I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 797 - 695: Shield Tunneling

Inside a gigantic factory, Chen Xin was following several staff members as they traversed the equally massive production line, observing the equipment being manufactured within the facility.

"Academician Chen, this is currently the most advanced shield machine in our country." A staff member pointed to a machine beside them that resembled an enormous horizontal pipe and introduced it to Chen Xin: "This shield machine employs our latest designed cutterhead, capable of handling various complex geological conditions. Whether it’s hard rock layers or soft soil layers, it can achieve excellent excavation results.

Moreover, on this shield machine, we’ve improved the conveyor belt of the soil cabin, speeding up soil transport efficiency. We’ve also enhanced other structural aspects, significantly boosting the machine’s work efficiency. Compared to previous models, this shield machine’s excavation rate and pipeline laying speed have improved by at least 12%."

Listening to the staff’s introduction, Chen Xin nodded knowingly, then approached the shield machine, examined it closely, and asked, "How fast is this machine’s excavation speed?"

Ultimately, a shield machine is used for tunneling, so excavation efficiency is paramount. The standard to measure efficiency is naturally how many meters this shield machine can advance in an hour. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"Depending on the rock strata, this shield machine can excavate an average of 1.5 to 1.75 meters every 20 to 30 minutes, averaging about 3 to 5 meters per hour, making it the fastest shield machine we have." The staff introduced it with great pride.

Don’t think this speed is slow; in fact, this shield machine’s excavation rate at this level is already quite fast.

Normally, advancing only a dozen meters in a day is quite common.

After all, the purpose of a shield machine is mainly to excavate tunnels, and during the tunneling process, to lay prefabricated tunnel segments into the excavated tunnel.

In this process, combining excavation, pipe jacking, subsequent construction, and many other procedures together, advancing a dozen meters a day is already a very fast pace.

Therefore, this shield machine achieving an average advance of 3 to 5 meters per hour is indeed a very fast speed.

But Chen Xin wasn’t satisfied, or even disappointed, with this speed.

The reason is simple. His trip’s purpose is to prepare excavation equipment for his plan to directly attack the alien bio nest, and he estimated the deepest part of the alien bio nest to be at least more than a thousand meters underground, possibly deeper.

At such depth, even if vertical excavation is undertaken, over a thousand meters at a daily advancement speed of a dozen meters would take three to four months to dig, not to mention completing support facility construction and handling battles encountered during excavation.

Considering that this is an offensive operation, requiring downward transportation of troops and various heavy equipment, as well as a large supply of ammunition and other materials used in battle, oblique downward excavation is undoubtedly much more suitable than vertical boring.

However, obliquely, based on the Pythagorean theorem, this obliquely inclined tunnel would undoubtedly be much longer than the vertical shaft, similarly extending the construction period.

Excavating slowly, of course, is not impossible.

Although military plans allocate six months, taking account of all preparations before the attack, and delays due to various unforeseen circumstances during the offensive, combined with various factors, the military plan allows for nine months and can be extended according to the actual situation.

In fact, although top officials demand shortening the counterattack time against alien beings, the military has accelerated its plans, but they are prepared for at least a year-long battle.

So if Chen Xin’s offensive plan can be completed within a year, it is still within the acceptable range for top officials and the military.

But for Chen Xin himself, one year is still too long, and he must leave surplus time for the plan, not completely relying on its smooth execution.

Therefore, excavation speed became a key factor.

"Can the excavation speed be increased?" Chen Xin asked the staff, while also examining the system upgrade interface to see if he could enhance the excavation speed through system upgrades.

The staff scratched their head, somewhat troubled, and said, "We also want to accelerate the excavation speed, but the excavation speed of the shield machine is greatly related to the material and structure of the cutterhead. With our current technology, the cutterhead we use is already the most efficient one we can make.

To increase excavation speed, we must either modify the cutterhead structure or upgrade its material, but neither of these is achievable in the short term."

As they spoke, the staff further explained the advantages of the cutterhead currently used on the shield machine and detailed its material and structure.

Although the staff didn’t know why Chen Xin was interested in the shield machine, he clearly had a need in this area, so for Chen Xin’s questions, he tried to answer as best as possible.

Listening to the staff’s explanation, Chen Xin furrowed his brow slightly. Although he could use system upgrades to enhance the cutterhead’s material and structure for greater efficiency, the potential efficiency boost wouldn’t be substantial.

According to the staff, even with improvements, efficiency enhancements would at most increase excavation speed by another 50%, which is the limit.

This is already a highly satisfactory result. As long as we can ensure this speed, we can complete the entire tunnel excavation within the originally planned timeframe, possibly even leaving surplus time.

But for Chen Xin, that still wasn’t enough, as he needed to consider a very important factor—combat time beyond excavation.

Whether it’s the alien bio nest deep within the strata itself or the large number of scattered aliens in underground caverns, time is needed for the military’s attack and clearing.

If merely digging the tunnel takes over half a year, then there’d be limited time left for military operations, which clearly doesn’t align with Chen Xin’s intent to swiftly resolve the Dongting Lake battlefield situation within a short period, in preparation for potential threats in the Middle East region.

Of course, if the Dongting Lake battlefield can’t be settled quickly, Chen Xin does have other solutions.

For instance, the military’s current offensive could be paused, turned into a defensive stance to block aliens from ascending to the surface, and troops and manpower could be redirected to reinforcing defenses in anticipation of threats in the Middle East region.

Once the defenses are ready, and excavation is nearly complete, the offensive could be resumed to tackle the alien bio issue in the Dongting Lake Region.

However, this plan is merely a backup; before that, Chen Xin still hopes to minimize the time needed for tunnel excavation.

Thus, he posed a wild idea to the staff: "Could you substitute the cutterhead with a drill?"