Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 929 - 621: Midnight Redeployment

At 12:24 AM, Han Yu was woken up by Yang Jianbo.

Even though he was still very sleepy, with eyes hurting from exhaustion, orders could not be ignored.

"Secretary Han, wash your face. Here's some spicy chicken feet, specially bought for you and President Hao by President Zhang to help you stay awake."

"Oh, thank you."

Han Yu didn't have time to eat the chicken feet. He washed his face, walked out of the tent, and was surprised to find the camp empty—only the tent he had just slept in remained, while the others had disappeared.

The main driver had driven back the Road and Bridge Company's excavator and was changing to the extended arm brought from home with the help of the backup driver.

The main arm is used for normal operations and only the 22-meter extended arm is used for demolishing buildings, digging river routes, foundations, deep wells, or clearing silt.

This extended arm wasn't made by the original manufacturer but by a small Japanese company specializing in modifying excavators. Brother Hao had sent the manager of Linghai International Economic and Technical Cooperation Company to Japan to customize this arm a year ago.

With a longer arm, the bucket is smaller and naturally can't dig as much soil as the main arm.

Han Yu picked up the walkie-talkie and asked, "President Hao, President Hao, this is Han Yu, what's the mission that requires an extended arm?"

"I'll come over right away and explain it to you."

"Okay."

Han Yu put down the walkie-talkie and thought for a moment, then asked, "Instructor, where's Mayor Shen?"

Yang Jianbo quickly replied, "Mayor Shen went to Jingzhou Flood Control Command. Deputy Mayor Xu invited him over. The Jingzhou Flood Control Command leadership might have considered that while we are the emergency rescue force for the Jingzhou section, we are a Reserve Forces unit. They wanted to issue orders through the 105th Army, 404th Division, but that would take a big detour, easily delaying critical time. And we can't always trouble the Head of the Military Region like yesterday, so they invited Mayor Shen to join the Flood Control Command with approval from superiors."

"Mayor Shen joined Jingzhou Flood Control Command?"

"Yes, he left with Vice Minister Li two hours ago. They came to check on you before leaving and saw you were sleeping soundly, so they didn't wake you."

"Where is everyone else?"

"All personnel and small equipment that could be loaded onto the ship have been. The first batch of personnel and equipment has already crossed the river and is being transferred to the shore. We are the last batch."

Yang Jianbo turned and pointed to the empty parking lot not far away while adding, "Jingzhou leadership realized that transferring large equipment ashore was inconvenient, so they decided not to bother the Port Authority's eight large flatbed trucks. Three hours ago, Mayor Shen sent the Port Authority's vehicles back first, and Director Liu from Changhang Bureau also returned. They were mainly worried that the eight trucks, without license plates, would be easily stopped and inspected by traffic police along the way if they didn't leave together."

How many Boat Bridge troops are there in Beihu?

Jingzhou Flood Control Command can request support from the Boat Bridge troops once but cannot expect them to do nothing else other than build shelters and bridges for Linghai Reserve Camp, nor is the construction of roads and bridges as quick and convenient as using various craft for mobility on water.

Thinking about so many people and equipment loading onto boats to cross the river made Han Yu uneasy, and he nervously asked, "Who's commanding the fleet?"

"Director Gu from the Port Authority, he arrived just after you fell asleep. Director Ge and I wanted you to get more rest, so we didn't tell you."

"I feel at ease with Director Gu in charge."

"Secretary Zheng from Lingjiang and County Magistrate Li also came by, gave us banners, and helped us sign and stamp on project documents. We should have taken a group photo, but at midnight, the lighting was poor, our main shift guys were assisting with the emergency outside, and our backup shift needed to rest up, so Mayor Shen didn't let us call them out."

The Linghai Reserve Camp's emergency operations were divided into main and backup shifts, each working for five hours before rotating.

Just when Han Yu was about to ask if Dongdong had boarded the ship, Hao Qiusheng ran over from the embankment.

"Secretary Han, Jingzhou Flood Control Command wants us to go to Angong County. Over there, a section of the embankment foot was hollowed out by floodwaters, and multiple piping seepages appeared on the inner side of the embankment. The section where the danger appeared is about twenty-five meters, ready to collapse and breach at any moment."

"Have they found the leak points of the piping seepages?"

"No, you can't see any bubbles on the river surface. The Flood Control Command has already requested assistance from the Navy Diving Academy, and navy divers are expected to arrive by 8 AM today at the latest."

"Have preventive measures been taken against the seepage points on the inner side of the embankment?"

"Rescue efforts are ongoing." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Piping seepage refers to the phenomenon where fine soil particles form a path along the structural particles under the effect of seepage. As the water's flow speed increases in soil pores, finer soil particles are washed away, also known as quicksand with water spraying up.

The diameter of the seepage can be as small as a few centimeters or as large as a few meters, forming a raised sand ring around the pores.

If timely and correct rescue measures are not taken, the situation will worsen continuously. Massive flooding and quicksand will lead to the destruction of the soil's structural framework, the expansion of conduits, and soil erosion, causing collapse and breach in the embankment!

Beyond just rescuing piping seepages, the water-side foot of the embankment has also been hollowed out by floodwaters, meaning that even without the piping seepage, the embankment is on the verge of collapsing and breaching at any moment!

Although it may not seem as dangerous as the Old Temple Gate with its cracked gate walls and irregular "fountains" on the inside, in reality, its danger level is far higher than the Old Temple Gate, which is part of the Yangtze River embankment.

After all, the Old Temple Gate was cast in reinforced concrete. Despite cracks, the reinforcement inside has not been entirely severed, maintaining relative stability with some structural strength.

Seeing the No.1 excavator getting its extended arm replaced, Han Yu realized what "Brother Hao" intended to do for the rescue and asked, "First, we find the leaks, then think of ways to plug them. After that, throw stone materials into the river and use the excavator to push the stones into the hollowed embankment foot, to see if we can temporarily hold up the embankment?"