120 : Kingdom of Iron and Sea
mid-January,
“What if I put the materials here! It should be moved to the yard! The ship is coming this way!”
“yep!”
“Wake!”
The scene turned violently.
Really, I wondered what it would have been like if the Ulsan port hadn’t been built in advance.
Daese Construction built a breakwater in front of the shipyard, dredged the sea, and even made a quay.
Although the road leading to the inside of the shipyard had not yet been paved, it seemed that the blocks made in Yeongdo could be moved from the sea.
To be honest, I was dying to build a shipyard with an area of 140,000 pyeong in the yard alone while drawing blueprints.
105 dump trucks, 15 bulldozers, 20 payloaders, 7 excavators, 1 barge crane, etc. I had almost all of my heavy equipment poured into it.
Running back and forth against the rough sea breeze, I was hungry as soon as I turned around after eating.
“Wow! It’s bedrock! It’s bedrock!”
“Wow! Call the boss! hurry!”
The excavator that was digging the dock suddenly stopped, so I ran to it just in case, and I heard cheers from under the pit.
“What are you calling me! I’m here!”
As soon as I climbed the ladder and went down, the bedrock was revealed at the place where the first dock was dug.
“How deep is this far?”
“It is 13 m. president!”
“Hey, heaven helps.”
“Waaa!”
The dock depth specification is 12m, but bedrock was revealed at 13m. The staff at work hurrahed.
The dock exists below sea level, and it is a place where water must be filled to float the ship.
If you roughly fill in about 7m, it is like 7 tons of lifting pressure per 1 square meter, and if you lay the dock floor in consideration of the safety factor, you will have to make reinforced concrete at least 2.5m thick.
However, if there was such a hard bedrock on the dock floor, it was enough to make only 1m of reinforced concrete. That means the money is tight.
“Boss, isn’t this where I took the picture! My deceased grandfather appeared in my dream and pointed out this point. It must have been because of this bedrock. ha ha ha!”
Deputy General Manager Dan Chung-gi shrugged his shoulders, saying, “It was thanks to my dream.”
“Haha, I accept the 50% probability. Because there is no news about the second dock yet.”
It is the same area, but one side has bedrock, and the other side does not come out.
“My grandmother took a picture of it, but it’s nothing. My grandmother’s bindaetteok was delicious!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Deputy director Dan’s jokes warmed the scene for a moment. No matter how busy and difficult it is, if you have a nobleman who can cheer you up, you can endure it.
“Anyway, it doesn’t look like the bedrock will extend toward Dock 2, so we’ll have to dig a long way toward the coast.”
“If you turn it like that, because of the shape of the land, it has to be 500m instead of the dock size of 650m.”
If you insist on 650m, you will be digging a canal rather than a dock, so you had to change the design again.
Still, I was able to do this with pleasure.
“Let’s finalize the design like that. Keep the width 80m and make it waterproof. Here, porous concrete is poured in the center and both corners of the bedrock, and some of the inflowing groundwater is guided to the pump room.”
I gave work instructions to Deputy Director Dan, correcting the blueprints on the spot.
“Yes, I understand. By the way, are you installing additional plumbing on the side here as well?”
Deputy Director Dan asked while pointing out the blueprint.
“It’s a last resort, a safety relief system. If there is a power outage in a situation where there is an excessive flow of groundwater for any reason, whether it be a flood or a storm, the manhole cover will open automatically.”
If the concrete walls of the dock burst, it would be a catastrophe, rather than a manhole cover blowing off and filling the dock with water.
“Then it would be much safer. I learn every time.”
I came to know this naturally after going through a difficult previous life.
As I was building apartments in my previous life, I came to know about drainage after receiving a lot of criticism.
“Everybody learns while working. Anyway, there should be no problem holding the groundbreaking ceremony now.”
Now that the location and size of the dock have been decided, the groundbreaking ceremony is in place.
“Yes that’s right. By the way, I have something to ask of you.”
“Please speak.”
The staff stopped working for a while and looked in my direction. Aha, I’m speaking on behalf of the staff.
“Since His Excellency the President is coming, I would like the Yongwang to have a gosa. If the head of the Han Dynasty bows down, won’t the dragon king be impressed and take care of our company?”
“…yes, let me ask you.”
“Waaa!”
“thank you. president.”
Deputy manager Dan liked it as well as the staff around him.
Of course it’s a superstition, but there’s nothing I can’t do if the employees feel comfortable after going through the ceremony.
Fortunately, the president is also a man who will readily agree to this.
Even at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pohang Iron and Steel Works, he was a nobleman who asked why he hadn’t prepared a ceremony.
Come to think of it, did the invitation to have a cup of makgeolli for the New Year at the ground-breaking ceremony mean that we should prepare a high school diploma?
“Chief Dan, please dress well. May the Yongwang-nim admire you, and the President-nim too.”
“Yes, I will be fine.”
It was a groundbreaking ceremony just a few days later.
Time really passed in the blink of an eye.
****
Read at noblemtl
January 20th
Beep! Beep!
“Everyone get out of the way! danger! danger!”
“Because it’s Vicky. If you collide, you won’t even be able to pick out the bones!”
The construction site was noisy from early in the morning.
This afternoon is the groundbreaking ceremony, and a small block was delivered to Ulsan this morning from Yeongdo.
The dock to be placed is still unfinished, but it was stocked in advance to put it behind the high school.
Although it is a small 50-ton block, it will look huge to the uninitiated.
Still, in my eyes, 50 tons was too small even if it was small.
Even if you imagine a 250-ton weight by multiplying this by 5 times, it is all the same small.
With the specifications of the Goliath crane currently ordered, there is no choice but to assemble it with blocks under 250 tons.
The thought of building a 260,000-ton oil tanker with 250-ton blocks made me terrified.
‘I can’t do it. We need to build a crane that will lift at least 1000 tons. Compromising with the technology of the 60s in this way will lead to innovation.’
I was rather fortunate to see such a small block with my own eyes before putting on the crane.
He was determined to get a bigger crane, even if he had to pay more.
“Boss, you are really great. How did you come up with the idea of ordering a centipede like this?”
As I was thinking about it alone, manager Byun Young-shik vomited an exclamation next to me.
It was because of the Transporter, a block-only carriage with 80 wheels.
It was a special car that I ordered from West Germany, borrowing the 21st century design as it is.
Even though it had the name Transporter, everyone called it Centipede because it looked like a centipede.
“The goliath crane does the vertical movement, and the transporter does the horizontal movement. You have to actively use it in the process.”
The shipyard is a series of works of moving and attaching huge pieces of metal. For safety as well as work efficiency, investment in mobile equipment should not be spared.
“Yes, I understand. president.”
“You are taking notes again.”
This was the characteristic of manager Byun Young-shik.
He always carried a small notebook with him and wrote down notes. Perhaps because of this, he was a nobleman who made no mistakes in ordering and carrying out duties.
“If you make the president’s words into a work standard, work efficiency will definitely increase. Even minor safety accidents have been drastically reduced.”
Using a transporter seems to have been a new standard for Director Byun.
“If possible, research ideas for equipment you would like your employees to have. Japanese shipbuilders overwhelmed European shipbuilders with work efficiency. In order for us to beat Japan, we need to improve work efficiency and introduce advanced machinery and equipment.”
Being able to invest in new facilities was the best competitiveness we had as a latecomer.
The mainstream Joseon Dynasty was already doing well enough to benchmark Japan. This is because the production process was improved as much as possible by minimizing the production process from marking steel, surface treatment, tack welding, welding, and surface polishing.
There was even a separate team for moving materials and a team dedicated to making temporary scaffolds.
“Yes, I see what you mean. That’s why you saw the welding cap and liked it.”
Director Byun made another note.
Then I remembered something pleasant.
When I visited Yeongdo a while ago, a worker was wearing an improved welding mask.
Kevlar was added to safety glass to make it look like a firefighter’s cap, and he was wearing it on his head.
I always wanted to make it, but our staff developed it one step ahead of me.
The left hand is free to work, and it is very effective in preventing safety accidents as it can prevent sparks bouncing around the head.
“Come to think of it, did you specialize the employee who invented the welding cap?”
“Yes, I made a special promotion the same day you said it.”
The current compensation system for job inventions or ideas is insufficient, so I wanted to compensate for such A-level ideas by special promotion.
I’ll have to ask Bill Bain to make a related company rule.
I wanted to reward employees more actively so that they could come up with ideas.
“Boss, the groundbreaking ceremony is ready.”
From somewhere, Deputy Director Dan ran and pointed to the completed statue. It was also cool to see the transporter holding the blocks against the background of the blue sea behind the statue.
The shipyard was also a kingdom of iron and sea.
***
that afternoon,
“Dear citizens, distinguished guests from home and abroad. I feel very honored to be holding a groundbreaking ceremony for such a super-large shipyard today. Thanks to the support of the people… (cut out)…”
A podium was built on the sand, and under it, about a thousand employees participated in the groundbreaking ceremony in line.
Beneath the sign that reads “general guests” on one side, old people from the neighborhood wearing hanboks, middle-aged women, and even shopkeepers came to see that the president had arrived.
Moreover, watching the children pointing to the tteokgalbi piled up in the high school table and crying for it, I felt embarrassed but also somehow moved.
I wanted to let him eat whatever he wanted.
“His Excellency the President will pay tribute.”
The congratulatory speech was over, the groundbreaking button was pressed, the camera flash went off, and the Daehan News camera was running.
“Come on. The owner should pour the wine.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
On the table, not only tteokgalbi and fruits, but also whale meat was piled up like a mountain.
It’s a ceremony to say good-bye to the dragon king, and I wondered if it was okay to pile up whale meat, but that’s the mind of a person who’s prepared.
“Please let the Daesae shipyard prosper and prosper so that our ships can spread all over the world.”
After offering a full bowl of makgeolli, the president bowed first.
It was spectacular to see everyone around me bowing together.
The president pours makgeolli into the treat and distributes it to the employees, and I distribute the meat platter to the aunts with children.
***
“I’d be lying if I said it’s only been a month since construction started. I already brought a huge hull like this.”
The president also admired the 50-ton block.
It is embarrassing to even use the word hull because it is less than one hundredth of all tankers.
need to make it bigger louder!
“I am working hard. When spring comes and the weather clears up, the construction will speed up a bit. Until then, we plan to pay more attention to design reviews and overseas training.”
roughly circled around
Also, if you ask the Blue House to report the progress of the construction, won’t it get busier than usual?
He did not mention that the shipbuilding period could be shortened by using the Yeongdo shipyard.
“The owner made a lot of requests for a passport. How long do you plan to spend training abroad?”
“We plan to send 60 people per episode at intervals of several months.”
Since employees regard overseas training as a privilege equivalent to promotion, they were planning to select and send those with good work performance.
“I heard that they are also sending training to Japan, did I hear it correctly? The owner doesn’t like Japan.”
Recently, Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. sounded out a willingness to cooperate in technology and suggested training.
As expected, when we started the shipyard on our own, the Japanese shipyard was also stimulated, and they approached it in a way to put their feet down for now.
“Even if you don’t like it, shouldn’t you learn what you want to learn? It is true that Japanese shipyards dominate the world.”
“Would Japan be willing to let you know their technology? Are you trying to find a way?”
“I want to be successful even if I just feel the atmosphere. This is because Japan’s competitiveness comes from the way it works rather than the technology itself. To detail and standardize things.”
“Hmm, the Advisory Faculty seem to have said something similar. Anyway, so do you have anything to ask of me?”
The advantages of the president came out.
It is to use state power to compensate for something without spending money.
“We created a training center for skilled workers in Daesae Joseon. If you pass the graduation exam, I want you to give me a national license. A level 2 craftsman’s license would be good.”
“National license? Why do you need that?”
“I think I will be able to work harder with pride if I can make people feel that the country values industrial workers.”
National qualifications will be a motivator, and if hiring mainly those who have obtained qualifications, the personnel corruption that was done with knowledge unique to the 1960s will also be reduced.
“Inspire patriotism… If that’s the case, it’s okay to expand it to all industries. I will do as you wish.”
“thank you.”
As if it was a good idea, he took out a cigarette and smoked it deliciously.
“Since we talked, quite a bit of time has passed. What time do you want to go to Seoul? This is why we have to build the highway quickly.”
He brought up the topic of the highway subtly, but pretended not to know.
“The road out here is difficult. It’s a big deal if you meet the wrong tide and your car’s wheels come off, so stay overnight. It’s an employee’s accommodation, but it’s quite clean, so you won’t be too uncomfortable.”
The President accepted my proposal, so I did my favor.
Coincidentally, isn’t today the day armed communists raid the Blue House?
According to history, armed communists will be subdued even if left alone, but it is safest not to go near them at all.
Of course, I knew that this was a favor.