Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 528
Chapter 528: Chapter 190: A Bountiful Haul of Supplies, Elder Qu’s Advice!
But even so, shouldn’t the price be pressed down like this?
This production is virtually a pure loss-making deal.
“Loss-making?”
Cheng Ye suddenly paused, had a moment of clarity, and instantly understood why the habitation modules could be sold so cheaply.
What is considered a loss depends on whether production materials rely on external imports, constrained by hard costs.
Or whether raw material acquisition requires payment for transportation and processing fees, which accumulate layer by layer to create a calculable loss.
But the main prefabricated panels of the habitation modules use crushed bricks and rubble from demolished ruins as aggregates, mixed with a bit of cement and pressed into shape, with a thickness of only 15 to 20 centimeters, with just an iron wire mesh laid internally to enhance overall integrity.
These panels require no complex equipment, and raw materials can be casually recovered from the ruins of Chuan City, or even molded and cast on site, with the cost of a single panel only one-quarter that of ordinary reinforced concrete panels.
Although the strength has decreased to C20 or even C15, it’s sufficient to support everyday living loads.
As for non-load-bearing partition walls, they’re simply pressed from old plasterboards or hard cardboard, embodying the true characteristics of Wasteland building materials.
What cost is there to speak of?
The only things of slight value are the connectors, but for Happiness City, which stands on industrial footing, the warehouse is likely piled high with these types of components, so offering them at a loss to support satellite city development is reasonable.
“Since it’s priced like this, the approach needs to change!”
Cheng Ye glanced at the remaining 17 points in the top right corner, hesitated slightly, and decisively removed some materials intended for repairs of the supermarket and government building from the shopping cart.
His original plan was to first fix these ruins temporarily as resettlement points, but now that habitation modules are cheap like this, procuring a batch with the infrastructure points for assessment is an absolute steal!
As for concerns others have about winter warmth and lifespan issues,
Is that really a problem?
If the habitation modules were isolated and placed on open ground, it would indeed be a concern.
But satellite city development isn’t solely reliant on one type of building; other structures can completely complement them.
He doesn’t even need to think hard; countless ideas are already in his mind.
For example, planning gradient building layouts, taking advantage of Happiness City’s characteristic strong northwesterly wind in winter, by placing taller public buildings on the northwest side to form natural windbreak walls, reducing heat loss in the living areas.
Or connecting habitation modules with public buildings using corridors to create semi-enclosed courtyards, preventing cold winds from penetrating while benefiting from the heat island effect of building clusters for warmth.
If worse comes to worst, he could gather some commonly found outdoor vines and plant them into a multi-layer windproof greenbelt as well.
Complementary design is indeed an essential skill for graduate studies in civil engineering, and as a top student, Cheng Ye is well-versed in it.
But for a group of “coarse” Inspectors, this would be too difficult for them.
Even if someone like Engineer Liu offered tips to offset the habitation modules’ shortcomings, which Inspector would dare to take the risk?
Unless Happiness City sets a precedent or provides a comprehensive solution, no one dares to be the first to try.
And he, as an Intern Inspector, happens to be the first in all satellite cities to take that leap.
Naturally, he can also exclusively enjoy, and comfortably enjoy, this exaggerated massive discount.
After a round of reductions and adjustments, the remaining points in the shopping cart return to 19.
Each habitation module has a fixed panel ratio and can be connected according to the user’s ideas.
The basic dimensions for a single module are: 2.4 meters long (assembled from 2-3 panels for the side, easily dragged by one person or lifted by two during transport), 1.8 meters wide (reducing the area and weight of a single panel while leaving space for overlap during assembly), and 2.2 meters high (sufficient headroom for bunk beds).
Internal space measures: net length 2.2 meters, net width 1.6 meters, an area of approximately 3.5 square meters.
Following a dormitory-style design, only 2 units need to be laterally connected, with an external total width of 3.6 meters and an internal net width of 3.1 meters, featuring 2 rows of bunk beds plus a 0.9-meter central aisle.
Thirteen units arranged longitudinally, end-to-end result in a total external length of 31.2 meters and internal net length of 28.6 meters, accommodating 13 bunk beds per row for a total of 52 sleeping spaces, with 2 spaces reserved as allowances.
On a 500-person scale initially, building dormitories only requires 263 units.
But that’s purely a consideration of data; practical construction must allow enough allowance.
Cheng Ye indeed spent 15 points, and following promotional policies, his shopping cart promptly added 325 units.
This quantity is enough to keep the transport team working overnight.
The remaining 4 points were entirely spent on buying supporting doors, windows, and installation accessories.
A total of 92 points were spent, fully utilized.
Cheng Ye meticulously checked once more, confirmed everything was correct, and submitted the order, just past eight-thirty.
After refreshing the delivery page twice, the estimated delivery time promptly appeared.
Despite the assorted materials he ordered and the space occupancy of habitation units, the latest everything would arrive at Dapo Town is seven-forty tomorrow morning.
“Seems like confirming early was the right decision.”
Cheng Ye felt a surge of joy.
Since he incurred delays with buying vehicle frames last time, this time he didn’t wait until the last moment to place the order, and indeed, the results didn’t disappoint.
Having materials in place before residents arrive couldn’t be better.
He checked the weather forecast; there would be no rain tomorrow throughout the day, with only a slight drizzle expected the night after tomorrow.
One day’s time, with 500 hands, are enough to set up parts of the habitation modules.
Then, there would be no need to worry about water leaks in repaired ruin buildings, just thinking about it was delightful.
He pulled up the seat and pushed open the car door to walk out.
The night breeze, carrying the initial chill of autumn, swept past; the lively lectures from earlier had already dispersed.
Tents of varying sizes were erected on the empty ground, and vagrants wrapped in simple blankets were sound asleep.