Chương 264: 260. Fish Ladder

"You see this gap?" Kivamus explained while he gestured at it.

"The foreman Yeden and I had decided to keep this small gap of around a foot of width in the dam structure right from the beginning, so that it could be patched up again and again as the water level keeps rising. This way, the flow of the stream wouldn't be stopped completely, otherwise it'd be disastrous for any fish or wildlife depending on this water downstream of us until the reservoir fills up completely.

Even the sluice gates we have made are higher than the current water level, so we can't use them for this either." Duvas nodded after watching it for a while.

"That was a good idea, my lord. How long do you think it will take for this reservoir to fill up completely?" Kivamus looked at the higher than normal flow of the water in the stream north of them.

"It's hard to say for sure, but as more of the snow in these hills melts in the coming week, the water flow will keep increasing. I think maybe two weeks would be quite enough for it to fill up." Yeden, who had been scolding an idling labourer on the other bank, had noticed them by now, so he started walking upward on the slope on the side of the dam, while ordering the workers to keep working. Reaching towards them, he gave a bow.

"It's nearly done now, milord! The workers are just finishing up the slope we'd made for the fish ladder. I'll have to keep a few workers here to keep patching up this small gap we have left as the water level rises, but apart from that we can shift back most of these workers tomorrow to another place."

"That's really good to hear," Kivamus praised.

"Send them to the coal mines then. We need them to dig as much coal as they can in the coming week." Yeden gave a nod.

"As you say, milord." Hudan, who had been looking around with curiosity, turned towards them.

"Where is that fish ladder anyway? I don't see any ladder here." Kivamus grinned and pointed ahead of them.

"It's not really a ladder, as you can see. You see that slope ahead of us where Yeden just climbed up? Just before it is a much more gradual slope, which also has steps like a staircase."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Hudan nodded.

"I thought it was also for us humans."

"It's not," Kivamus explained while pointing ahead.

"There is a similar foot-wide gap at the top of the dam where the fish ladder connects with it, and it will always remain a little lower than the top of the dam." He continued, "For now the slope of the fish ladder is still dry since the water level is still not close to the top of the dam. However, once the reservoir has filled up, while most of the water will pass through the two sluice gates in the dam, a small amount of water will continue flowing through that small gap at the top of the dam.

This way, fish will be able to jump up to each step of the fish-ladder one by one until they reach that gap and swim over to the reservoir, while even being able to rest in the small puddles dug in each step of the fish ladder. This way they will be able to pass the dam without too much difficulty."

"I think I get what you mean..." the guard captain muttered, "but I'll have to see it again when the fish are already jumping and uh... climbing on a ladder. That'd be a sight to see!" Kivamus laughed hearing that.

"Of course, we will have to visit here again when the dam is full to check the working of the water wheel." He looked at Duvas and pointed at the wooden gates installed in the side of the dam.

"Come here and take a look. These are the sluice gates." As Duvas walked closer to the edge of the top of the dam, Hudan called out, "Watch out! Be careful that you don't slip or fall over." The majordomo snorted.

"I'm old, not blind." Kivamus chuckled.

"Of course. Anyway, as you can see, this is the first gate and the other one is closer to the western bank where we came from. When the water has filled up in the reservoir close to this level, even a single worker will be able to lift the gate to change the water flow using these ropes you see here. We already tested it last time I visited." The majordomo nodded.

"That will be helpful, since we won't have to keep too many workers here to manage the dam but shouldn't we install the water wheel now? It would be difficult to do it when the water is already falling from these sluice gates." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"You're right, but like I said, it will take a couple of weeks for the reservoir to fill up, and the sluice gates won't work before that anyway. That's why I told Darora to work on making more crossbows for now, since that is a much higher priority for us right now with the snow already melting." Kivamus continued, "Anyway, when the water level has reached high enough, I will come here again with the carpenter so he can install it properly, which should only take a single day.

Of course, we have already planned to dig the foundation for the water wheel stand before that." He looked at Yeden.

"Make sure that the holes for that foundation are aligned properly ahead of the sluice gates. We don't want any mistakes in that."

"Don't worry about it, milord," Yeden assured him.

"We've already marked the places where we have to dig based on the measurements which Darora had pointed out to me the last time he visited. The labourers who will stay here to keep patching the gap will be able to dig the foundations by tomorrow."

"Good, good." Kivamus looked at the surrounding hills on the other side of the reservoir where water was already gathering slowly.

"You know what, hold back the workers here for a few more days. We already have a good amount of fire clay in stock with the diggers who are still working. Bring a few wagon loads of it here, and line the sides of the reservoir up to the height of the dam with that clay. That will make the sides of the reservoir more impervious and will slow down water seeping through it." Yeden squinted looking at the reservoir.

"We just need to slap the clay over the sides?"

"Basically, yeah. Just make sure to cover the full height of the reservoir."

"That should be easy enough. We'll bring a few wagon loads of clay tomorrow morning, and will get to it right after." Yeden gazed at the reservoir for a moment.

"If I use all the workers which are working here, I think it should be done in two or three days."

"That's good enough. Once it is done, send them to the coal mines like we planned."

"Of course," Yeden nodded while taking a look towards the labourers on the other bank, some of whom were talking to each other with their shovels idling in their hands.

"These lazy idiots... I'll take my leave now, milord, or these slackers will never finish the dam." Kivamus waved off the bald foreman, who quickly marched towards the workers.

"The moment I take my eyes away from you lot, you find a way to start slacking. Get to work right now!" The labourers immediately returned to what they were doing, with Yeden standing right next to them with his arms crossed. Grinning at the enthusiasm of the foreman, Kivamus turned around.

"Let's return now." Duvas nodded and started walking next to him, while Hudan led ahead of them.

"I am glad that you decided to make more crossbows first," the guard captain commented.

"I can't tell you how important those are right now for the village. With just three of them in total, we couldn't even afford to bring it with us here, so I can't wait until we have more of them. I think Darora may be able to make two or even three new crossbows before he has to work on the water wheel."

"That's assuming he has enough parts already stocked for that many of them, but you are right." Kivamus added, "I want to equip every hunting group with at least a single crossbow as well. I'm not sure how long it will take for us to have enough of them, but they are certainly one of the highest priority items for us right now."

As they walked down the slope on the western bank of the stream, Duvas asked, "I know that you said there would be clay under the hills since there were coal mines here, but how long will they even last at the rate we are using them? I know that there are enough coal seams in these hills that it will easily last for decades, but is there really enough clay as well?"

"Of course not, we were lucky to find as much clay as we did. If we look around in the nearby hills of where the clay diggers are working, we should still be able to find enough of it to last us a few more months at the current rate of usage, or maybe even a year, since we aren't going to make a new dam every day which needs a hell of a lot of clay. That should be enough for the few projects I have in my mind to build this summer, but the clay deposits will still be exhausted soon enough, that's for sure.

From what I know, this kind of clay is only found in a very thin bed under the ground near coal seams, so these fire clay deposits simply aren't deep enough to last very long. Eventually we will have to find another source of it if we want to continue using clay."

"Shouldn't we try to conserve it then?" the majordomo asked.

"We don't really have an option to do that," Kivamus replied with a shrug as they reached the ground after walking down the western slope of the dam.

"It's not like we will get another chance to line the sides of the reservoir with clay once the water has already filled up."

"Well, that's true enough," Duvas muttered. Kivamus gestured to the guards who had been keeping an eye on the horses to bring the beasts closer, when he noticed a small crowd of people coming out from around the bend which went towards the village.

"Who are they?"