NABC Chapter 136 "Replacing" the Boiler
Chapter 136 "Replacing" the Boiler
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The next morning, Xiaowei and Xia Maosheng got up at seven o'clock, washed up, and got ready. They went out for breakfast around eight o'clock. Xia Maosheng went to the Labor Bureau, while Xiaowei went directly to the training center.
When Xiaowei arrived at the training center, Master Chang and his apprentices had already arrived. They brought everything except the large boiler. The pipes alone filled most of the truck. They also needed to replace the water pipes. These days, heating pipes and water pipes are all made of 6-point iron.
Xiao Wei opened the large iron gate in the yard that allowed cars to pass through, and two 141 trucks drove straight in, all the way to the pentagonal flower bed. A group of young men jumped down and began unloading the goods.
Master Chang got out of the car, looked around, and asked Xiao Wei, "What are they used for?"
Xiao Wei pointed to the house and said, "This row of bungalows, the one at the front with the high ceiling was the original boiler room. We had to heat everything ourselves. I plan to make this one into a kitchen, so I need to connect water pipes. I estimate that all the water pipes in the building will need to be replaced; they're basically all rotten."
Master Chang glanced at it and said, "This area is quite large. You guys are up to something big. You didn't bring enough radiators. Check if the ones upstairs can be used. If not, go and get more. I'll go check the boiler."
The two walked over to the foreman's side. Xiao Wei opened the door to the boiler room, which was filled with dust. The original boiler was tilted to one side for some reason, standing there crookedly. There was some coal in the corner, and a lot of chopped firewood was piled up along the wall.
Master Chang walked over to the boiler and looked at it, saying, "This was originally built by the military. There used to be a water tank underneath, but they don't install it like that anymore. It's been around for a long time, and this side collapsed, so the boiler is tilted."
He walked around the boiler, tapping here and there with his small hammer from time to time, and said to Xiaowei, "It's not a big problem. The main body is still usable. We just need to replace the pipes. However, it's a bit troublesome to straighten it, and the space is too small. It's not good to weld inside. The exhaust is slow, and people inside are prone to poisoning. Forget it, let's replace it with a new one. I'll take this back and repair it. It'll save you the cost of the boiler."
Xiao Wei followed Master Chang around and, after hearing the question, asked, "How much does one of these cost?"
Master Chang said, "This is a steam boiler. It can heat about 1,000 square meters, and it uses about 0.3 tons of coal per hour. This kind of boiler was considered advanced back then, but it's outdated now. We'll have to add things to it when we go back. If you include the installation, one of these boilers will cost about 50,000 yuan."
Xiao Wei exclaimed, "Ah!" and said, "So expensive?"
Master Chang laughed and said, "The boiler itself isn't that expensive, but it still needs to be installed. The foundation and piles cost money, and there's labor involved. We have to dismantle the roof, use a crane to lift the boiler out, then lift the new one in, install it, and then put it back on the roof. Understand? Your foundation should be usable. Back then, military-grade boilers were of top quality, so we can save money on that. Anyway, in the end, the extra cost is all yours. Why are you thinking about all this?"
Xiao Wei still didn't understand, and Master Chang just smiled and didn't explain, continuing to calculate in circles.
Before long, the truck was unloaded, and Xiao Li ran in to report. Master Chang said, "Have someone dismantle the roof, and have Lao Sun bring the crane over. One small crane is enough for this furnace." Xiao Li agreed and ran out again.
These days, there are few cars, and they arrive quickly, in about twenty minutes. Just as seven or eight people had finished dismantling most of the roof, a horn blared, and the crane arrived. Old Sun was driving it again. Xiao Wei was surprised, but Master Chang laughed and said, "An accident? Let me tell you, these old folks are all jacks-of-all-trades! Old Sun isn't just good with truck cranes; he can handle fire trucks and locomotives too. He was a decorated officer back in the day. Now, tsk tsk." He shook his head, turned to Old Sun, and shouted, "The anchor bolt is rusted to death. Can I just use a welder to pull it out with a few taps?"
Old Sun climbed down from the crane, went inside and looked around, and said, "If the angle is right, there shouldn't be any problem. I'm just worried about pulling it at an angle. This crane isn't strong enough to pull the base."
Master Chang said, "Okay, I'll take the position. You guys, hurry up, smash it up, and then we'll replace it with a new one."
The people on the roof sped up, and the speed of direct destruction was indeed much faster than complete demolition.
Here, driver Sun positioned the crane, raised the boom, and followed Master Chang's instructions to adjust the position and angle before slowly lowering the guide cable.
Master Chang looked up at the boom from inside the building, thought for a moment, connected the welding machine, and without even taking a mask, directly used the welding torch to lightly touch and heat the area. After a while, he put down the welding torch and said, "Come on, put it down and try lifting it up."
Xiao Wei stood to the side watching, and Master Chang said, "Stay away, don't touch it later. This whole base is solid, and it's incredibly strong. If it shifts and picks up anything, it'll be like a bullet."
Xiao Wei quickly obeyed and ran outside; this was not the time to play the hero.
Master Chang calculated and welded a few hooks to the bottom of the boiler, then hung the slings on, directed the tightening, and then everyone retreated outside, while Driver Sun lifted the load.
The crane roared as the steel cable tightened, and a distinct creaking sound came from inside the room. They were pulling the boiler down from its base. This kind of operation is actually a bit dangerous and could easily cause an accident, but everyone had experience and since it was in an enclosed space, they just needed to get out of there.
After tugging a few times, Master Chang waved his hand to stop, told Driver Sun to loosen the sling, went inside and fiddled with it for a while, then came out and started hoisting again.
After several attempts, with a crisp sound, the boiler was finally pulled up and slowly rose, emerging from the roof. It didn't look that big from the ground, but once it was in the air, it became clear that it was quite a large thing.
The boiler was placed directly onto the truck and secured with steel cables from all sides. Only then did the crane release the slings, causing the entire truck to sag and shrink.
Driver Sun put away the crane, climbed down, got back onto the truck, and took the boiler back. He would have to bring the new boiler over in a little while, but there was a gantry crane there, so he didn't need the crane.
Master Chang started directing his apprentices to work. Because the boiler models were different, almost all the pipes had to be redone. In fact, even if the boilers were the same, they would still have to be redone, since they were all broken and had been thrown away for who knows how many decades.
They were all skilled workers, chatting and laughing as they worked, and they were incredibly fast.
Master Chang squatted down and looked at the base. After thinking for a while, he had an idea. He turned around and called his apprentice to get him tools and materials. They started welding with a hissing sound. The apprentices couldn't do it yet; it wouldn't work if it was even slightly off.
It turned out there were water troughs on both sides of the boiler. The boiler tilted because one side of the trough collapsed. Nobody knew what they were for; Lao Chang didn't say, and Xiao Wei didn't know either. Several apprentices cleaned out the troughs, welded a support frame out of iron pipes, covered it with a steel plate, and welded it securely. There were some damaged areas on the ground, caused by removing the boiler. The apprentices quickly cleaned the damaged areas, repaired them into shallow, square openings, cut iron plates, inserted them, and then used a welding torch to smooth the edges, making it solid. They clearly had a lot of experience with this kind of work.