The safety boundary of the vein is very clear; beyond 1.2 meters, it is all waste rock.
Maintaining the three-meter mechanical no-go zone will only result in pointless physical exertion.
By modifying the red line and granting mechanical operation permissions to certain areas, the pressure on the construction schedule can be relieved, and the workers' morale can be stabilized.
These skilled engineers are an essential force for the construction of large-scale estates in the future.
Su Wei turned around and asked Matt for a geological hammer.
He walked to the right side of the boundary line and waved his right arm.
clang!
The metal hammer slammed heavily onto the granite surface, sending stone chips flying.
A distinct white spot remained on the dark gray rock face.
He moved half a meter to the side and swung his arm again.
Clang! The second white dot.
Clang! The third white dot.
Three white dots form a horizontal line on the rock face, creating a new isolation zone more than one meter wide together with the originally marked three-meter red line.
" Matt."
Su Wei looked up and spoke.
Matt leaned out from the edge of the tunnel, looking down at him.
Su Wei pointed with the hammer handle to the three white dots he had just struck out.
"Outside of this line, small hydraulic breakers can be used. However, the power must be limited to medium or lower."
Matt braced himself against the edge of the pit with his arms, and his 190-pound body tumbled down.
The heavy work boots landed with a dull thud.
He strode to the rock face and stared down at the three white dots.
How did you determine that machinery could be used outside this line?
Matt suddenly turned his head.
"You stopped me here before, insisting there was some risk of geological resonance transmission. Now, you think it's safe just because I casually tapped it three times with a hammer?"
Su Wei raised the geological hammer and pressed the metal tip against a natural groove in the rock wall.
"The stratification line terminates here."
Su Wei spoke at a steady pace.
He slid the hammer handle outwards along the groove.
"Look outwards, the entire outside is a homogeneous structure."
"The physical properties of homogeneous granite cause mechanical shock waves to scatter in an umbrella-like pattern, resulting in rapid energy decay."
"The conditions for directional resonance propagation do not exist here."
Su Wei hung the geological hammer back on his waist clip.
The latch made a crisp click.
"If the power is controlled properly, the rock mass within this crevice will not be affected."
Matt stared at the indistinct, narrow crevice in the rock.
In his decades-long career on construction sites, granite was just granite, at most divided into hard and harder varieties.
The geological terminology and complex waveband propagation were completely beyond his comprehension.
But these professional words, coupled with his decisive actions, convinced Matt of the young man's judgment.
He didn't argue further and turned away.
He waved his right arm toward the construction team above the pit, making a downward tactical gesture.
The sound of tracks rubbing against the frozen ground drew near immediately.
A small yellow excavator drove to the edge of the pit, with a sturdy hydraulic breaker attached to the end of its robotic arm.
The operator leaned out and looked down.
Matt pointed at the newly drawn line and shouted.
"Identify the line! Operate outside the line. Set the power to medium. Try three times!"
The excavator roared as its robotic arm pressed down.
The black alloy drill bit precisely pressed against the rock layer outside the white dot.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
The violent impact echoed inside the construction tunnel, and the ground trembled slightly.
The three-hit combo ends.
A large section of frozen soil mixed with solid ice cracked at the edge, accompanied by half-meter-wide fragments of granite surface.
The gravel tumbled and rolled to the bottom of the pit.
The destructive power of those thirty seconds is equivalent to six workers wielding pickaxes and digging continuously for three hours.
Excavation efficiency skyrocketed instantly.
Matt's broad shoulders, which had been tense all morning, completely collapsed.
He opened his mouth and exhaled a large breath of white, hot air, which quickly dissipated in the cold air.
"Continue! Extend outwards along this line!"
Matt waved upwards.
The excavator restarted, and the hydraulic breaker steadily advanced along the new line.
Each strike of the hydraulic hammer was extremely restrained, precisely hitting the limit of its mid-range power.
Su Wei did not leave the bottom of the pit.
He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and stepped back to a position four meters away from the work site.
He silently observed the changes in the rock face.
Two hours passed.
The vibration of the hydraulic breaker remained completely within the homogeneous granite area, and the excavation route did not deviate from the boundary at all.
No longitudinal cracks were found inside the rock strata.
The dark red gold-bearing quartz vein was carefully protected deep within a 1.2-meter-deep artificial buffer zone.
The potential hazards in the project have been completely eliminated, and the excavation progress has been advanced by a full three meters.
Large swathes of seemingly immovable permafrost have been cleared.
Su Wei turned around and walked towards a sloping earthen mound at the edge of the tunnel.
He climbed up to the ground by stepping on the protruding rocks.
Matt is standing next to the diesel generator, pulling out the YouTube.
The pungent smell of diesel fuel filled the air.
Su Wei walked over and stopped two meters away from the generator.
"What are the names of the two workers whose names are marked as having frostbite on the expense reports?"
Su Wei asked.
" Pedro and Tom."
Matt tightened the fuel tank cap.
"Mild frostbite, some swelling in the finger joints." I told them to go to the prefab house to warm themselves by the fire, and another group will take over manual digging this afternoon.
"No need to change it."
Su Wei stared at Matt and said.
"Arrange for them to rest for three days. Let them leave the construction site and stay in town."
Matt straightened up, still holding a greasy rag in his hand.
"Although the construction schedule has been eased, it can't afford to take unnecessary holidays. If they go back to rest, the work done in the past two days will be wasted, and the progress will drop."
"Salaries will be paid as usual."
Su Wei immediately followed up with the second half of the sentence.
"Consider this a reverse compensation for the high-temperature allowance for working in extremely cold conditions. The funds will be deducted directly from my advance payment, and this bill will be listed separately."
Matt stood there, stunned.
He rubbed his rough, large hands vigorously against the side of his work pants twice.
In this wilderness, no employer would ever voluntarily give a worker with a minor injury paid leave.