A week later, Roland officially launched the Steel Bridge construction project.

"Are you saying, you want me to raise two pieces of land in the middle of the river as footings for the bridge piers?" Lian asked, looking at the rolling river, surprised. "Do you intend to build a real bridge, instead of using a pontoon bridge to connect the two banks?"

"Yes," Roland unfolded the scroll in his hand. "Considering the impact of the river, the two pieces of land need to have a certain volume, and in order to reduce the impact force, they need to be processed like this."

"This is... the shape of a boat," Lian shifted her gaze back to the drawing.

"That's right, accurately speaking, it's spindle-shaped," he nodded. "As long as it's parallel to the direction of the water flow, it will be subject to the least frontal impact. The problem is, the Redwater River is nearly ten meters deep, can you make the riverbed rise?"

"That's not difficult, Your Highness," Lian answered straightforwardly, "Leave it to me."

For safety, the ship responsible for transporting the witches was the Town, with its wide concrete hull moving smoothly in the river. The helmsman was still Lightning, and the wind power was provided by Wendy.

However, for the past week, the latter had been slightly averting her eyes when she saw the prince, appearing somewhat uneasy. It wasn't until today that Roland saw her lift her head, look directly at him as usual, and he even heard her whisper "Thank you" as they brushed past each other on boarding.

"You have to give me credit for this," Nightingale whispered in his ear from the mist.

The Town quickly left the dock and headed towards the wide center of the river. Carter had already strung ropes along both banks of the river, with two red cloth strips tied to them, marking the expected location of the bridge piers. After the concrete ship reached the first point, Lian stood at the edge of the ship's hull and began to use her ability.

The river surface suddenly seemed to boil, surging upwards, forming a "hill." Before long, gravel, grass roots, and silt emerged from the surging river, and the water gradually became murky.

So that's how it is, Roland thought, her ability not only allows her to transform solid ground, but also includes water, and raising the water surface is easier than loose gravel. Although the rising river water immediately rolled away in all directions, the riverbed had been raised bit by bit.

Before long, a lump of grayish-blue mud floated to the surface, looking very soft and emitting an unpleasant odor, causing everyone to cover their noses.

However, in Roland's eyes, this was all excellent fertilizer. For hundreds of years, the bones of fish and other aquatic creatures, aquatic plants, and the waste of residents had gradually accumulated in the soil. If it weren't inconvenient to transport, he would have liked to use this soil to fertilize the fields. Unfortunately, it could only be shoveled away by hand and thrown directly into the river.

Cleaning a layer like this, raising it a section, he finally saw solid yellowish-brown soil. Next was to repeat this process continuously until both pieces of land were completely shaped.

Roland estimated that this process would take at least a week or so, but simply raising the land out of the water did not mean it could be used directly. The flowing river would constantly carry away sediment, and without protection, even spindle-shaped land could not last for more than a decade.

He called Karl. Vanbert to his side, took out a charcoal pencil, and began to draw and explain how to solidify the ground next.

"You mean, dig grooves at the edges of these lands and then pour cement into them?" The current Minister of Construction asked, gesticulating at the drawings.

Worthy of being an outstanding member of the Stonemasons' Association of the Royal Capital, Roland thought with satisfaction. He had only given a few simple reminders, and he immediately understood his intention.

"That's right, each section should not exceed five meters in length, and the depth should be controlled at about one meter. After filling with cement, have the witch lower this section of the groove by one meter. Repeating this process will form a cement wall that goes straight into the bottom of the riverbed." This plan was Roland's idea after seeing Lian's ability. Since she could control the ground to descend directly, she should also be able to bring the structures built on the ground into the ground together.

"Your idea is really ingenious," Karl's eyes lit up. "In this way, even if the river washes away the outer soil, it will be blocked by the tightly wrapped wall."

Roland nodded. "The key point is to control the overall height of the sinking. If it's too little, the bottom will not be completely sealed, and if it's too much, it will waste cement and delay construction. You are responsible for controlling this."

"Yes, Your Highness," he replied. "Including the dredged silt and soft soil, I estimate the overall height should be around twelve meters."

"In addition, after surrounding the land with cement walls, do not cover the middle land with cement. I want to plant flowers and grass on it in the future," the prince instructed.

"Plant... flowers?" Karl was stunned.

After all, these walls cannot be completely watertight, and with segmented construction, there will inevitably be uniform gaps in the walls. The easiest way to further stabilize the soil is to plant grass—vegetation can balance soil moisture and reduce soil erosion, especially the super-long root weeds that Yezi has magically modified, which can ensure that the soil is firmly consolidated.

After briefly explaining the soil conservation function of plants, Roland turned to look at the workers busy on the river bank. "How is the construction of the approach bridges progressing?"

"The cement gravel pavement is being laid," Karl reported without thinking. "It should be completed this week."

According to the plan, the approach bridges on both sides of the river were made of rubble and cement, just like the walls of the Western Territory. As long as the positioning and surveying were done well, the construction itself was not difficult. The bridge deck slope was raised a full seven meters relative to the ground, and connected to the city streets through a long, gentle slope with an arc. Adding the height difference between the river embankment and the water surface, when the iron bridge was completed, it should form a net height of ten to twelve meters with the Redwater River, which was basically enough for inland river sailboats.

Only one span of the main bridge has been completed so far, and it is being tested on the shore—since the span is not large and the load is extremely low, Roland is not worried about its reliability, even if he knows nothing about bridge engineering. In an era without overloaded rear wheels, a thirty-centimeter-high I-beam is a guarantee of stability. Even if it is crowded with people, it is impossible to break the steel beam. Moreover, Anna is in charge of everything from processing to assembly and welding, so the probability of a shoddy project is extremely low.

Similarly, its installation is very simple. After all three spans of the main bridge have been prefabricated, the Hummingbird will lighten them and then give them to Lightning for installation.

When this steel bridge, which can accommodate two four-wheeled carriages side by side, stands on the Redwater River, the north and south banks will be truly connected as a whole.

"Even the greatest stonemasons would find it hard to imagine such a magnificent bridge," Karl said with emotion, looking at the sparkling wide lake. "Your Highness, does this steel bridge have a name?"

Roland thought for a moment. "Let's call it the Redwater Bridge."