Better ways to get dirt?

[Lothar]

I would like to know ways to get dirt since to produce basic supplies now we need bricks, and bricks use a huge amount of dirt. I wonder if there is a better early game way to get dirt without filling your island with holes everywhere.
What you guys are doing to get your dirt?

[Coheed]

Originally posted by Boomer Voncannon:

Originally posted by Coheed:

Bricks require 0.5 coal per brick, whereas a concrete block only requires 0.0625 coal per block. Also concrete blocks can be made from an abundant waste material, slag, which reduces your demand for mined materials.

Dirt is also harder to get later into the game once you've cleared alot of the topsoil around mining deposits.

And finally the concrete block chain produces less pollution per brick.

s

Thanks, those are cogent points, especially about reducing coal consump;tion and pollution. I might nitpick a little about reducing the need for mined materials since concrete requires sand and limetone as well, but I get the big picture point.

My only remaining thing is I'm building up such a reserve of bricks and slabs by buying them with wood from the trading post (which I find I need to do just to keep my trucks from backing up with only a tree cutter working) It seems a deep enough point in the game (say steel production) that my production need for all the wood I can cut down actually matches or exceeds the rate at which a single cutter cuts, that a significant reserve of bought bricks and slabs builds up.

Had a bit more of a think about this one, and thought I further elaborate on the benefits of concrete blocks in respect of resource efficiency (yes, I like doing the maths (yes, maths) 😅)

Bricks - 21 Dirt + 6 Coal + 6 Water = 12 Bricks + 12 Exhaust

1 Brick = 1.75 Dirt + 0.5 Coal + 0.5 Water + 1 Exhaust


Cement - 9 Limestone + 1.5 Coal = 3 Cement + 9 Exhaust

1 Cement = 3 Limestone + 0.5 Coal + 3 Exhaust


Concrete Blocks (Slag) - 1.5 Cement + 3 Sand/Rock + 9 Slag + 6 Water = 12 Concrete Blocks

1 Concrete Block (Slag) = 0.375 Limestone + 0.0625 Coal + 0.25 Sand/Rock + 0.75 Slag + 0.5 Water + 0.25 Exhaust


Concrete Blocks (Gravel) - 1.5 Cement + 3 Sand/Rock + 9 Rock + 6 Water = 12 Concrete Blocks

1 Concrete Block (Gravel) = 0.375 Limestone + 0.0625 Coal + 0.25 Sand/Rock + 0.75 Rock + 0.5 Water + 0.25 Exhaust


Total Mined Resources and Pollution

1 Brick = 2.25 Mined Resource + 0.5 Pollution

1 Concrete Block (Slag) = 0.6875 Mined Resource + 0.125 Pollution

1 Concrete Block (Gravel) = 1.4375 Mined Resource + 0.125 Pollution

From these number we can see that even using the gravel recipe (but why would you, when slag is so abundant and doesn't require mining), concrete blocks use only 64% of the total mined resources. Using the slag recipe it's only 30% equivalence.

That represents a large reduction in truck trips and wasted excavator time that can be better used elsewhere. Also sand is optional, you can just crush rock, which you will have in abundance from clearing resource deposits.

[CaPY]

Once we get MUCH bigger maps, I don't think it will be a problem.