In the December, 1901, number of “Compressed Air,” a magazine especially devoted to the useful application of compressed air, is read:
Compressed air wasted from power drills is so contaminated with oil from the cylinders that it cannot be taken into consideration as ventilation. It is as important to displace it with pure air as it is to drive out or draw off other vitiated air. The ventilation should be an independent supply provided by fan or blower, delivering by pipe at the point where miners are working.
Quantity of Air.
—The quantity of air to be introduced into tunnels must be in proportion to the oxygen consumed by the men, the animals, and the explosions. It is allowed that the quantity of air required for breathing purpose and explosions is as follows:
| 1 | workman with lamp | needs | 240 | cu. yds. | of fresh | air | in 24 hours. |
| 1 | horse | „ | 850 | „ | „ | „ | „ |
| 1 | lb. gunpowder | 100 | „ | „ | „ | ||
| 1 | lb. dynamite | 150 | „ | „ | „ |
In a long tunnel excavated through hard rock the number of workmen all together may be assumed at 400 at each end, and each workman is supposed to be furnished with a lamp. No less than ten horses are employed, and the average quantity of dynamite consumed is 600 lbs. per day. From the data given the consumption of air by workmen and lamps would be: 240 × 400 = 96,000 cu. yds.; the consumption of air by horses would be 850 × 10 = 8500 cu. yds.; the consumption of air by dynamite would be 150 × 600 = 90,000 cu. yds.; making a total consumption of air per day of 194,500 cu. yds., or about 8000 cu. yds. per hour.
To obtain good ventilation, then, it will be necessary to furnish every hour a quantity of fresh air amounting to not less than 8000 cu. yds. Since, however, a large quantity of pure air is expelled with the foul air, it is necessary greatly to increase this quantity.
It may be observed, in closing, that the water having its particles divided, as in a fog or mist, rapidly precipitates the gases produced by explosions. Now, when hydraulic machines are used, there is a hollow ball pierced by holes that are almost imperceptible, from which the compressed water spreads in very subtile particles, and this causes the fall of the gases from explosions. Such a method of precipitating gases is very good, but does not have the advantage of supplying new oxygen to replace that consumed by the men, animals, lamps, and explosions; besides, it has the defect of increasing the quantity of water to be removed. In tunnels the pipes used either for conveying the fresh air or for carrying away the foul air, are of iron, having a diameter of about 8 in.; they are fixed along the side walls about 3 ft. above the inverted arch.
LIGHTING.
The object and necessity of a perfect lighting of the tunnel-workings during construction are so obvious that they need not be enlarged upon. Comparatively few tunnels require lighting after completion; and these are generally tunnels for passenger traffic under city streets, of which the Boston Subway is a representative American example. Considering the methods of lighting tunnels during construction, we may, for sake of convenience, chiefly, divide the means of supplying light into (1) lamps and lanterns usually burning oil; (2) coal-gas lighting; (3) acetylene gas lighting; and (4) electric lighting.