Sinking

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Manual shaft sinking with devil bucket (1894)
Sign at the Karl-Liebknecht-Schacht in Oelsnitz / Erzgebirge. The sinking took place here from 1869 to 1874

As sinking or deepening (also: lowering ) is the term used in the miners' language to describe the creation of vertical ( seigeren ) cavities ( shafts , blind shafts , light holes or bunkers ) for the development of deposits . Sinking is one of the most daring mining work and is a great challenge for the engineer working there . The construction of the vertical pit is done from top to bottom when sinking. Reaching a certain or relevant depth is also called the final depth .

history

The first devil work was already done in the years 5500 to 4000 BC in Abensberg-Arnhofen , today Lower Bavaria , in the flint mining. Here around 20,000 small shafts were dug up to a depth of eight meters in one field . In modern times, when the tunnel was built in the 18th century, a large number of light holes were sunk to ventilate the tunnels . In the middle of the 19th century, the work of sinking became much more extensive. This time it was in the Ruhr on to the coals in civil engineering dismantle . Several hundred underground shafts were sunk for this purpose. In the second half of the 19th century, the Kind Chaudron method and the Honigmann method were developed and used in order to be able to cope with the problems caused by water penetration during civil engineering . Through further improved processes and techniques, ever deeper shafts, with depths of up to 3000 meters, were sunk in the 20th century.

Basics

Sinking a shaft, Seigerriß.

The word is derived from the mining term Teufe for "deep". When sinking day shafts (i.e. shafts that reach into daylight), different layers often have to be worked on. It is not insignificant whether you are going through a stable or a loose mountain range. It is also important whether you encounter a lot or little water when going down. Ideally, you meet while sinking to stand firm mountains that leads little or no water at all. The subterranean water level fluctuates between zero and eight hundred meters, depending on the location. If you come across water, the inflow of water can make the work of the devil more difficult. Overburden layers with floating sand cause severe problems ; special procedures must be used here to stop the ingress of floating sand. Drilling through thick layers of floating sand is always associated with great difficulties, as there is a risk that the side impacts will break in or run into the lower area of ​​the shaft floor during the sinking work . In order to get an overview of the local mountain conditions, the mountain is examined by means of deep boreholes in order to determine a point at which the floating sand layer is the thinnest.

Sinking method

There are several methods of sinking. Until the middle of the 19th century, the shafts were built manually. In today's mining, a distinction is made between conventional sinking and shaft drilling . There are also some special sinking methods. These methods are used in mountains that are not very stable and have a lot of water . Which sinking method is ultimately used depends on many factors. Geological factors such as the nature of the rock and the height of the water inflow play an important role in the choice of the sinking method. But the diameter of the shaft to be sunk and its final depth also have an influence on the sinking method to be used. Not every sinking method is suitable for great depths.

Manual sinking

In the case of manual sinking, the sinking is done using hand tools . Digging is done with a spade or shovel. However, only soft layers can be processed in this way. The resulting soil is pumped out of the shaft by means of buckets. If the rock strength makes it necessary, the wedge pick and scraper are used. Wedges can also be used for manual sinking work. In mild mountains, where simple hand tools are no longer sufficient, manual sinking can be done with the help of demolition hammers . Heavy demolition hammers, which are known as ripping hammers or concrete breakers, are used here. The rock that has broken out is then carried away. Manual sinking creates shafts with a depth of up to 20 meters. In the case of solid rock and / or greater depths, shafts are sunk using other methods such as drilling and blasting.

Conventional procedure

Driving with a devil bucket

In the conventional method, the sinking takes place in the solid rock by means of drilling and blasting . For this purpose, a notch is drilled in the middle of the shaft disc . The rock at the side is drilled using several holes created according to a special drilling scheme. The rock is then blown up using explosives . The length of the tee is usually four meters. The thus obtained in the rock either by hand or with a grapple or an excavator in a Abteufkübel filled and by means Teufhaspel or Teufbobine to the shaft approach highly promoted. For larger manholes, double bobbins with two counter-rotating buckets are used. The devil buckets are guided in the shaft by means of a rope guide so that they do not rock back and forth in the shaft .

If there are already older stretches below the manhole or if it is possible to drive a stretch under the manhole without any special effort , this is a great relief for the sinking work. Before the shaft is sunk through the rock layers, a larger borehole is first made up to the shaft underpass. Through this borehole, the water that accumulates can be drained down to the shaft underpass and pumped out from there to keep the mine drained. Sometimes it is also possible to remove the debris from the bottom of the shaft through the borehole; As a rule, the debris must be conveyed up to the starting point of the manhole. With the conventional sinking method, shafts in solid rock can be sunk in all current depths.

Drilling method

The sinking of shafts using shaft drilling methods is carried out in a similar way to deep hole drilling . The first shaft drilling methods, the Kind Chaudron method and the Honigmann method, were used between the end of the second half of the 19th century and the middle of the first half of the 20th century. With this method, shafts up to a depth of 500 meters could be created by drilling. Over the years, other shaft drilling methods such as the air lifting method and raise boring have been developed. Raise boring, which comes from American ore mining, is currently state of the art. With this method, shafts can be created up to a depth of 1200 meters and with a diameter of up to six meters. When the rock is dry and stable, blind shafts are created underground with die drilling machines . For day shafts, drilling shafts tend to be the exception in Europe, this is due in particular to the fact that the overburden can now be easily controlled.

Special sinking method

Problems with sinking always arise when the shaft has to be sunk through very water-rich layers of loose rock or floating sand. But even very fissured mountains can cause problems when deepening if they have a lot of water. There are several methods to secure the excavation work in such problematic mountain layers:

In the manhole method, a so-called sink shoe is created in the dimensions of the manhole, which consists of iron segments. The drop shoe secures the joints and at the same time serves as a movable assembly platform for the shaft wall . In the cementing process, a suspension of cement and water is pressed into the rock, thus stopping the flow of water into the shaft. In the Haase sheet pile wall method, sheet pile walls are driven into the ground in the form of a manhole . In the past, sheet piling was made from wooden piles that were provided with tongue and groove; today these sheet piling consist of steel segments. In the Poetsch freeze shaft process, the mountain with its water content is frozen and thus made stable. The shaft is then sunk conventionally. Strictly speaking, Honigmann's shaft drilling method is also one of the special sinking methods. With the exception of the cementing process and the Honigmann process, all processes can only be used for limited depths up to a maximum of 30 meters. The cementing process can be used for any depth.

Construction stages in the creation of day shafts

The sinking of a shaft is divided into individual construction phases. Must first open pit excavation works are made. This is followed by the construction of the shaft cellar. In the case of weather shafts, the weather channel must also be created. Another construction phase is the construction of the foreshaft. Then the actual sinking work begins. After this work has been completed, final work will be carried out.

Preparatory work and construction of the shaft cellar

In the surface area , different earthworks are initially carried out in the area of ​​the shaft attachment point. Then the foundations for the sinking system and the supply facilities are created. In addition, the concrete work for the shaft cellar is carried out. The general construction work is not done by mining specialists, but by normal construction companies. After the foundation work, the necessary machines such as the sinking winch and the winch for the assembly platform are installed. With the sinking winch the recovery bucket and the gripper are moved during the sinking work.

Preview creation

The work for the foreshaft usually runs parallel to the other preparatory work. The upper loose rock layers are removed with an excavator with a deep spoon. The side walls are secured against falling stones at regular intervals of 2.5 meters with a layer of shotcrete . Problems can already arise in the upper area due to the strong inflow of groundwater. The further sinking work for the foreshaft is then carried out with the aid of a special sinking process, such as the freezing process. As soon as you come across solid rock during the sinking work, no more excavation work can be carried out. Now the rock has to be worked on with heavy equipment such as hydraulic hammers. At a certain depth the rock is so solid that further work has to be carried out using drilling and blasting. The foreshaft will be built to a depth of up to 50 meters. Where necessary, the foreshaft can be built to a greater depth.

The further devil work

After the foreshaft has been created, the preparatory work for further deepening the shaft begins.

Preparations

If shafts are created using the shaft drilling method, the required drilling equipment must first be installed. The shaft is then drilled according to the respective drilling method. If manholes are sunk conventionally, a sinking frame must first be installed above the manhole to be sunk. Since work is being carried out in the shaft, artificial ventilation by means of a fan must be provided from a certain depth . As a rule, this ventilation must be installed from a shaft depth of over 30 meters. In order to blow the fresh weather down to the bottom of the shaft, ducts are hung in the shaft . To protect the miners in the shaft from falling objects, shaft flaps are attached to the shaft opening. In order for the shaft staff to be able to escape from the shaft in the event of danger, due to an unforeseeable event such as gas ingress, water ingress or failure of the bucket conveyance, a second way of driving must be available. These are usually journeys or overhead journeys that are built into the shaft gradually according to the shaft depth. In addition, the bucket conveyor and the drilling equipment for the blast holes must be installed. In addition, a working platform must be attached. A shotcrete facility is located on this working platform. Appropriate lighting must be installed so that there is sufficient light during the work. For the energy supply, pipes for the compressed air and power cables as well as signal cables for communication with the conveyor operator must be carried.

Deepening the other shaft

After the machines and devices have been installed and ready for operation, further sinking work begins. Alternately, the blast holes are now being drilled, occupied and the mountains blasted. Subsequently, a temporary extension consisting of steel rings is introduced. This provisional expansion serves to protect the people working on the shaft floor from falling stones. The blasted heap is then unloaded. For this purpose, grippers are used that are initially operated by the Teufbobine in the upper shaft. As the depth increases, a special grab platform is installed in the shaft from which the grab is operated. As soon as the devil bucket is filled, it is conveyed away. This process is repeated until the entire pile is removed. The shaft lining is now being installed . Depending on the water supply, a corresponding dewatering must be operated on the shaft bottom. If the water supply is low, it is sufficient to remove the water from the bottom of the shaft by means of scooping and to discharge it via the devil bucket. If there is a larger water inlet, correspondingly powerful pumps must be put into operation. The work of drilling, blasting, securing, loading and removing the debris as well as installing the shaft lining is repeated continuously until the shaft is completely sunk. After the shaft, the deepest bottom has been reached, which will be shaft sump created.

Theses

After the shaft has been completely sunk, some final work still needs to be done. A pump platform must be installed in the sump. The shaft chairs are installed at the respective sole stops . In the shaft the necessary be once Riche and the tray guide installed. After the fixtures have been installed, the sinking equipment is dismantled. All pipelines that are no longer required are removed. All protective platforms and the manhole cover will be dismantled. Finally, the devil frame is dismantled and the devil bobbin dismantled.

Sinking with ongoing production

In hard coal mining, it is often necessary to dig a shaft deeper without interrupting the ongoing production. Protective measures are taken so that the miners working in the shaft are not endangered. One possibility is the installation of a protective platform that covers the entire shaft section and is placed in the upper part of the shaft sump . The stage consists of a support layer, girders and a so-called truss. A layer of floating pebbles or lava gravel, several meters thick, is applied over the stage. The layer has the task of absorbing the impact of any objects falling into the shaft. The strength of the bed must be calculated beforehand. The materials for the overlay must be made of non-combustible materials.

Another option is to leave a layer of mountains several meters thick, the so-called mountain festivals. For this purpose, a blind shaft is sunk next to the shaft , which is a few meters deeper than the shaft sump. Then a short distance is driven to under the shaft sump and from there the shaft is sunk deeper. The mountain fortress is secured with expansion and serves as a natural safety stage. After the shaft is sunk sufficiently deep, the mountain fortress is removed. Combinations of mountain fortresses and protective platforms were used. One half of the protective roof consisted of a mountain fortress and the other half of a sliding platform covered with a cushion. The upholstery consisted of a 1.5 meter thick layer of old hauling ropes or fascines . In this way, the recovery machine could be carried out and no additional reel was required.

Sinking blind shafts

Blind manholes are created either from top to bottom or from bottom to top. When creating from top to bottom, a blind shaft created in this way is also called a die. Creating from the bottom up is called breaking up or breaking open. Larger cross-sections, as they also occur with shaft bunkers , are usually created using the die method. Even when blind shafts are sunk from an upper level and are to end before the next lower level, they can only be created as a die. Conversely, blind manholes that are created from a lower level and end before the upper level can only be created by breaking up. When creating a blind shaft as a breach, the rock loosened from the mountains falls to the lower level. In the case of the drop process, the debris that has been blown out must be loaded and conveyed to the next level using a sink. Another possibility is to sink blind manholes using a manhole lowering system. When sinking blind shafts between two levels, this can also be done using a large borehole. For this purpose, a pilot hole is first created and then the remaining cross-section is expanded by means of subsequent breaking. This process can even be used to create blind shaft heads.

See also

literature

  • FP Springer: From Agricola's pomps in the mining industry, which pulls the water through the wind, to the rod pumps in oil production. In: Erdoel-Erdgas-Kohl. Issue 10, 2007, pp. 380-386.
  • Patent DE3807008C1 : Method for producing a shaft, especially for mining. Published October 5, 1989 . ‌

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Walter Bischoff , Heinz Bramann, Westfälische Berggewerkschaftskasse Bochum: The small mining encyclopedia. Glückauf Verlag, Essen 1988, ISBN 3-7739-0501-7 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Ernst-Ulrich Reuther: Textbook of mining studies. First volume, 12th edition. VGE Verlag, Essen 2010, ISBN 978-3-86797-076-1 .
  3. ^ Tilo Cramm, Joachim Huske: Miners' language in the Ruhr area. 5th revised and redesigned edition. Regio-Verlag, Werne 2002, ISBN 3-929158-14-0 .
  4. ↑ The oldest mining industry in Bavaria. In: Bavarian State Ministry for Economy, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology: From mines, smelters and hammers. Munich 2008, p. 10.
  5. ↑ Kurt Pfläging: Stein's journey through coal mining on the Ruhr. 1st edition. Geiger Verlag, Horb am Neckar 1999, ISBN 3-89570-529-2 .
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Toni Pierenkemper: The Westphalian heavy industrialists 1852-1913. Volume 36, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-647-35993-9 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Peter Schmäh, Benjamin Künstle, Nobert Handke, Erhard Berger: Further development and perspectives of mechanized shaft sinking technology. In: Glückauf. 143, trade journal for raw materials, mining and energy. No. 4, VGE Verlag Essen, Essen 2007, ISSN  0340-7896 , pp. 161-172.
  8. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Carl Hellmut Fritzsche: Textbook of mining science. Second volume, 10th edition. Springer Verlag, Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1962.
  9. ↑ Friedrich Behme: The divining rod. Hahn'sche Buchhandlung Hannover, Hannover 1919, p. 14.
  10. ↑ a b c d Wilhelm Bersch: With mallets and irons. A description of the mining industry and its technical aids. R. Hartleben's publishing house, Vienna / Leipzig 1898.
  11. ^ Franz Rziha : Textbook of the entire art of tunneling. Second volume, published by Ernst & Korn, Berlin 1872.
  12. ↑ a b c d e f Albert Serlo: Guide to mining science. First volume, 4th improved edition. Published by Julius Springer, Berlin 1884.
  13. ^ A b Emil Stöhr, Emil Treptow : Basics of mining science including processing. Spielhagen & Schurich publishing bookstore, Vienna 1892.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Heinrich Otto Buja: Engineering manual for mining technology, deposits and extraction technology. 1st edition. Beuth Verlag, Berlin / Vienna / Zurich / Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-410-22618-5 .
  15. ↑ a b c d e Gustav Köhler: Textbook of mining science. 6th improved edition. Published by Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1903.
  16. ^ Carl Hartmann: Handbuch der Bergbaukunst. First volume, Verlag Bernhard Friedrich Voigt, Weimar 1852.
  17. ^ A b Josef Musiol, Andreas Wölk: Reconstruction and deepening of the Lerche shaft. In: Deilmann-Haniel GmbH. (Ed.): Our company. Works magazine for the companies of the Deilmann-Haniel Group. No. 75, Druck Lensing Druck (Dortmund), Dortmund-Kurl July 1999, ISSN  0343-8198 , pp. 12-14.
  18. ↑ a b c d e f Thomas Ahlbrecht: Deepening of the weather pit Primsmulde. In: Deilmann-Haniel GmbH. (Ed.): Our company. Works magazine for the companies of the Deilmann-Haniel Group. No. 78, Druck Lensing Druck (Dortmund), Dortmund-Kurl December 2001, ISSN  0343-8198 , pp. 20-23.
  19. ^ A b c Karl-Otto Didszun, Ekkehard Schauwecker: A new method for the creation of pre-shafts. In: Deilmann-Haniel GmbH. (Ed.): Our company. Works magazine for the companies of the Deilmann-Haniel Group. No. 28, Druck Lensing Druck (Dortmund), Dortmund-Kurl August 1981, pp. 20-22.
  20. ↑ a b c d e Dirk Sonnenfeld, Friedrich Schmitz: Tieferteufen Schacht Blumenthal 6. In: Deilmann-Haniel GmbH. (Ed.): Our company. Works magazine for the companies of the Deilmann-Haniel Group. No. 65, printed by FW Rubons (Unna), Dortmund-Kurl August 1994, pp. 8-13.
  21. ^ A b Gustav Köhler: Textbook of mining history. 2nd Edition. Published by Wilhelm Engelmann, Leipzig 1887.
  22. ↑ a b Technical requirements for shaft and inclined conveyor systems (TAS). Verlag Hermann Bellmann, Dortmund 2005.