voice:
"Comrades, we would like to give you more time, but we don't have time left."
The Department of Astronomy at the University of Tokyo predicts that solar activity will further decline in the second half of the month, which means we will soon experience another global super-cooling event.
"Many cities that do not have nuclear reactors installed now have energy reserves that can't even last a month."
If we don't take action, who will our compatriots rely on?
Upon hearing this, the leaders of the railway bureau fell silent.
Lu Yi took a deep breath, looked at Zhang Tiechuan, and said:
"Director Zhang, this is the only hope for dozens of cities to survive the apocalypse of the ice age."
There are no discounts on the task; it must be completed. But what are your difficulties? What do you need? You can discuss them one by one.
We will try our best to coordinate resources for you.
Upon hearing the phrase "the only hope," Zhang Tiechuan fell silent.
He glanced at the world outside the window, isolated by ice and snow, then took a deep breath and said:
"Could I know... the specific parameters of the confidential shipment? This is related to the railway line's capacity and the transportation plan."
Lu Yi glanced at the document and said:
"The weight of the confidential shipment is estimated to be 850 tons, and its dimensions are 28 meters long, 6 meters wide, and 5 meters high."
Because it is a precision instrument, it requires absolutely stable transportation.
Absolutely stable...
The railway bureau leaders looked at each other, speechless.
The 850-ton indivisible unit also requires confidentiality and absolutely secure transportation.
In peacetime, before the apocalypse, when there was no need to repair the railway, this would have been a meticulously planned and large-scale task, requiring at least two or three months of preparation.
The Dongda Railway is now completely frozen, the condition of the roadbed is unknown, and there are only fifteen days to prepare...
Zhang Tiechuan closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again, his eyes were bloodshot, but the previous surprise and doubt had been replaced by a resolute determination.
"Commander Lu, please give me forty minutes, no, half an hour."
I need to speak with the core technology team.
"Okay, we'll wait for you here."
Lu Yi nodded.
He then watched as Zhang Tiechuan made a phone call, urgently summoning all the heads of the engineering, mechanical, rolling stock, transportation, logistics, and safety departments.
Half an hour later, Zhang Tiechuan returned with several key personnel.
Everyone looked slightly out of breath, as if they had just been arguing fiercely.
Even so, they still came up with a plan.
Zhang Tiechuan handed a handwritten document to Lu Yi and said:
"This is a preliminary list of issues that must be resolved within fifteen days."
"The first step is to de-ice and repair the lines."
"In addition to clearing the snow, we also need to break through solid ice layers that may have an average thickness of more than 1.5 meters and in some areas more than 3 meters."
And repair the rails and roadbeds beneath the ice that had deformed or even broken due to the extreme cold.
We need at least two hundred high-power thermal de-icing vehicles, rail de-icing lasers, and heavy-duty tamping machines capable of operating at minus fifty degrees Celsius. We also need rail straightening machines.
We also need skilled operators and maintenance personnel; our bureau is short-staffed and needs your help to draw them from shelters across the country.
Lu Yi turned on the voice recorder and wrote down Zhang Tiechuan's request.
Zhang Tiechuan then continued:
"Next comes the issue of power."
"The diesel fuel in most locomotives is prone to condensation at low temperatures, which will also reduce the efficiency of the batteries to zero."
To transport an 850-ton behemoth, we need at least three high-powered locomotives coupled together for traction, and we must ensure that refueling along the route is absolutely reliable.
We need special locomotives that can start and operate continuously in extremely low temperatures, or... modify the best existing diesel locomotives, add preheating and insulation systems, and use aviation-grade low-temperature diesel.
This requires the full cooperation of the Ministry of Energy and top locomotive manufacturers.
Lu Yi nodded, indicating that there was no problem.
Zhang Tiechuan then took out a blueprint depicting machinery and pointed to it, saying:
"Third, the issue of reinforcing the transport vehicles and routes."
"We don't have any flatbed trucks on hand that can directly handle the weight and size of your confidential cargo."
Extra-heavy special vehicles must be temporarily modified or assembled.
More importantly, the design load-bearing capacity and clearance of many bridges, tunnels, and curves at Dongda University are simply insufficient.
We need to urgently reinforce, widen, and even build temporary bridges at at least eighty key points along the route.
This requires a massive amount of special steel, rapid-setting low-temperature concrete, and a highly experienced bridge engineering team.