Trapped miners
Well, it looks like all of the news is bad. The last hole shows the air will not support life, the cave-ins killed three searchers, and it's been a couple of weeks now.
I pray for the surviving family members. It seems like there sould be some law requiring holes for air and communications should be drilled continually as the mine progresses. That way, air, food, water and communications could be established immediately after an accident.
Sad, sad event.
I pray for the surviving family members. It seems like there sould be some law requiring holes for air and communications should be drilled continually as the mine progresses. That way, air, food, water and communications could be established immediately after an accident.
Sad, sad event.
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Yes very sad. 0 -
Sad indeed. Luckily we nver had cave-ins like that in the mines i worked in. They weren't coal mines though, and more solid rock. My prayers are with all involved.. 0 -
What a pity.
The dead rescuers are honest-to-God Heroes.
Doug0 -
Sad event for sure. Miners are some very brave men. May God bless all family members and friends who grieve for those who have passed, and for those who are injured to include their loved ones. 0 -
Sometimes I hate getting up in the morning and going to work.I watched the news the other morning just before leaving for a day I wasn`t really looking forward to and I thought to myself,at least I`m not a miner.What a way to make a living. 0 -
I dont think thats where they are guys, i think they are under that rubble where the tools are. Unfortunately, every time they move rubble, it collapses.
R.I.P to all that we have lost.0 -
I used to live in a town nearby that mine. The danger is always there, lurking like a shadow. It's the reason that a mining job not even requiring a HS diploma will pay $80,000-$100,000. it's because of the terrible risk involved.
My heart goes out to the families and the community. If they close the mine the whole town will suffer economically.0 -
"It seems like there sould be some law requiring holes for air and communications should be drilled continually as the mine progresses."
Good idea.0 -
My older family came from coal mining stock.
None died in a cave-in, but my grandfather died from "black lung" in his early sixties.
It is a tough, and very dangerous job.
These guys are gone,.......sorry, but that is the truth.
RIP.[:(]0 -
Dheffley
That sounds good saying it. But the reality is, Coal seams run in all directions and you never know how they will go.
A roof falls (cave-ins) can happen at any time and any place inside of a mine. They can not be predicted.
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Small glimpse into the under ground world.
Mining lamps at the charging station. Do not use this type much any longer. Went to a lighter more compact LED units.
Dressed and ready to go. The device on his right side is an air monitor. It measures oxygen, carbon monoxide, methane levels. Also on the belt and worn in the rear is an Oxygen Generator that can when activated can generate oxygen for 45 minutes to an hour. Each miner carries about 30 to 40 lbs of equipment on his/her person when working.
This ole guy has been selling mining clothing for years at a road side stand. The florescent stripes can be seen for a great distance under ground with even the smallest amount of light.
Fire boss, Foreman and Crew Leader inspect a mine before each shift to make sure that it is safe to enter and to alert the Mine Crews to any dangers. Oxygen Generators can be seen on the back of the belts. They are the the things with the chrome tops with white and red stripes. Each man must carry one with him at all times when under ground.
Machine called a Man Trip. It is used to carry tools and supplies to the work areas within the mine. They are operated while laying down much like driving a 10' long go kart that has no seat..0 -
Les,......thanks for those pics!
I was born in your state, but my mom moved us when I was 3 years old.
I have quite a few old B&W pics of the inside of the holes from long ago.
Someday, I should scan them to the computer.
Brought back a lot of memories of my grandfather, and great-uncles seeing your pics![;)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by LesWVa
Dheffley
That sounds good saying it. But the reality is, Coal seams run in all directions and you never know how they will go.
A roof falls (cave-ins) can happen at any time and any place inside of a mine. They can not be predicted.
================================
Small glimpse into the under ground world.
Mining lamps at the charging station. Do not use this type much any longer. Went to a lighter more compact LED units.
Dressed and ready to go. The device on his right side is an air monitor. It measures oxygen, carbon monoxide, methane levels. Also on the belt and worn in the rear is an Oxygen Generator that can when activated can generate oxygen for 45 minutes to an hour. Each miner carries about 30 to 40 lbs of equipment on his/her person when working.
This ole guy has been selling mining clothing for years at a road side stand. The florescent stripes can be seen for a great distance under ground with even the smallest amount of light.
Fire boss, Foreman and Crew Leader inspect a mine before each shift to make sure that it is safe to enter and to alert the Mine Crews to any dangers. Oxygen Generators can be seen on the back of the belts. They are the the things with the chrome tops with white and red stripes. Each man must carry one with him at all times when under ground.
Machine called a Man Trip. It is used to carry tools and supplies to the work areas within the mine. They are operated while laying down much like driving a 10' long go kart that has no seat..
Les...would it be possible to extend metal piping into the mine as they get deeper and deeper...just keep adding to it as they go???0 -
Great photos, Les. Thanks. 0 -
If the holes were drilled as the mine changes direction, it looks like that would help some. There has to be some kind of an engineering solution to increase survival chances. Cost be danged, this is happening too much.
I agree, great pictures.0 -
Dheffley
It does not happen on a scale like in Utah everyday. But roof falls happen quite often in underground mining.
Take the most recent mine accidents none of them were due to a roof fall.
The 6 in PA that got trapped. That was due to bad maps and engineering. The guys dug into an abandoned mine that was full of water as most are and flooded the mine.
Sago here in WV where 12 died. That was due to a freak of nature. Lighting struck a rail line that went into the mine. The electricity ignited methane gas that had built up in a part of the mine that was sealed and no longer used.
Aracoma Alma also here in WV where two miners died was caused mainly due to a misaligned belt. A misaligned belt is something that should never be allowed... PERIOD. For it causes the bearings to run hot and the electric drive motors to overheat. Which was the case with this mine fire. The crew that were working in that part of the mine (12 men) had tied themselves together and somehow the two that died got separated and could not be located. The Foreman fearing for all of his mens lives had to make the decision to leave them behind before he lead the other 10 to safety.0 -
China has a big problem with it now here is alink to a sad story.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070820/ap_on_re_as/china_mine_flood
China has an average of 13 miners killed every day. [xx(][:(]0 -
Don't think anyone has mentioned how dependent on coal America really is.
There are over 2,100 operating coal mining operations employing over 120,000 men.
47 were killed on the job last year, a fairly small percentage; farming is a more dangerous work in that respect.
This year a record 40 billion TONS is expected to be extracted in the U.S.0 -
They can't get the men out but they are going back in the mountain for more coal. 0 -
It's a very sad situation. 0 -
This is somewhat on topic and then maybe not. I hope no one with think that I am in any way trying to second-guess those in the business nor trying to be the smartest guy in the room. I don't mean any disrespect to those miners or any others, but I have been wondering and hoping someone here can tell me, instead of drilling a dozen small holes taking several days, why didn't they drill one large hole like the 30" rescue bullet hole and drop a couple of guys in to have a look around and see if they could find the others? I know it would be dangerous, but after the first small hole reveals a fairly intact cavity, wouldn't it be safer than trying to remove the rubble? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by csi-cyberspace
This is somewhat on topic and then maybe not. I hope no one with think that I am in any way trying to second-guess those in the business nor trying to be the smartest guy in the room. I don't mean any disrespect to those miners or any others, but I have been wondering and hoping someone here can tell me, instead of drilling a dozen small holes taking several days, why didn't they drill one large hole like the 30" rescue bullet hole and drop a couple of guys in to have a look around and see if they could find the others? I know it would be dangerous, but after the first small hole reveals a fairly intact cavity, wouldn't it be safer than trying to remove the rubble?
I do business with a few oil well drillers in my area. A 30" hole would be impossible to drill 1500 feet down. Not to mention handling all of the debris from a hole of that size. I dont know of any rig that is capable of drilling a hole of that size. You had a good idea though. I feel the pain for all of the families involved. Our last cave in in our area took 4 months to find the miners here in Western Ky. Needless to say, they all parished.0 -
So why don't all the miners have tethers to every other miner working in their area so if power does go out, then can find each other?
What about establishing communications at the rock face? Can't they run old military land-line telephone systems to the rock face for reliable communication and protect the wires (as said before) in heavy steel tubing?0 -
A terrible way to die for hard working men.
Thanks Les for the info.0 -
saw the splash on the USA Today paper, looks like they might not find them at all.
quote:Originally posted by ECC
Les...would it be possible to extend metal piping into the mine as they get deeper and deeper...just keep adding to it as they go???
that's sort of what I was thinking too, how about a flexible crush-proof cable/tube following along that can provide air and commo in case of a collapse. of course you couldn't rely only on that, but in some cases (like this one) if it didn't get squashed and it worked, it would make all the difference in the world.
also it should be possible with such a cable to put sensors along it, so it can tell where the end point is to locate exactly where the miners are at, without being required to send radio signals through thousands of feet of rock.0 -
A 30 inch hole would be next to impossible at the depth the miners are at as Forklift stated. You do not know if you will hit a pocket of gas, a seam of water or what when drill that deep.
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Here is a small sample of an underground mine map. Keeping ahead with drilling holes? No way can it be done. Note the yellow boxes with the #2 by them. That is a scale which equals 1500'. Can you imagine how many holes would have be be drilled in order to stay ahead of the miners. Passages and cross cuts are sealed in such a way as to allow fresh air to travel in a given direction and area of the mines as it is needed.
Laying steel pipe? You would be paying millions of dollars for pipe and fittings that would be big enough to supply a mine with the needed oxygen it takes to operate.
Sorry for the large photo. I resized it down from about 4500..
Eagle #1 mine here in WV.0 -
Hard wired communications systems are used.
Zulu7
Cant be done safely as you will see. If one guys gets snagged in a piece of equipment he could take another with him/her.
Three more photos and I am done.
Continuous Miner working. Note the operator on the left. This condition is is called a low seam. Garth Brooks does not have a clue as to what "Friends in Low Places" means. This machine makes the first cut into the coal. The coal is moved to a belt and out of the back where the scoop operators pick it up and takes it to the belt line.
The business end of the Miner. After the cut is made it is moved back and out of the way for the next machine.
The Roof Bolter. The operators job is to drill holes into the overhead rock where the miner just came from. Insert a long bolt with a square washer, wood blocks, wire mesh etc using epoxy resin to secure the bolts. The Roof Bolter has the most dangerous job in a mine. and is usually paid a higher wage.
Yes it is tough, hard and unforgiving work. But it beats welfare..0
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