Union adit
| Union adit | |||
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| General information about the mine | |||
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| other names | Compagniestollen Association conveyor tunnel |
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| Information about the mining company | |||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | |||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 51 ° 25 '20.3 " N , 7 ° 18' 12.1" E | ||
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| Location | Hardenstein | ||
| local community | Witten | ||
| District ( NUTS3 ) | Ennepe-Ruhr district | ||
| country | State of North Rhine-Westphalia | ||
| Country | Germany | ||
| District | Ruhr area | ||
The union tunnel is a former tunnel in Witten- Hardenstein. The tunnel was also known under the name Compagniestollen or Vereinigungs Förderstollen . After completion, the tunnel had a total length of around 375 meters across the cut and a maximum height of 1.8 meters. The tunnel is still used today to drain the old mine field .
history
The planning
In 1802 a contract was signed between the Carthäuserloch , United Reiger , Morgenstern to the west , Morgenstern to the east and Weselbank unions . The subject of the contract was the excavation of a jointly usable tunnel. The tunnel should serve to drain the mine water and convey the coal mined. The background for the excavation of this tunnel was the high loads on the mines involved due to the payments to the St. Johannes Erbstollen previously used . To the trades this Erbstollens had a fixed amount, the Stollenneuntel , for use are paid the Erbstollens. The trades of the mines involved no longer wanted to bear these high costs and the associated burdens. The unification tunnel should not compete with the St. Johannes Erbstollen, but primarily serve as the main conveyor tunnel. The cost of building the tunnel was initially to be divided between the Weselbank, Reiger and Carthäuserloch collieries. Weselbank was to assume 30 percent, Reiger 50 percent and Carthäuserloch 20 percent of the costs. After Morgenstern had joined the association, it took over 10 percent of the costs, so that Reiger now had to bear 40 percent of the costs.
The construction of the tunnel
The tunnel was set up in 1803. In order to be able to reduce the time to drive the tunnel, the tunnel was tackled at three different points. The tunnel was set about 1.3 meters higher than the St. Johannes Erbstollen. The background to this was the flood of the Ruhr . Due to the slightly higher starting point, the union tunnel was less at risk of flooding. The first point of attack for the tunnel was the tunnel mouth hole . It was set up about 200 meters northeast of the Hardenstein castle ruins . The distance from the tunnel mouth hole to the bank of the Ruhr, from where the coal was shipped, was only a few meters. The second and third starting point for the tunnel was a tunnel section in the Morgenstern seam. Here the tunnel was driven in a southerly direction to the seam of the Carthäuserloch colliery and in a northerly direction to the tunnel mouthhole. The tunnel was driven manually using a mallet and iron. The starting points were precisely determined by measurements made by Markscheider Bauer. During the excavation, the miners complained about their wages. The reason was that the six tusks working there considered their pay to be too low. Only a short time after the tunnel was completed, the tradesmen had a colliery and a smithy built next to the tunnel mouth hole .
Operation of the gallery
The tunnel was in operation from 1804. In the same year a coal storage facility was set up on the Ruhr. For this purpose, the area was used that lay between the tunnel mouth hole and the banks of the Ruhr, only a few meters away. From now on, could mined coal is transported directly to the Ruhr and had not awkward until production wells highly promoted and then by running carts to be transported to the Ruhr. In 1805 negotiations were held again between the trades involved and the mining authority. The reason was the installation of a suitable conveyor belt . The trades intended to convey the coal by means of carts. The mining authority favored the installation of an English wagon conveyor . The installation of this conveyor, with wooden rails and wagons with cast-iron wheels with flanges, began in 1805. In the years 1808 to 1814, the production through the tunnel was stopped due to a lack of sales. The reason for the lack of sales was the standstill of the Ruhr shipping. Therefore one tried to put the coals in the vicinity. An orderly operation of the tunnel could only be carried out again from 1814. In 1816 repair work was carried out on the English carriage control. In order to be able to better monitor the coal deficit on the Ruhr, the hat house of the tunnel was built one storey higher in 1819 . In the years 1833 to 1840 the tunnel was in operation again. After the Reiger colliery, the last colliery that was still connected to the tunnel, was shut down in 1847, the tunnel was no longer used for several years. In 1873 a railway embankment was raised in front of the tunnel . In 1898 the tunnel was used by the Gut Glück & Wrangel mine as a conveyor tunnel and for water drainage. From 1909 onwards, the Gut Glück & Wrangel colliery only used the unification tunnel to drain off the mine water. After the colliery was closed in 1925, the unification tunnel lost its importance. Over the years, the tunnel fell into disrepair and parts of the tunnel were abandoned .
Current condition
Rust-brown water still runs out of the tunnel's mouth hole. The water, which has a high iron content, comes from the underground catchment area of the tunnel. The tunnel has been a monument since 1986 . In 1997 it was still drivable for a length of 100 meters .
photos
Information sign of the union gallery
Fencing around the tunnel mouth hole
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Joachim Huske : The coal mines in the Ruhr area. Data and facts from the beginning to 2005 (= publications from the German Mining Museum Bochum 144) 3rd revised and expanded edition. Self-published by the German Mining Museum, Bochum 2006, ISBN 3-937203-24-9 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Gerhard Koetter, Friends of the Westfälisches Industriemuseum Zeche Nachtigall eV (ed.): When coal was still a future. 2nd revised edition, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2017, ISBN 978-3-8375-1844-3 , pp. 57–63.
- ↑ a b c Union gallery . In: Witten Tourist Office. (Ed.): Mining circuit Muttental, 7th edition, Witten 1988
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Gerhard Koetter (Ed.): Mining in the Muttental. 1st edition, Druckstatt Wöhrle, Witten 2001, ISBN 3-00-008659-5 .
- ↑ a b Gerhard Koetter (Ed.): From seams, tunnels and shafts in the Muttental. 1st edition, Klartext Verlag, Essen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89861-612-6 .
Web links
- The early mining of the Ruhr: Union adit (accessed on January 4, 2013)
- Early mining on the Ruhr: historical map around 1840 (accessed on January 4, 2013)
- Early mining in the Ruhr: Map of the situation around 2000 (accessed on January 4, 2013)