Machine shaft
Main shaft of the Lüderich pit with machine house 1902, the water is pumped into an elevated tank for treatment.
The designation machine shaft was used in the early days of the use of steam engines for dewatering in German mining to refer to the use of a machine, which was still rare at the time, for example at the United Engelsburg machine shaft near Bochum . This designation is not common for manholes that used a water art for dewatering. When steam engines became common, the term became uncommon.
The term was also used for shafts that were sunk by machines specifically for dewatering . In some places, however, the designation was not only retained for shafts with exclusive dewatering in common parlance, but also when the production was carried out with machine power in order to illustrate the difference to the weather shaft .