Dayven visited an underground mine in West Virginia this week. The Kingston Mine is an underground coal mine with four working sections. In Canada it was all open pit mining, but not around these parts. The coal mines are all underground and it's a new part of his job, with completely different equipment and mining techniques being used.
Mining has come a long way since the days of the Dwarfs hauling their pick axes, but in a lot of ways it's still pretty crude. Dayven went down into the mine, to the section where they're currently working. A mine representative drove him, along with some dealer personnel, into the side of the mountain on a mantrip. It took almost 30 minutes to make the 5 mile trek and it was extremely low in some spots. The section they were going to had a 42-48" seam, meaning that was the tallest point. He wasn't even able to stand up. They were told to lean back and keep their head and knees down on the ride in. Talk about claustrophobic!
For safety reasons, each person is given a "self rescuer", or breathing apparatus, in the event that the air turns toxic. It has enough air to last 1.5 hours. They were given detailed instructions on main and secondary exit points of the mine, as well as caches where more rescuers were stored in case the exits become blocked and they are trapped.
He said it was a little scary, but all in all a pretty cool experience. It won't be his last trip underground with all the mining in this area!
1 comment:
Too bad Steve wasn't there to go down with him to assure it is safe!!Those men that work down there all their lives make a good living but----I guess it is all they know as their fathers etc. did it also.
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