Chapter Sixty Unexpected Discovery

  Gaoyan Tunnel is known as the most dangerous tunnel in Yongping, with steep cliffs and sandy soil, making it difficult to protect against geological disasters, which occur here all year round.

  The new bridge site of Gao Jianyu, Zhang Qingyun got off the bus and walked for more than half an hour to arrive. The new bridge is 80 meters high, and the concrete structure of the bridge's piers on both sides has been completed. At this time, the construction site was quiet, and the bridge had apparently stopped work.

  Zhang Qingyun stood on the bridge and looked down, feeling a wave of dizziness. Although it was not yet the flood season, the gully below was still dry, but Zhang Qingyun knew that before long, the water would be surging beneath, and at that time, trying to pretend to be elegant from such a great height would be even more difficult.

  After walking around the construction site, Zhang Qingyun didn't gain much, but he still carefully discovered that there were no tools for installing molds on the construction site. He couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. According to common sense, after the bridge is built, it should be installed with molds and arches. How come this road bridge company didn't prepare? Could it be that they calculated that the government had no money to pay?

  With this doubt, Zhang Qingyun wandered around and soon walked to the construction site's shed. At this time, there were not many people in the shed, but just as Zhang Qingyun was about to take a look inside, he was called out by someone.

  "Hey, buddy, what are you doing? How did you get into the workshop?" The other person was a middle-aged man in his 40s, dressed simply and should be one of the road bridge company's personnel left to guard the construction site. Judging from his accent, he should be from Wude.

  "Oh, big brother, hello! I'm just taking a stroll, I've long heard that Gao Jianyu is the most dangerous place in Yongping, and I've always wanted to take a look. It's indeed famous for a reason!" Zhang Qingyun said with a smile, while handing over a cigarette from his pocket, which immediately eased the middle-aged man's expression.

  "Hey! Big brother, I see the situation here is going to build a bridge, are you guys the ones building the bridge?"

  "Good eyesight, buddy! We're from the Tianhe Road Bridge Company. You've heard of Tianhe Road Bridge, right? Heh heh, this bridge was built by us." The man said with some pride.

  "Hey, Tianhe Road Bridge! That's a big company! The treatment is not bad, right? But why has the bridge stopped work?" Zhang Qingyun said with feigned flattery.

  That guy was obviously very pleased, his expression even more complacent, and he smiled foolishly: "The salary is not too high, I am a formal employee, 1500 yuan a month." He smiled foolishly for a moment, then said: "I see that you guys are dressed quite well, but when it comes to repairing bridges, you're just an amateur. Now we have to wait until the flood season is over before we can start work. Otherwise, when the water rises during the construction process, the bridge will deform or even collapse. That's not a joke, it's a matter of hundreds of millions of dollars."

  Zhang Qingyun nodded vaguely, got a chair and sat down, continuing to get close to him. Before long, the two became more enthusiastic. The brother who stayed in this desolate mountain wilderness guarding the construction site had already lost interest in talking about birds, and once the topic was opened up, he began to talk nonsense.

  "Brother, you have no idea! Repairing this bridge is also a thrilling job! This bridge alone has already claimed three lives since the start of construction. I, Liu Dahan, have been repairing bridges for a lifetime, but it's still my first time to encounter such a tough nut to crack."

  Zhang Qingyun also nodded in agreement, saying that building a bridge under such geological conditions is indeed very difficult. The engineering machinery can hardly be used, and Zhang Qingyun has looked at the data, according to which one of the bridge piers on this side extends more than 80 meters underground, costing over 100 million yuan.

  "But what can we do if the bridge isn't repaired? The dam of the Duck River Hydroelectric Power Station is about to be closed, and all of this below will be flooded. Brother, you know the Duck River, right?"

  "What?" Zhang Qingyun said in feigned surprise, "After the Yazi River Dam is closed, everything below will be flooded? My goodness, then you must hurry up and repair this bridge, or it will be too late."

  "Who says it isn't?" The man sighed and said, "But the bridge's construction has been delayed, it was only completed in mid-January this year, and there's no time for the arches now. As it happens, the Yongping County government didn't have the money to pay, so the company took advantage of the situation and stopped work. Otherwise, if they had sued, who knows how much money the company would have lost?"

  Zhang Qingyun's heart skipped a beat, and her mind suddenly cleared up. No wonder she hadn't seen the mold for making wontons earlier; it turned out to be like this. If that was really the case, then the Yongping County Committee and Government had been wronged to the extreme.

  Suddenly, Zhang Qingyun's face changed, and he vaguely remembered that he had seen the file about Gao Jianyu Bridge yesterday, which clearly stated that the completion date of the bridge was early December last year. This time doesn't match!

  "There's a trick in here!" Zhang Qingyun thought to himself, and as soon as he had this idea, he couldn't sit still anymore. He casually exchanged a few pleasantries with the man, then made an excuse that he had other things to attend to and left first.

  Zhang Qingyun came down from the construction site and immediately ran to the side of the road, trying to wait for a passing bus back to Yongping. However, after waiting for more than an hour, not a single bus had passed by. At this point, his stomach was growling with hunger, so he could only go to Gaojianyu Village first to find a restaurant to fill his belly before doing anything else.

  During the interval when the restaurant owner was cooking, Zhang Qingyun hurriedly dialed Li Gang's mobile phone to report the situation in a timely manner. However, no one answered after four calls, which made him even more annoyed.

  The restaurant was located at the head of the old bridge in Gaizhuang Village. After finishing his meal, Zhang Qingyun rushed out of the door and headed straight for the old bridge. He had read "Yongping County Annals" and knew that this old bridge was built in the late 1950s. He couldn't help but sigh, thinking that the country's productivity was so low in the 1950s, yet this bridge could be built. But now, more than 40 years have passed, why is it so difficult to build another bridge?

  Suddenly, he had an idea and thought that when the country was building this bridge, what did they do when the flood came? At that time, there were no steel reinforced beams. With such a high distance, a slight rise in water could cause the wooden beam to collapse instantly. As soon as he thought of this, Zhang Qingyun decided not to return for the time being and turned around to walk towards Gao Jianyu Village. He was going to find an old man to ask.

  Hard work pays off for those who are diligent. He walked around the village and indeed got some gains. The old man in the village gave him an exciting answer, that is, along the river under the bridge 50 miles upstream, there is the boundary of Yannan Township, and this river runs through Yannan Township.

  Yan Nan Township is located in a high position, but the other side is flat and has Yan Nan Reservoir. In the 1950s, when building bridges, the method of upstream interception was implemented. When there is little water during normal times, the Yan Nan Reservoir is drained, and the irrigation canals on the Yan Nan side are used to divert river water and reservoir water into the irrigation canals, allowing the water to flow along the canals and enter some underground caves on the Yan Nan side.

  When a flood occurs, use reservoirs to block water, and repeat this process over and over again, cutting off the entire river.

  Zhang Qingyun got the answer and couldn't stay any longer, hastily running out of the village to wait for a car by the road. He had to return to Yongping today to report the situation he understood to Li Gang, Zhang Qingyun thought this might be the only chance for the project to be completed on schedule.