Bab 136: Building columns
The ground was wet because it had rained a day ago but it was not muddy as most of the waters was washed downhill and it was only a few puddles that could be seen around.
Virtya pushed the wheelbarrow which was filled to the brim with concrete mixed with ballast and the wheel rolled which enabled the movement of the wheelbarrow.
One metre, two metres, five metres, Virtya was still pushing it toward the dug out trenches so that the cement with ballast could be poured to make the columns.
'It is eating away my strength and endurance very fast.' Virtya thought. He has asked Tanya to fill this wheelbarrow to the brim with cement and therefore, he could only blame himself for overestimating himself, thinking that pushing a wheelbarrow that was filled with concrete was easy.
"Your majesty! Please let me help you." A knight beside Virtya suggested.
"I... Can still... Push it." Virtya stammered. He pushed the wheelbarrow and it could be seen that the wheelbarrow was moving in an undulating way because Virtya was forcing himself to move forward even if he was wholly drained.
Thwaff!
The wheelbarrow struck a stone and the recoil force overwhelmed Virtya. Even if he struggled to keep the wheelbarrow steady enough, it could not be ignored that he was wholly drained.
The weight of the fully loaded wheelbarrow was too much for him and the wheelbarrow leaned sideways.
Make no mistake, the wheelbarrows that were being used at this site didn't have the stands and therefore, Virtya could not stop the wheelbarrow so that he could rest, he was only needed to push the wheelbarrow up to where it was needed and then pour the concrete with ballast into the trench before he returned for another trip. But Virtya was halfway on his first trip before the wheel of the wheelbarrow struck a stone. It was not because Virtya didn't see that stone, it was just that he was a little bit distracted by the voice of concern of the knight and the moment that he decided to give the knight a reply, that was when his concentration shifted and he struck the stone.
The wheelbarrow was almost reaching the ground as Virtya tried to to stabilized it. The veins of his head, neck and arms popped out but he couldn't move it. It was only Tanya who reacted very fast and helped him to stabilize the wheelbarrow.
Tanya threw the spade in her grip aside and asked for a knight to help Virtya to push the wheelbarrow.
"I knew you will not be able to push a fully loaded wheelbarrow." Tanya said to Virtya expressionlessly.
"Thanks for that. I almost poured the entire thing down. It's embarrassing though." Virtya stretched his arms and walked towards the site.
The workers had seen the embarrassing moment of Virtya but no one talked about it, but Virtya knew that they were laughing and disparaging him in silence. It was just that they were struggling very much to hold it back.
"Hahaha! That was epic! I think you should lift those fucking weights very often. You asked for the blacksmithing guild to make them but you have never lifted them." Alexandre looked at Virtya with an amused expression.
Clearly, Virtya had asked for the blacksmiths to make the weights that he would be lifting so that he could at least cultivate his body to become muscular but he had never lifted them since they were brought to his palace.
"It is peeving, time consuming and I just feel bored the moment my eyes take a peek at those weights. It is better to do something fun like swimming than lifting those stupid weights." Virtya said unamused. Why should he lift the weights? If it is to build strength to fight or do labour like the one that he tried to do, Virtya himself was a royalty and rich for heaven's sake.
He could pay people to do the labour works and as for fighting, he had many knights by his side, and therefore, Virtya could ignore the weights for the time being.
The formwork was made using steel sheets and the labourers poured the concrete with ballast into the formwork.
Virtya didn't have a mechanical vibrator for aggregation and therefore, the workers had to pour the concrete with ballast one at a time as they used a twisted steel channel to aggregate the cement with ballast to make it one with the steel reinforcement.
Hadiah
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Power 
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