Episode 78: Mountain Development
After their first hike, the employees of Daese Construction shed their prejudices against the Forest Service workers. They had assumed that people with Ph.D.s only knew theory, but when tested, they realized that they couldn’t match the Forest Service workers in stamina or strength.
Following several days of grueling training, Daese Construction employees became more compliant, and Kim Hak-do began to provide individual guidance.
“When walking on the mountain, lean your weight into the rock at a diagonal to increase your pace.”
In mountain climbing, the transfer of energy, as well as steps and body movements, are all important. Lee Chang-jin, who was almost a semi-professional due to his activities in a mountaineering club, carefully observed the employees and shared his know-how.
In the forest, the days were short and the nights long. The darkness seemed especially prolonged in the mountain village, unlike in the city. Although night came quickly, the employees would soon fall deeply asleep after finishing their day’s work.
They were so physically exhausted that they had no time to think about anything else.
The makeshift lodgings, resembling a guard post, were equipped with a boiler room and a gear room. As the employees became more accustomed to the mountain environment, they were issued lanterns, batteries, and candles. Each received a numbered locker and a key.
“These are your personal lockers. All the equipment you will use for rescue operations is stored here.”
Inside the metal lockers were various personal gear items needed for construction, such as quadrants, slings, descenders, and harnesses. The Forest Service employees taught the names of the various equipment and ensured that everyone practiced using them until they were thoroughly familiar.
As the employees became more used to mountain hiking, they went on field surveys, driving auxiliary stakes in areas with significant longitudinal and latitudinal changes or where structures like culverts were installed, combining this with their studies.
Led by Kim Hak-do, the Forest Service employees decided to precisely survey the topography, soil, and geology, ensuring they were aware of any discrepancies between the current state and the design plans.
Although the terrain was relatively gentle, alternating between mountain ridges and valleys for over an hour was no easy task. Still, humans adapt. Initially, even climbing the mountain was hard for the Daese Construction employees, but after over two weeks, they adapted well to the terrain.
Kim Hak-do reported to Lee Chang-jin after the survey.
“We divided the route from Unbong-myeon Office to Palgongsan Jijeongbatgol as Section 1, from Inwol to Sambongsan Cheonjeongbong as Section 2, and from Odjae to Hyucheon as Section 3. We’ve nearly finished exploring Sections 1 and 2, and the ground condition is better than expected, so there’s no need for additional reinforcement work. However, for safety reasons, we identified three areas where the slopes need landscape improvement due to poor sunlight and scenery, and there are areas at risk of landslides that require revegetation projects.”
“Were there any problems with the branch forest roads or any errors in the mountain surveys?”
“No. There were minor discrepancies, but there were no errors in the land number or classification. Moreover, most of this area is state-owned land, so there shouldn’t be any issues with infringing on private property.”
“You did well. Check if there are any idle lands where forest recreation facilities can be installed, and see if additional road surface maintenance and bridge construction are needed. We plan to start work on the access roads for transporting aggregate as soon as we gather the basic design data. Also, review the material costs and where to procure crushed stones.”
“Understood. I’ll instruct the engineering department to start on the detailed design drawings immediately. Once the survey for camp installation in each construction section is complete, we’ll set up the base camps.”
Once the section surveys were completed, one designer was assigned to each construction team. Each team, consisting of 12 members, included three employees from the Forest Service.
Lee Chang-jin put a lot of effort into minimizing conflicts among the team members. People working on construction sites tend to be rough and macho, so mismatched personalities could easily lead to fights.
To minimize such discord, Lee Chang-jin used data from the joint training sessions to pair members with compatible personalities.
“Before the main construction, let’s inspect the Unbong Mountain section. We’ll start the preliminary work with partial flattening of areas with a slope gradient of less than 40%.”
As specialized equipment like the K300 cable skidder, plastic longline, and small winch used in the Alps arrived, the full-scale construction work began.
The first task before forest road construction was the flattening work, which involved removing underbrush.
However, an unexpected issue arose while the bulldozer operator was grading the dirt road. The work was not progressing. As the delay continued, Site Manager Seo couldn’t stand it and called the operator separately.
“What’s going on? Don’t you know delays cost us a lot of money? Why are you just dawdling?”
The embarrassed operator explained in a troubled tone.
“Well, there’s this tree standing in the way of the designated forest road line. I called a chainsaw operator to deal with it quickly, but a large beehive is hanging on the tree… So after a few attempts, he said he couldn’t cut it and left.”
“What? Is that true?”
Manager Seo confirmed that there was indeed a single pine tree standing in the middle of the line.
Looking up at the dense leaves, there was indeed a large beehive hanging there.
“It’s a wasp nest. Damn, what bad luck.”
“Wasp nest? Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Let’s retreat for now. If we get stung, it’ll be a big problem.”
Although it would be easy to push the tree over with the bulldozer, the problem was what came next.
A swarm of wasps that size could be deadly.
Watching the buzzing wasp swarm from a distance, Goo Chang-dong looked worried.
“This seems dangerous. Should we call 119?”
“No, it’ll take a long time for them to get here. Besides, we’re in the middle of the mountains. Would they even come here?”
“Then how about asking for help from a nearby military unit?”
Goo Chang-dong called 119, but there was no response.
The person in charge was away, and they kept repeating that it would take some time.
“How long will it take?”
“They said the person in charge is on vacation, so it might take a few days.”
“This is driving me crazy.”
Before proceeding with forest road construction, the first priority was removing the obstructing tree.
Without clearing this, they couldn’t move on to the next steps of excavation and blasting.
As everyone was fretting over the delayed construction schedule, Lee Chang-jin rolled up his sleeves.
“It will take at least a week to call in an expert. Instead of waiting, I’ll handle it myself.”
“Boss, that’s too dangerous.”
“Yes, this requires an expert. Please wait a little longer.”
The employees were all alarmed and tried to dissuade Lee Chang-jin.
If the president got stung by wasps, it would be a disaster.
But once he made up his mind, Lee Chang-jin wouldn’t back down.
“Don’t worry. I have a way. Get me a set of beekeeping clothes, some sticky flypaper, and some mugwort for insect repellent.”
“Are you really going to do this?”
“Haha, am I joking? Don’t worry. If it gets dangerous, I’ll retreat immediately.”
Despite the employees’ repeated attempts to dissuade him, they couldn’t stop Lee Chang-jin’s strong resolve.
After lighting the mugwort, he wrapped the sticky flypaper around a pole and carefully poked the wasp nest.
As he gently prodded the nest with the pole, the wasps flew out, buzzing loudly. The wasps, identifying their target, swarmed towards the sticky flypaper.
The wasps swarmed like an angry mob.
But those that stuck to the flypaper couldn’t move.
After repeating this process several times and burning the mugwort, the weakened wasps fell like blossoms.
With the wasps removed, Lee Chang-jin made a cut in the tree trunk and used it as a step to climb the tree. Skillfully climbing the tree, he plucked the wasp nest like a fruit.
“Wow, that’s amazing. How did you do that…”
Everyone marveled at the unique method.
After finishing the task and removing the beekeeping suit, Goo Chang-dong gave Lee Chang-jin a thumbs up.
“Impressive, boss. Where did you learn to do this?”
“Haha, I’m from a rural background too. I learned wasp removal from someone who was trimming grass, and I climbed trees as a hobby when I was young. By the way, this wasp nest will be good for making liquor. Let’s drink it together once the forest road is complete.”
“Yes! I’ll soak it in soju right away.”
With the obstacle removed, it was time to collect the logs. They decided to use the cable logging method for timber collection.
This method involves fixing a wire rope to a large central tree and extending the rope 100-200 meters downhill to transport felled trees.
The advantage of this method is that it can collect trees within a 50-meter radius without damaging them, making it quite profitable.
However, it required a lot of setup and manpower, which was a drawback.
As he was transporting the timber, Goo Chang-dong grumbled.
“Why don’t we just bulldoze everything? Why go through all this trouble?”
“Shut up, this is all money. We need to save on fuel costs, even if it’s a hassle.”
While bulldozing everything would be easier, it would damage the wood, making it less valuable, and leave branches scattered around, slowing down the work.
Moreover, Site Manager Seo had contracted to receive a commission per project, so he couldn’t afford to neglect even minor tasks. Despite his grumbling, Goo Chang-dong followed Seo’s orders obediently.
Only Jeong Ho-seong might have dared to defy Seo, but given Seo’s seniority, Goo Chang-dong couldn’t treat him lightly.
Once the timber removal was complete, they began stabilizing the slopes by sowing seeds for revegetation and stacking sandbags.
However, while they were working, they heard rustling and saw a dark shape in their field of vision. Rubbing his eyes, Site Manager Seo muttered.
“Am I seeing things because I’m old… What is that?”
“That… it looks like a wild boar.”
Goo Chang-dong, who had good eyesight, identified the creature and brightened up. Usually, the noise from heavy machinery would scare off animals.
But a wild boar that had never encountered humans might appear without fear.
Seeing the plump wild boar, they couldn’t help but think of meat.
It made them crave pork belly and soju.
Remembering the taste of wild boar meat, Goo Chang-dong swallowed involuntarily.
They looked at each other.
“Manager Goo, don’t you crave some meat?”
“Absolutely.”
Wild boar meat is a good source of protein to replenish strength.
The two decided to seize the opportunity to catch the wild boar.
“Let’s not alert it… Those things are skittish… Approach slowly and steadily…”
Under Site Manager Seo’s direction, the Forest Service employees with hunting licenses quietly surrounded the boar.
The boar, busy drinking water, didn’t notice anyone approaching.
As they closed the distance, Goo Chang-dong, holding a machete, waited for the right moment to pounce.
However, one of the hunters stepped on a branch by mistake.
Rustle~!
The startled boar sensed something amiss and looked around.
Sniffing the air, the boar glanced around and then bolted in the opposite direction of where the employees were hiding.
“Damn it!! Stop right there!”
Goo Chang-dong, springing into action, threw his machete like a boomerang.
With a grunt, the blade lodged in the boar’s back, making it leap and squeal as it ran off with the knife sticking out.
Thinking he had the boar, Goo Chang-dong chased it, his feet pounding the ground.
Though the boar ran with all its might, Goo Chang-dong was no slouch.
As the distance between them closed to about ten paces, Goo Chang-dong, running, stepped on a pile of dead leaves.
The rotten leaves gave way, and Goo Chang-dong lost his balance and slid down.
“Whoa whoa whoa!!”
Goo Chang-dong tumbled down the mountain and disappeared from sight in an instant.
- To be continued in Episode 79 -
