This Is How I Became a Chaebol

125 : Midnight Hammering

“Tell me calmly. What about the dock!”

It was clear that people had a lot of trouble, seeing that their complexions were earthy. I quickly put on my raincoat and ran out.

“Boss, the large eastern wall of Dock 2 is swelling up! It looks like the groundwater is on the verge of bursting.”

“That can’t be the case, Deputy Director Dan. We’ve explored water veins twice!”

The big wall refers to the wall of the dock.

Even if only the first reinforced concrete finish is finished, there is no way the large wall will swell. For that to happen, a lot of water pressure is required.

I didn’t understand at first.

Obviously, after a geological test, we started digging the dock in the most suitable site.

“Last year’s drought was so severe that the underground water vein itself seemed to have dried up. It has been raining for the past few days, so the underground water vein has filled up again, or if the water vein has been touched during construction… the cause is unknown.”

not. It is not digging a tunnel, and there is no way that a new water vein will be revealed.

Is it really because of the drought?

In severe drought, groundwater levels may temporarily drop.

In particular, in the case of this coastal area, there are occasional topography in which seawater flows backward through an underground water vein, but I have not heard of such a topography in the East Sea.

Most of those places are developed as salt farms, so I don’t know… Shit, the Ulsan Petrochemical Complex was originally a salt farm.

Then, there may have been an underground water vein near here through which sea water could flow. Damn… I was so relieved that it was originally the Hyeonsan Shipyard.

“this…”

When I ran, I saw that the concrete wall had swollen to the point where I could see it.

It was fortunate in the middle of the concrete finish.

If the earthen wall collapsed without even that, a major disaster would have occurred.

Groundwater is a very dangerous entity in civil engineering.

At first, it starts with a rippling flow, but at some point, as one waterway pulls another waterway, it becomes ferocious like a waterfall and collapses the surroundings in an instant.

Water veins should never be routed inward.

You have to open a waterway to get out of the site.

“Quickly take out the equipment! What are you doing!”

Already, the foreman was making a fuss about removing equipment from the dock.

“no! Except for the equipment, what else!”

“Oh, boss!”

I jumped into the dock and took the foreman’s megaphone.

“If you step down from here, the mainstream Joseon will be ruined. Not only did the three-month construction work fly away, but the orders we received also flew away. We must defend the dock on our own!”

If the water vein connected to the seawater bursts, it is impossible to sell a dock again in this area. It’s crazy to sell another dock while fixing a place that has turned into a quagmire.

No matter how much we are, we can’t match the air.

“Boss, what should I do! Please let me know.”

The expression of the staff hardened a lot at the word of ruin.

In short, Daese is the best workplace in Korea.

“It has to be supported by a wall. Get the props, come on!”

I pushed the truck drivers and mechanics.

In the dock, the water was already up to my ankles even though the rainwater was pumped out.

It seemed that water was coming in from somewhere.

I hurriedly climbed into the dump truck and backed it up against the wall.

“what are you doing! The boss told me to support you.”

Dan jumped into the dock and propped up a steel shoring between the bulkhead and the truck.

I had to buy some time.

I dipped the water seeping out of the lower part of the giant wall and tasted it.

‘Damn it, it’s seawater.’

Somewhere, an underground water vein meets the sea.

Since the dock is below sea level, water veins are constantly applying positive pressure to the dock walls.

“Chief Dan, the drain I was talking about! Did you bury the emergency pump you told me to bury!”

“Yes, I buried it. Buried!”

“Turn the pump to full power. Come on.”

“Yes! president.”

Weee

“Everyone gather, emergency!”

I sounded the emergency siren on my megaphone.

All the staff who didn’t know what to do as I moved the props rushed to my side.

It rained, but nobody cared.

With every breath, white smoke came out.

“See that sheet pile over there!”

“Yes! president.”

“100 people from here. Drive plank piles along the lower part of this eastern giant wall, regardless of means and methods. Right Now!”

The artisans in the direction I pointed to dispersed in an instant. Sheet piles have to be installed after installing a large wall with a water barrier and compacting the ground, but now it was not a situation to argue about that. Blocking the waterway was an urgent priority.

“5 people per group! Fuck you! hurry!”

Field supervisors pressed from all sides.

In the 21st century, it would be driven in with a vibrating hammer in an instant, but now there was no choice but to do it manually.

Led by the field supervisors of the first golden bell, technicians climbed onto the scaffolding and began to drive in alternating board stakes over 2m with hammers.

“The rest follow me. Get a shovel or pickaxe or whatever, come on.”

“Everyone go after the boss!”

“The pile driver, auger (construction drill), and bulldozer are all driven. Hurry up!”

“Yes.”

A few hurriedly ran into the darkness.

I climbed onto the dock and ran over the eastern wall. There is a water vein connected to the sea somewhere here.

“Listen, everyone. There must be a place where the salty water is gushing out somewhere. We have to dig through it and divert the water towards the sea. If the water vein bursts toward the dock, it’s over. Find me!”

“Everyone scattered and found. Dig!”

I started digging the ground with a pickaxe.

How many times have you hit the ground? It was full of water.

I dipped the water and tasted it.

It was bittersweet.

“Two, it’s not here.”

“Dig the ground and taste the water. The boss does.”

“Dig the ground and taste the water.”

“Find some salty water. scattered.”

Everywhere saw my actions and scattered.

Daesae employees had no doubts about my actions.

Everyone dug the ground and tasted the water.

Obviously, it’s around here.

If the concrete wall was blown up like that, it would surely be spraying water even to the ground.

Someone drove a bulldozer and overturned the ground.

Heavy equipment swept the ground, digging with shovels and pickaxes from all sides. Those who did not have personal equipment even lit a flashlight. Then, if someone collapsed out of their strength, they would be replaced right away.

“president! Here it is. Salty water comes out!”

“Where are you, where are you!”

I rushed towards the shout.

Water gushed out from the knee-deep dig, and when I tasted it, it was clear that it was seawater.

“Bring all the piles and augers this way. hurry!”

“Oh, oh, oh! Over there, over there!”

There were flashes from all sides and all the pile drivers and augers we had came rushing in.

There are only three of them because it is a heavy equipment for driving piles, but at least it was very sensitive.

“Drill in here. We have to pierce the water vein and let it flow toward the sea.”

“Yes, boss.”

bang! bang! bang! drooling. drooling.

The pile driver and the auger each drove a steel pipe into the ground and began to drill through the ground.

pop!

It didn’t take long for the groundwater to spurt like a fountain.

Damn, how strong is the water pressure?

“You can’t stop. Dig in as many places as possible. Come on.”

“Yes, boss. Don’t worry.”

Those who handle heavy equipment were those with thick bones in the field. The ground water hit the stretch pile driver, but it drilled another hole next to it regardless.

“The rest of us have to drive board stakes. Whether it’s an H-beam, a pipe, or anything else, I put it in. We must protect the dock from those water veins.”

“Waaa!”

I took steel piping piled up in the yard and hammered it into the ground.

A particularly warm winter, a severe drought throughout last year, rain for the past few days, a peculiar terrain connecting water veins and sea water… Somehow, it was like an ordeal imposed on me by the dragon king.

bang! bang! bang!

It was so damn good that it stuck to the ground.

The fact that the land was liquefied meant that the groundwater was about to be covered.

“Hurry up. If the ground becomes softer than this, it collapses here. Come on!”

The ground began to squirm, as if it were a monster eating us.

can’t be eaten

This is my territory.

It’s my shipyard.

“aaa”

bang! bang! bang!

Everyone hammered like crazy.

“Get the file.”

“Even if it’s an H-beam, fuck it, you idiot.”

There was an uproar from all sides to ram things into the ground.

Next to it, the work of cutting the H-beam with an oxygen cutter was in full swing.

“Deputy Director Dan, contact the Ulsan Industrial Complex. They ask for all the heavy equipment and materials. Come on.”

“Yes!!”

When I came up from the dock, the conductor was also hammering, so I drove him to the office.

It was fortunate that Deputy Director Dan was visible in the middle of it.

It means that the emergency pump was turned on and the board stake was driven into the dock as much as possible.

There was no rush to ask if it was okay.

Now I had to put something more into the ground.

pop! pop! pop!

On the side of the pile driver, seawater gushed out like a fountain whenever the ground was drilled.

If the water pressure was reduced just a little bit, gravel or sand would be put into the hole to compact the ground, but it was frustrating.

“What the hell, when will it be low tide?”

“aaah, Shit.”

“It’s… low tide?”

Someone talked about the ebb tide.

The East Sea is deep, so the difference between the tide and the tide is not severe, but it has a significant effect on the groundwater level.

Come to think of it, it is now about a week after the Great Full Moon. So, when the dawn is the highest low tide?

“What time is it?”

“Yes?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s 4:15 in the morning.”

I ran out naked, so someone informed me.

It was just right. About an hour left until the maximum ebb tide. Now was the chance.

“There, the truck! 1Are there any pebbles from digging the dock? Bring it to the fullest. I’m going to put them all in the hole over there.”

Let’s use a ground compaction method called stone column. As such, it is most effective in geology with a soft clay layer partially on a sandy base.

“Yes, I understand.”

At low tide, when the water pressure drops for a moment, pour gravel into the hole and hit it with a hammer to compact the surrounding ground.

When the ground is compacted, water veins that are entangled like a spider’s web may be closed.

Please.

‘Let’s do it. Let’s do it. Let’s do it.’

I’m not sure, but I had to try.

If we give up the second dock like this, the shipyard will be over. It’s not about stopping construction. Didn’t you sign a contract to pay the principal as well as the penalty if the ship delivery time is delayed?

When the thought reached that far, goose bumps ran through my body.

“I brought it. president.”

“Pour it! Pilgrim Knight! I’m going to put crushed stone in this, so hit it with a hammer right away.”

“Boss, look at this water pressure. It seems like everything will come out.”

The pile driver was in tears.

“It will be low tide soon. let’s do it! I have to try.”

“Yes, boss.”

“The auger keeps drilling holes in the back of the pile. We need to lower the water pressure a little bit.”

“Yes!”

It had to be done or not.

You can’t sit down without trying.

If we can’t catch the water even at low tide, we lose.

“Let’s do it! Let’s do it!”

“Okay, let’s do it! I’m driving a stake too!”

Everyone shouted in unison.

As the excavator driver put gravel into the excavation pipe, the driver drove the hammer.

Even when I hit the hammer, muddy water gushed out like a fountain, so I couldn’t tell if the ground was compacted or not.

The pile driver had already sunk 50 cm to the bottom. I didn’t know if the ground would hold up or not.

Looking back at both the past and present lives, it was the first mess like this.

Employees were driving H-beams and steel pipes to keep the melting ground from advancing towards the dock.

Despite the appearance, my legs gradually lost strength. I wanted to sit down.

baaang. baaang.

It was then. The sound of a clown came from far away.

The heavy sound was the sound of heavy machinery.

“Wow!”

“Chief Wu, I heard there was an accident.”

All sorts of heavy equipment were rushing in from somewhere.

It was literally phosphoric acid.

At the forefront were Deputy General Manager Dan and President Wang of Hyeonsan.

“Chief Wang.”

“I will say goodbye later. How can I help you?”

Boss Wang jumped out of the truck.

It was very welcome, but I had to hear how he got here later.

“Dig a hole here. And on this side, put everything that could be a car board.”

“These are materials borrowed from the Ulsan Industrial Complex. Get down, come on!”

“Yes, Captain Dan.”

While I was talking, Deputy Deputy Dan spilled steel pipes from the truck. I sent the conductor to Dan to ask for help, and he drove a truck.

How far did you run?

“Everyone heard! Show the ability of Hyunsan Construction!”

“Yes, boss.”

The force of Hyunsan Construction employees was also formidable.

After looking around, I drilled a hole with an auger and pushed a pile driver into the place where the water flow came out.

As little as five piles of heavy equipment came rushing in.

blank. blank. blank. drooling. pop! pop!

When three pile drivers and two augers were combined, the level was different from before.

I could feel the water flowing like a fountain heading toward the sea, and the pile driver was compacting the ground.

The muddy ground gradually began to harden.

“Wow! The water is draining!”

“The ground is dry!”

“Boss, the water is… the water is draining. The swollen giant wall is sinking.”

The conductor ran up and shouted. Whether it was rain or tears, his face was smeared all over.

Pussss…

Soon the rain subsided.

Is the dragon king taking care of you now?

“The big wall is safe. You worked hard all night!”

“Wowaaa!”

“hurray! hurray!”

Only then did people release the hammer and hurrah.

Suddenly, dawn broke and the gray surroundings began to brighten.

Wherever the eyes reached, all kinds of iron were tightly packed, and steam was rising from people’s bodies.

“Hey, it’s hot, just like the popular people have heard. Did you stop this?”

President Wang also looked around the scene and shook his head.

Then, with a familiar skill, he put the waste wood into the drum and set it on fire with an oxygen cutter.

“Everybody melts first. Then, if you catch a cold, you won’t be able to work from tomorrow.”

“Wah ha ha ha.”

It would have to be said that it was like the 1960s to think about working even after going through such an uproar.

“How did you come here? It felt like the arrival of thousands and thousands of horses.”

“I was just loading materials because there was a power plant expansion project in the Ulsan Industrial Complex. But when Deputy Chief Dae-se asked for help by turning on the loudspeakers throughout the Ulsan Industrial Complex, they all followed. ha ha ha.”

That’s why so many people came.

On one side, Dorim Construction personnel were also visible.

I was so grateful that I even wanted to bow down.

“thank you. I will definitely repay this favor.”

“Grace. How many times has the boss helped you? Anyway, the dock looks like it’s going to look weird.”

President Wang changed the topic as if it was nothing special.

“It’s dock-shaped… I see.”

The day was bright, so the scene came into view properly.

When I put a water barrier around the east side of the second dock, the dock became a T shape.

I don’t know whether to say it’s absurd or call it a blessing, but the second dock has become a 21st century dock design.