HUN Chapter 116: Initial Completion of the Cabin!

Early the next morning, a foundation engineering team officially assembled at Wood Forest Land.

Old George drove his well-maintained old Ford, with his precious concrete mixer loaded in the truck bed, arriving as promised.

Lin Yu'an had already equipped his XCMG loader with the spiral drilling attachment rented from Fairbanks.

David and Mike stood ready in formation, knowing that a truly hardcore show was about to begin!

"Alright, boys!"

Old George shouted like an experienced foreman.

"Our first goal today is to drill through all the pile holes! Lin, you operate that loader for drilling, and I'll be in charge of directing and calibrating verticality!"

"What about Stan?" David asked curiously.

Stan smiled, "My task is to call for backup. Just us two old guys can't get much done."

Now the battle against the frozen ground officially began!

Lin Yu'an piloted the XCMG XC760K, positioning the massive spiral drill bit at the first marked point on the foundation outline.

"Right here, boy, straight down!"

Old George held a long-handled level, pressing it tightly against the drill rod, his eyes narrowed to slits, ensuring the drilling angle was absolutely vertical.

Lin Yu'an steadily operated the hydraulic controls, and the spiral drill began rotating with a deep rumbling sound.

The first meter and a half through the already-melted active permafrost layer was easy, with the spiral drill sliding in smoothly as large amounts of black mud were flung out.

But when the drill bit reached about two meters deep, accompanied by a harsh "screech"!

The spiral drill's rotation suddenly slowed, and the entire loader's body began shaking! The engine made a muffled overload sound.

Old George shouted, "Hit the permafrost layer! Steady, Lin! Reduce speed, increase torque! Use pressure to push down!"

Lin Yu'an concentrated fully on operating the two hydraulic controls, feeling every bit of resistance transmitted from the drill bit.

He continuously performed woodpecker-style operations, lifting and drilling alternately, gradually gnawing away and bringing out the hard frozen soil bit by bit.

After nearly an hour of arduous work, amid the machine's roar, the first pile hole reaching five meters deep was finally successfully drilled!

Just as Lin Yu'an lifted the drill bit out and before he could catch his breath, Stan had already arrived with "reinforcements."

"Hey, Lin! I brought you backup!" Stan shouted loudly.

Three "reinforcements" jumped down from the vehicle, all wearing cheerful smiles and proactively stepping forward to shake hands with Lin Yu'an.

Stan introduced them one by one.

He pointed to the tallest man, "This is Hank, he's the town's only pilot, responsible for all our air transport and emergency rescue."

"This is Patton, he's Athabascan Indian, the town's best hunter and guide."

"And this is Cody, he works as a mechanic at the North Slope oil fields and also maintains all the generators and water pumps in town."

A pilot, native hunter, and mechanic, these three were virtually a microcosm of the "social elite" of remote Alaskan towns.

"Hello, I'm Lin Yu'an. You can call me Lin or Hermann," Lin Yu'an shook hands with each of them.

Pilot Hank smiled, "Don't be formal, Lin. Stan told us you're building a big house here."

"We're all curious and came to lend a hand today, and also see if you're really as capable as the legends say."

Old George laughed and scolded, "Alright, enough chatter! You came at just the right time, let's get to work! Finish drilling all twenty-one pile holes and making and placing the rebar cages within today!"

This crazy plan made everyone gasp, but immediately, everyone's eyes burned with fighting spirit.

With new members joining, the entire construction site's efficiency instantly doubled.

Lin Yu'an still operated the loader for the most critical drilling work.

Old George acted like a strict quality inspector, using a long measuring rod to probe to the bottom of each hole after drilling, ensuring both depth and verticality were completely up to standard.

Stan and hunter Patton took over all the physical labor.

They took turns with shovels, clearing away the mountains of mud and ice chunks piled beside each drill hole, clearing the area for the next drilling operation.

Mechanic Cody utilized his professional expertise, studying Lin Yu'an's XCMG loader with great interest.

One by one, deep pile holes continuously appeared on the land of Wood Forest Land.

While the drilling operation was in full swing on one side, the rebar cage production assembly line had also started simultaneously on the other side of the construction site!

Old George truly lived up to his reputation as an experienced foreman, not letting anyone idle.

He brought out his professional rebar bending machine and tie hooks, giving quick technical instruction to the three strong laborers.

Old George commanded, "Patton! You're strong, handle the cutting! Use that angle grinder to cut all these threaded rebars to 6.5-meter lengths!"

"Hank, Cody! You two..."

He picked up tie hooks and wire, personally demonstrating, "Watch carefully, twist your wrist like this, and the wire tightens."

"Your task is to tie these stirrups to the main bars circle by circle according to the marks I drew. Remember, it's better to be slow than loose!"

Stan voluntarily took on the most precise work.

Using the rebar bending machine, he bent the ends of the main bars into standard 90-degree hooks to ensure they could better anchor in the future concrete platform.

This temporary rebar processing factory was amazingly efficient!

When Lin Yu'an finished the third pile hole, the first perfect rebar cage had been completed by Patton and Hank working together.

However, they soon encountered an enemy more troublesome than the hard permafrost layer: mosquitoes.

In mid-June, as the ground melted, countless puddles became breeding grounds for insects.

Thousands upon thousands of mosquitoes, like black fighter squadrons, came roaring from all directions, launching frenzied attacks on these "fresh meat" sources radiating heat and sweat.

"Oh, damn vampires!"

Hank vigorously tied rebar while continuously slapping his neck.

Lin Yu'an was well prepared. From his supply boxes, he took out complete defensive equipment: high-concentration DEET mosquito repellent, head nets covering the entire head, and several coils of mosquito incense brought from China that supposedly had miraculous effects.

"Everyone, put these on!" He distributed the head nets.

Everyone immediately put on the head nets. Though they somewhat affected vision, this thin layer of mesh isolated the most frenzied harassment.

They continuously sprayed mosquito repellent on themselves, and the entire construction site was permeated with a pungent fragrance.

The battle continued! They established a rotating rest system to handle this extreme marathon lasting more than twenty hours.

In the warm tent, Lin Yu'an had set up several additional camp beds in advance, using thin wooden poles to support large mosquito nets covering all beds, with mosquito incense burning inside.

This became their "safe house" for recovering strength in turns.

Lin Yu'an and Old George, as the technical core, always held the front line of drilling, with the XCMG loader's roar hardly ceasing.

Stan, Patton, Hank, and Cody formed two groups, alternating between rebar cage production and rest.

When one group slept for an hour in the tent, the other group endured mosquito swarm attacks outside, frantically binding rebar.

"Alright! The sixth cage is complete!"

Patton shouted, and he and Hank worked together to carefully carry the over six-meter-tall, nearly 100-kilogram rebar cage with spacer blocks tied to the bottom to the freshly drilled sixth hole.

Then they slowly, vertically lowered it into the hole.

With a muffled "thud," the spacer blocks at the bottom of the rebar cage hit bottom.

Old George immediately stepped forward, using wooden wedges to fix it in the center of the hole, ensuring even protective layer gaps between it and the hole walls.

"Next one!" he shouted to Lin Yu'an.

Then he turned to Stan and Cody, who had just emerged from the tent looking refreshed, "You two, take over! Keep making cages! Speed!"

One pile hole completed, one rebar cage in place.

The entire process operated like a precision war machine, running efficiently under the never-setting sunlight of the polar day.

Time passed minute by minute, and after a full twenty hours of continuous battle.

When the last pile hole was drilled through, everyone present let out victorious cheers! Almost everyone was too tired to straighten their backs.

However, after they calmed down, Old George shouted loudly, "Don't celebrate too early, boys! We have the vertical skeleton, but we still need to connect horizontal ribs to it!"

Under his direction, Lin Yu'an again piloted the XCMG loader, switching to the bucket attachment.

Between the pile holes where rebar cages had been placed, he quickly dug grade beam trenches about half a meter wide and forty centimeters deep.

Connecting all the pile holes into a huge "L"-shaped grid.

Cody looked at the XCMG loader and said, "Lin, your XCMG loader is really good! After working continuously for more than twenty hours, not a single problem!"

"Of course, Cody, this is pure Chinese manufacturing! If possible, you should definitely get one too!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and a joyful atmosphere began permeating the construction site.

Old George looked at the twenty-one pile holes with rebar cages installed and the grade beams, wiped the sweat from his face with satisfaction, and announced to everyone!

"Well done, guys! Today we defeated the preliminary frozen ground! Everyone get a good sleep! Tomorrow we have an even tougher battle to fight!"

Lin Yu'an slept extremely soundly that night.

Even under the bright light of the polar day, the intense fatigue quickly brought him into deep sleep.

When Lin Yu'an woke up again, it was already noon the next day.

Old George hadn't gone home last night but stayed in the tent together.

Walking out of the tent, Lin Yu'an found Old George and David grilling several thick moose steaks while Mike watched nearby, drooling.

"Awake, boy?" Old George handed him a cup of coffee.

After everyone gradually assembled, Old George began announcing today's plan.

"After this meal, we start. Remember, today's work, once begun, absolutely cannot stop! Not until the last pile hole and grade beam are filled."

"Otherwise, cold joints will form between the concrete poured first and later, seriously affecting the overall strength of the pile foundation. So we must complete it in one go, within today!"

These words instantly made the previously relaxed atmosphere serious. Everyone understood that another difficult battle lay ahead.

Old George served as general commander, with Patton and Hank responsible for horizontally placing the thick grade beam main rebar at the bottom of the grade beam trenches.

The most critical step was that these main bars needed to closely pass through the sides of the rebar cages in each pile hole.

Then Cody and Stan were responsible for placing square stirrups at intervals on the grade beam's main bars and beginning to bind them with tie hooks.

David looked somewhat confused and asked, "George, I see the grade beam rebar and pile foundation rebar aren't directly tied together. Will this connection be secure?"

Old George glanced at David, then explained, "Good question, boy! This is the mystery of reinforced concrete."

"We don't need to tie every piece of rebar together. We just need to ensure they intersect spatially! The pile foundation rebar is vertical, the grade beam rebar is horizontal, they interlace and support each other."

"Soon, when concrete, this flowing stone, is poured in, it will fill all their gaps, forming a true whole!"

This clear explanation made David suddenly understand.

After several hours of intense work, the entire foundation's "skeletal network" was finally formed.

Old George started his gasoline concrete mixer, and the iron drum began clanking and rotating, sounding the battle horn!

Stan and hunter Patton again shouldered the heaviest physical labor.

They alternately used sturdy wheelbarrows to transport cartload after cartload of sand and gravel to beside the mixer.

Mechanic Cody voluntarily took over carrying cement and adding water.

He wasn't weak either, easily hoisting fifty-kilogram cement bags onto his shoulders and pouring them into the mixer with crisp, decisive movements.

Old George, this experienced mixing master, stood before the mixer holding a shovel, judging the moisture content of the sand and stone, precisely determining the quantity of each material every time.

He also controlled the water amount, the most delicate aspect of concrete proportioning.

On the other side of the construction site, Lin Yu'an performed the most critical preparation, equipping his XCMG XC760K with a standard bucket attachment.

Then, with Hank and Patton's help, he fitted construction paper tubes made of high-strength kraft paper and special adhesives over each pile hole opening, using a level for precise vertical calibration.

"What's this? Tubes made of cardboard?" David curiously approached and tapped them, finding them exceptionally sturdy.

Lin Yu'an explained, "These are specifically for concrete cylindrical formwork. After the underground pile holes are filled, concrete will continue upward, filling these paper tubes."

"Thus forming the circular pile columns we need above ground level. After the concrete sets, we can tear off the outer paper."

After all paper tubes were fitted and secured, Lin Yu'an began the manual concrete pouring process.

In the center of the construction site, they placed a huge "transfer hopper" welded from thick iron plates.

The concrete mixed by Old George's team would first be dumped entirely into this hopper, forming a temporary concrete supply station.

Lin Yu'an piloted his XCMG XC760K loader, precisely inserting the bucket into the hopper and easily scooping up a full bucket of viscous concrete slurry.

He then steadily transported this bucket of concrete to the first pile hole.

There, Hank had already firmly fixed an equally large funnel directly above the cardboard tube form.

Lin Yu'an slowly raised and tilted the bucket, precisely aiming at the funnel's opening and gradually tilting.

The viscous concrete slurry, without the slightest waste, all slid into the funnel, smoothly pouring into the pile hole and gradually rising to fill the entire cardboard tube!

Hank immediately inserted a long electric concrete vibrator into the wet concrete.

"Buzz—"

High-frequency vibration quickly expelled air bubbles from inside the concrete, making the slurry denser and tightly wrapping around the internal rebar cage, forming a perfect whole from deep underground to above ground level.

Seeing this perfect operation, David couldn't help but cheer loudly, "Oh yeah! Beautifully done! Lin! You handle that bucket more steadily than I use a spoon to drink soup!"

Mike carried his camera, excitedly running back and forth, recording the entire construction site's work.

"Hey! Lin! Don't zone out! Next bucket! Hurry! There are still grade beams to pour!"

"Hank! Vibrate deeper! Drive all the bubbles from the bottom up!"

Old George again displayed his contractor's sense of responsibility, supervising everyone's work on site.

When the eleventh pile hole was also filled with concrete, the project was exactly half done, and Old George declared a brief rest.

Lin Yu'an took chilled beer and energy drinks from the cooler and distributed them to everyone.

Everyone sat down on the ground, tilted their heads back to drink heartily, and let out refreshing shouts.

Everyone raised their beer cans.

"Cheers! To this damn foundation!"

"Cheers! To our new neighbor!"

After the brief rest, battle resumed.

The afternoon sun became more vicious, and mosquitoes became even more rampant, but everyone had no time to care.

Only one final goal remained in their minds: fill the remaining ten holes!

Finally, when the sun began setting westward again, it was already late night.

After working continuously for more than twelve hours, the last bucket of concrete was steadily poured by Lin Yu'an into the twenty-first pile hole.

When Hank pulled out the vibrator and straightened up, he used his hoarse but incredibly loud voice to shout across the entire valley!

"Our pile foundation is complete!"

"Oh—!!!"

Everyone burst into earth-shaking cheers, thinking the most difficult work was over! They hugged each other, vigorously patting each other's backs, sharing the hard-won joy of victory!

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