The second day since the major expansion of the base began.
The entire workforce of the base was mobilized, significantly increasing efficiency.
In just these two days, the forested area in the East of the base has been cleared, leaving only about a dozen trees.
This eastern forest area is on a small hill, and had a deep well before the apocalypse.
Now, the total area of the base is 180 mu, with 150 mu for the Inner City and 30 mu for the Outer City. The new Outer City under construction is planned to cover 50 mu.
This second Outer City is mainly intended for cultivation and breeding, as the current total cultivation area of the first Outer City and the Inner City is less than 60 mu, which puts considerable pressure on accommodating the current population.
In the past two days, besides clearing the forest, He Chao and others have gathered a lot of sand and gravel from the riverbank, and scavenged steel reinforcements from the surrounding cities once again.
The production of steel is not yet feasible within the base, not only due to the time and effort required but also because of the huge problem of sourcing raw materials; we can only collect stock from the pre-apocalypse steel factories.
However, the production of cement faced a significant challenge.
Along with Deng Ben, Fu Sheng, who had previously worked at a cement plant, was now brought before Li Yu by He Chao.
"Did I hear you were a technician at a cement plant before?" Li Yu asked, looking at the unimpressive man before him.
"Yes, Director Li, as I just explained to Qiang, making cement isn’t as simple as it seems. The mix and proportions are complex, and everyone knows the raw materials involved. But without rotary kilns and shaft kilns, it’s extremely difficult," Fu Sheng said with a troubled expression.
Li Yu didn’t understand these details.
But he knew one thing – professional tasks should be handled by professionals.
So, he asked, "How can we solve this? Can we manage to get the rotary and shaft kilns?"
Fu Sheng thought for a moment and said, "The cement plant I previously worked at has these devices. We could transport them here. It’s just that the equipment is rather large, we’ll definitely need to bring more people and also use a forklift."
Li Yu waved his hand and said, "No problem, talk to Li Hang about whatever people and equipment you need for the transportation; he will sort it out."
Seeing that Li Yu readily accepted his suggestion, Fu Sheng’s face lit up with excitement, "Okay, Director Li, I will do my best."
Li Yu patted his shoulder and said, "The base needs capable people like you, I’m very relieved."
Then he turned to everyone and said, "In the future, if anyone has ideas about the construction of the base or any other suggestions, feel free to talk to me. Let’s create together, just like Brother Fu Sheng here, very good."
In the presence of so many people, Li Yu praised Fu Sheng thoroughly. Fu Sheng felt very gratified after hearing it, the feeling of being recognized boosted his spirits enormously.
This time, the task of acquiring the rotary and shaft kilns also gave Li Yu an idea; there are now some small-scale factories in the base, but there isn’t a specialized area dedicated for manufacturing.
Currently, there is only an auto repair shop and a bullet production factory, both of which are small in area. Bullet production is even cramped in Weng City alongside the Research Room.
There is also an area for processing agricultural products and livestock, all located in the Inner City of the base.
Now, it was time to designate a specific area to serve as a type of industrial park.
Eventually, having various factories close together would be convenient. Some raw materials are still stored in the Inner City, such as the hundreds of thousands of tons of coal accumulated before, piled up like small hills; these could definitely be moved to the Outer City.
Thinking this, Li Yu found Second Uncle, Father Li, and He Bing’s two university classmates, one specialized in civil engineering and the other in architectural design.
"It’s , I’ve been thinking of constructing an industrial park on the current base. It doesn’t need to be very large, we can just allocate about 10 mu for now, which can later be used for manufacturing some stuff. What do you think?" Li Yu said to them.
Second Uncle was the first to speak, "That’s a good idea. When the time comes, having a unified plan will avoid a scattered layout; consolidating everything sounds good, I think it’s great."
Father Li also nodded, "I think it’s feasible."
Li Yu then turned to the two young men and said, "The design plans for the Outer City might need some revisions now, adding an industrial park. Then, research how the factory buildings could be constructed most efficiently. My requirement is that they must be extremely robust, capable of withstanding sun, cold, earthquakes, blizzards...
In short, they must be extremely sturdy. The walls of the Outer City must be the same, absolutely no skimping on materials, and even exceeding normal standards by several times. This is our future sanctuary, it must be extremely sturdy.
The wall width, 3.5 meters is a bit narrow, let’s make it 4 meters.
Everyone nodded, now fully aware that unlike before the apocalypse, every detail must be well-executed, and poor construction would be detrimental.
After discussing some details, they each left to attend to their duties.
All personnel at the base were mobilized.
As the operations within the base proceeded, external personnel who had some cooperation with the base also received the latest tasks issued by Big Camphor Tree Base.