What is the wettest Mine you ever worked in?

[coalfire]

I'm thinking about trying a Mine in Central WV. People say it is a nightmare bad top, chest deep water. How do you mine in something like that? The pay is great though, its only about 100 yards from the Ohio river. Has anyone worked in conditions like this before?

[John]

Wettest I ever worked in was just one face that was pretty close to the bunter sandstone layer in Nottingham, UK.
It was like working in constant rain until the strata got so weak it converged closing the face down.
That was 12's face in the Deep Hard seam, around 60 inches was being cut with an AB16/125hp shearer with Dowty Roofmaster chocks.
On the whole, that pit was extremely dry.

Where does their water come from Lannie?? Roof, workings??

[Mick]

The wettest pit i have ever worked at was Gomersal in the Beeston seam, every face in that seam was bad.
There was not one face more than 30 ins high and all hand filled.it was normal to be working in about 4 to 6 ins of water.

[John]

Pity we don't have a poster or two from the old Kent coalfield, I believe a couple of those pits were very wet.

[Clive]

Green clough in Burnley was naf, no where near as bad as what you guys are on about as to vollumes of water though, but I never mesured it in inches...just misery levels. at Green clough it came through the roof, sides and washed back down the road, when you filled the coal on the scraper, the slack washed off. in a fortnight the road was 18" less on top of that the owners were possitivly victorian in their outlook...miserable place.

By the time the sleaves on your ganzy have doubled in length and the coal bits are chafing...time to go home and get dry

[Sam from Kent]

Hi,

John said pity did'nt have poster from the Kent Coalfield, well here I am, just found your site.

I worked at Tilmanstone at 3033' deep we pumped out 2 and a half million gaqllons of water every night!

[John]

Welcome aboard, yes I thought I'd read the Kent pits were very wet.