Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 641 Road Construction

Here, only lime has a wide range of uses. It is generally used for construction, disinfection, etc.

It is also used when building roads. A layer of lime is laid, and then specially fired blue bricks are laid on top. However, this is considered a street and is basically used in prefecture-level cities, and most of the roads are in the capital city.

Ordinary official roads are basically paved with a small amount of lime, and then paved with stones and stone strips. The official road from Shangjing City to Mobei in Hualei is basically like this, of course, there are occasionally small sections paved with gravel.

As for the areas between villages, they may just use rammed earth, mud and cover them with gravel, which is considered pretty good.

After measurements and inspections by the Ministry of Works personnel, it was decided that the roadbed of the official road would remain on the original dirt road, with a curved section in the middle that needed to be straightened and both sides needed to be widened.

In the Great Sheng Dynasty, the width of the official road was generally about 13 feet, but the original roadbed was only about 10 feet wide, so it was necessary to widen it on the side. A group of people began to drive wooden stakes along the lines drawn with ash.

After the piles were driven in, they were filled on both sides with gravel, and some soil was picked up to fill the bumpy areas in the middle, and then the soil was rammed again to make it firm.

Then a layer of small gravel is spread out, and the upper part is reinforced with stone slabs. No matter which process, it is very labor-intensive, especially the transportation and cutting of stones.

In the Great Sheng Dynasty, the way to cut stones was to use a chisel and a hammer. The craftsmen would first mark the shape they wanted to cut on the stone, then hit the chisel with a hammer, gradually inserting the chisel into the stone.

By repeatedly hammering and chiseling, the stones are separated into the shapes and sizes required for paving the official road. This method requires patience and skill, but it is a very effective method and is currently the only two feasible methods.

Another method is to use a saw to cut the stone. Unlike wood saws, these saws are usually made of metal and have a serrated blade.

The craftsmen embedded the blade of the saw into the stone and pushed the saw by hand or mechanical equipment to move it back and forth on the stone. By pushing the saw repeatedly, the craftsmen can cut the stone into the desired shape and size.

No matter which method is used, it is time-consuming and laborious. But there is no other way, so some people who are reclaiming wasteland began to mine and dig stones.

Hualei had no expertise in road construction, and she couldn't make cement either. So, she just followed Minister Zhang's instructions and cooperated with the road construction.

However, she was once again conquered by the wisdom of these people. Hualei saw that because some of the stones on the mountain were too large, it was not convenient to transport and cut them.

Therefore, the people first heated the stones with firewood, and then poured water on them, so that the stones would be broken into small pieces that were easier to transport, and then transported to the kiln.

Some are calcined into lime and paved on the road, while some are directly turned into small stones on the roadbed, which are bonded together with glutinous rice lime slurry to strengthen the roadbed.

Just like that, there were people driving wooden piles, carrying soil to fill the roadbed, digging stones, and breaking up large rocks. Every process was crowded with people, busy and working from dawn to dusk.

The most feared thing about road construction is rainy days. As soon as it rains, road construction has to be stopped because the glutinous rice lime slurry will lose its viscosity once the rain falls, so the road cannot be repaired.

Fortunately, the weather this year has been relatively sunny and there has not been much rain, so even though the progress of road construction is slow, because there are many people, the official road is extending forward a little bit every day.

However, the official road leading to the new state capital requires crossing two small rivers.

It turned out that there was a simple wooden bridge less than ten feet wide over the river. Pedestrians could pass through it, but it was dangerous for horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts. In addition, the wooden bridge had been corroded for many years and was shaky. Therefore, two stone bridges needed to be built.

After inspection and discussion by professionals from the Ministry of Works, they decided to build a stone slab bridge without steps for the convenience of carriages. In the Great Sheng Dynasty, when there were no cranes, building a stone bridge was a huge project, even if the span of the river was not very large.

The raw materials for building the stone slab bridge were transported to the bridge construction site by boat. According to the points set by the Ministry of Works, stone piers were first built at a certain distance and compacted to serve as bridge piers.

Hua Lei had also read historical materials from her previous life. In ancient times, because there were no cranes, craftsmen cleverly used the tides to build the stone slabs that would serve as the bridge deck.

When the tide rises, the boat rises with it, lifting the slab and aligning it with the pier. As the tide recedes, the boat descends with the tide and the slab rests on the pier.

However, the tides in the river here are not that big, so this method is not applicable. However, because it is autumn and winter, the river water level is relatively low, so the difficulty of repairing the bridge is slightly reduced.

Finally, the craftsmen used ropes and the principle of levers to slowly place several stone slabs, each two meters long and one arm wide, on the bridge piers.

A few months later, the stone bridge was finally built. The bridge was ten feet wide, a little narrower than the official road, but it could accommodate a carriage.

The bridge is 25 meters long, with gentle slopes on both sides, which is suitable for carriages to go up and down. Protective stone railings are also installed on both sides of the bridge to prevent carriages from falling into the river, so it is relatively safe.

Moreover, for the sake of beauty, carved stone lions were installed on the railings, squatting there majestically, watching the pedestrians coming and going. Therefore, it took a very long time to build the bridge.

While the official roads were being built and bridges were being constructed, a portion of the village's manpower was also being drawn to build the roads leading to the new state capital. However, this construction was much simpler than the official roads.

There is no need to lay stones, so after the wooden piles on the roadbed are driven in, the ground is compacted and small stones are laid, and that's basically it. The technical difficulty is not great, so the advancement speed is much faster than the official road.

The road and bridge construction was still progressing at full speed. The construction of the city wall was also gradually put on the agenda, and the preliminary preparations began.

Before he knew it, the weather had turned cold. Hualei also reduced his outings on patrol and stayed at the county government office every day to do his work.

During the rest time, she would stay at home and cook delicious food. Now Jinnian could drink some fresh milk, so every day, fresh cow and goat milk would be delivered to the farm.

When Hualei was bored, she would call Zhenzhu over and let the two children play together on the kang while she and Zhenzhu each held a cup of milk tea and slowly whiled away the time.