Mines #41

[sYnc_below]

Some more from a week or so ago, this place just keeps giving

We avoided the water for a change and instead had to contend with knackering 02 levels, panting like a marathon runner for four hours gets a bit tedious and if that wasn't annoying enough, false floors too!!

The false floor I would have fallen through had it not been for the discovery of something interesting just a few feet away which delayed my progress. They aren't that rare in mines but they certainly are in this type of mine, this one was about 20ft long x 16ft wide by 10ft deep and half full of water so crashing through would have been 'interesting' to say the least. Other notable items included some of the most bodged ceiling supports I have seen for a long while, a case of 'use whatever is laying around', one of the strangest was a Cog made from what looked like snapped concrete fence posts!!

It was nice to get out to 02 rich air to be honest, but we'll be back...

Usual rules apply...No names, no locations, just pictures of somewhere. Please don't ask for locations as refusal often offends

In Your Arches

Poor Workmanship

False Floors and 'floating' brick Piers

Concrete Cogs

Texolex

Plant Room II

Please Don't Touch

Sumps

Lights

Poor Workmanship Part 2

Rat Hole

 

[King Al]

Fantastic pics as always Hal!! This place does look great

 

[night crawler]

Great photo's but I do like the brick pillars. Not sure I'd want to go down there after looking at how the steel supports are buckling. Excilent work there.

 

[Priority 7]

another fantastic set of photos bud love the miners hat

 

[crickleymal]

Superb pictures. Mind you having been into an area of bad air just recently I'd not want to do it again. It took nearly 12 hours for my breathing to recover.

 

[KingLewis92]

Can Tell There Was Health & Safety Laws When This Was Made! LOL

 

[klempner69]

Excellant pics with some lush colours..

 

[davetdi]

awesome pics

tell us more about the false floors ?

 

[godzilla73]

Awesome stuff Hal. Guess that Oxygen meter must have been worth it!
GDZ

 

[professor frink]

Looks pretty good in there, nicely lit pics too.

 

[sYnc_below]

awesome pics

tell us more about the false floors ?

Drainage sump covering all of the foreground in pic 3 and reaching to just behind the first brick pier, I believe it was then pumped uphill to the smaller sump in pic 10. It was covered in rotting wood and these days a layer of mud so was very hard to spot.

 

[sYnc_below]

Guess that Oxygen meter must have been worth it!GDZ

Its more than paid for itself put it that way and does so on a weekly basis

 

[TeeJF]

had to contend with knackering 02 levels, panting like a marathon runner for four hours gets a bit tedious

Have you never considered buying an old rebreather and modifying it by stripping off all the excess and using smaller cylinders - it would be small enough then for what you are doing? You'd get 2 hours from a small cylinder of O2 and if you used it only when neccesary easily double that. Failing that why don't you build one using an old diving ABLJ, some hoses and by fabricating a sofnalime cartridge. It shouldn't be too hard though you would have to drive the O2 feed manually in that case. And if you can breath down there anyway, albeit with discomfort then you wouldn't need to use it all the time anyway. That way you'd be able to just take a few minutes on the set every so often and it could be lighter still in construction. I'm thinking then that a modified ABLJ would be perfect.

Here's a couple of links: [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebreather[/ame]

http://is00.thegumtree.com/image/big/58060796.jpg

With an ABLJ you'd only have to fit a second hose then replace the mouthpiece with one from a rebreather (it has a couple of valves to ensure gas flow only goes in one direction). The second hose would lead down to a sofnalime cartridge mounted at the bottom front of the bag. The other side of the cartridge would then get ducted back into the bottom of the bag. Then you have a complete closed circuit system where the exhaled air passes through the lime for CO2 removal and you periodically pop a squirt of O2 into the bag from the cylinder! Hey presto, mine rescue rebreather. It wouldn't be safe to dive with mind but perfectly safe for what you want to do! As to the O2, so long as you can get access to O2 (welding O2 isn't brilliant but it will do) and you get your cylinder and ALL the fittings on the rig O2 cleaned and O2 compatible (INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT or you risk an O2 fire) then all you need to buy is a decanting hose and you can fill your own bottle.

If the idea appeals then give me a shout off forum and I'll try to get you started. I dive on a rebreather. I've also got an old but near mint Spiro ABLJ somewhere gathering dust which I'd be happy to donate if it was going to be put to good use.

Best wishes, M and TJ

PS... awesome pix.

 

[sYnc_below]

Have you never considered buying an old rebreather

Many many times yes, or just conventional Rescue SCBA kit like an AirMaXX. I've been familiar with rebreathers for decades from my Caving background and was an admirer of Sheck Exley (RIP ) who pioneered rebreathers in the Cave Diving community back in the late 80's, early 90's. What initially put me off the SCBA kit was the small bottles, obviously rebreathers extend this issue!!

Its bad enough wandering around in chest waders & a caving helmet, carrying a boat nowhere near water and trying to look 'normal' as it is....getting seen with bottled gas would REALLY get some necks stretching

Thanks for all the info

 

[TeeJF]

Thanks for all the info

You are very welcome. I agree about the big bottles, that's why I was thinking along the lines of effectively converting an ABLJ to a Proto or whatever they were called. Much smaller. But clearly this stuff isn't at all alien to you so I'll stop trying to teach my Granny to suck eggs and look in awe at your mine pix instead! Keep up the good work.

Best wishes, M and TJ

PS... Noisy Chateau on Thursday and Verdun forts from Friday! Can't wait...

 

[sYnc_below]

that's why I was thinking along the lines of effectively converting an ABLJ......I'll stop trying to teach my Granny to suck eggs

Not at all, the ABLJ modification idea is brilliant although I'm not sure I would trust myself to make one

That's why I started looking at the AirMaXX....until I saw the price for just 30 mins of air

 

[davetdi]

Drainage sump covering all of the foreground in pic 3 and reaching to just behind the first brick pier, I believe it was then pumped uphill to the smaller sump in pic 10. It was covered in rotting wood and these days a layer of mud so was very hard to spot.

oh yes can see it now - not easy to spot at first..... I would had fallen through that!!

wonder why they would want to pump the water uphill ? , is there much of an incline there then ?

are those pillars and stacks to support under roads and paths above or for just collapses?

 

[sYnc_below]

wonder why they would want to pump the water uphill ? , is there much of an incline there then ?

are those pillars and stacks to support under roads and paths above or for just collapses?

Pic 8 shows the incline, very steep indeed!

Cogs etc are in a variety of places, interestingly the actual mine roof is sometimes 8-9ft above the steel arches.

 

[krela]

You sure know how to take a picture underground tocsin, awesome as always.

 

[phill.d]

Superb photography, and a real interesting place, even if it looks like one big death trap. The report is a credit to you good sir