| Fig. 6.—Lancashire method of working Coal. |
Fig. 6 represents the Lancashire system of pillar working. The area is laid out by two pairs of level drifts, parallel to each other, about 150 yds. apart, which are carried to the boundary. About 100 yds. back from the boundary a communication is made between these levels, from which other levels are driven forward, dividing the coal into ribs of about 25 or 30 yds. wide, which are then cut back by taking off the coal in slices from the level towards the rise in breadths of about 6 yds. By this method the whole of the coal is got backwards, the main roads being kept in solid coal; the intermediate levels not being driven till they are wanted, a greater amount of support is given, and the pillars are less crushed than is usual in pillar working.
In the South Wales system of working, cross headings are driven from the main roads obliquely across the rise to get a sufficiently easy gradient for horse roads, and from these the stalls are opened out with a narrow entrance, in order to leave support on either side of the road, but afterwards widening to as great a breadth as the seam will allow, leaving pillars of a minimum thickness. The character of such workings is very irregular in plan, and as the ventilation is attended with considerable difficulty, it is now becoming generally superseded by more improved methods.
| Fig. 7.—Long-wall method of working Coal in Derbyshire. |
The second great principle of working is that known as long-wall or long-work, in which the coal is taken away either in broad faces from roads about 40 or 50 yds. apart and parallel to each other, or along curved faces between roads Long-wall working. radiating from the pit bottom—the essential feature in both cases being the removal of the whole of the coal at once, without first sub-dividing it into pillars, to be taken away at a second working. The roof is temporarily supported by wooden props or pack walling of stone, for a sufficient breadth along the face to protect the workmen, and allow them to work together behind. The general character of a long-wall working is shown in fig. 7, which represents an area of about 500 acres of the bottom hard steam coal at Shipley in Derbyshire. The principal road extends from the shafts southward; and on both sides of it the coal has been removed from the light-shaded area by cutting it back perpendicularly towards the boundaries, along faces about 50 yds. in length, those nearest to the shaft being kept in advance of those farther away, producing a step-shaped outline to the face of the whole coal. It will be seen that by this method the whole of the seam, with the exception of the pillars left to protect the main roadways, is removed. The roads for drawing the coal from the working faces to the shaft are kept open by walling through the waste or goaf produced by the fall of the unsupported roof. The straight roads are the air-ways for carrying pure air from the down-cast shaft to the working faces, while the return air passes along the faces and back to the up-cast by the curved road. The above is the method of working long-wall forward, i.e. taking the coal in advance from the pit towards the boundary, with roads kept open through the gob. Another method consists in driving towards the boundary, and taking the coal backward towards the shafts, or working homeward, allowing the waste to close up without roads having to be kept open through it. This is of course preferable, but is only applicable where the owner of the mine can afford to expend the capital required to reach the limit of the field in excess of that necessary when the raising of coal proceeds pari passu with the extension of the main roads. Fig. 6 is substantially a modification of this kind of long-wall work. South Yorkshire method. Fig. 8 represents a method of working practised in the South Yorkshire district, known as bords and banks. The field is divided by levels and headings into rectangular banks, while from the main levels bords or wickets about 30 yds. wide, separated from each other by banks of about the same width, are carried forward in long-wall work, as shown on the left side of the figure, the waste being carefully packed behind so as to secure the ventilation. When these have been worked up to the extremity, as shown on the right side, the intermediate bank is removed by working backward towards the level. This system, therefore, combines both methods of long-wall working, but it is not generally applicable, owing to the difficulty of ventilation, due to the great length of air-way that has to be kept open around the waste on each bank.
The relative advantages of the different methods may be generally stated as follows. Long-wall work is best suited for thin coals, and those having a good roof, i.e. one that gives way gradually and fills up the excavation made by removing the coal without scaling off suddenly and falling into the working faces, when practically the whole of the coal may be removed. Against these advantages must be placed the difficulties attending the maintenance of roads through the goaves, and in some cases the large proportion of slack to round or large coal obtained. Pillar working, in the whole coal, is generally reputed to give a more advantageous proportion of round coal to slack, the latter being more abundantly produced on the removal of the pillars, but as these form only a small portion of the whole seam, the general yield is more advantageous than in the former method. The ventilation of pillar working is often attended with difficulty, and the coal is longer exposed to the influence of the air, a point of importance in some coals, which deteriorate in quality when exposed to a hot damp atmosphere. The great increase in the size of the pillars in the best modern collieries worked upon this principle has, however, done much to approximate the two systems to an equality in other respects.
Where the whole of the coal is removed at once there is less chance of surface damage, when the mines are deep, than with pillar workings. A notable instance of this was afforded at Newstead, Notts, where the ruined front of Newstead Abbey was lowered several feet without any injury to the structure.
| Fig. 8.—Bords and Banks. |
The working of very thick seams presents certain special peculiarities, owing to the difficulties of supporting the roof in the excavated portions, and supplying fresh air to the workings. The most typical example of this kind of Working thick seams. working in England is afforded by the thick coal of South Staffordshire, which consists of a series of closely associated coal seams, varying from 8 to 12 or 13, divided from each other by their partings, but making together one great bed of from 25 to 40 ft. or more in thickness. The partings together do not amount to more than 2 or 3 ft. The method of working which has been long in use is represented in fig. 9. The main level or gate road is driven in the benches coal, or lower part of the seam, while a smaller drift for ventilation, called an air heading, is carried above it in one of the upper beds called the slipper coal. From the gate road a heading called a bolt-hole is opened, and extended into a large rectangular chamber, known as a “side of work,” large pillars being left at regular intervals, besides smaller ones or cogs. The order in which the coal is cut is shown in the dotted and numbered squares in the figure. The coal is first cut to the top of the slipper coal from below, after which the upper portion is either broken down by wedging or falls of itself. The working of these upper portions is exceedingly dangerous, owing to the great height of the excavations, and fatal accidents from falls of roof are in consequence more common in South Staffordshire than in any other coalfield in this country. The air from the down-cast shaft enters from the gate road, and passes to the up-cast through the air heading above. About one-half of the total coal (or less) is obtained in the first working; the roof is then allowed to fall, and when the gob is sufficiently consolidated, fresh roads are driven through it to obtain the ribs and pillars left behind by a second or even, in some cases, a third working. The loss of coal by this method is very considerable, besides great risk to life and danger from fire. It has, therefore, been to some extent superseded by the long-wall method, the upper half being taken at the first working, and removed as completely as possible, working backwards from the boundaries to the shaft. The lower half is then taken in the same manner, after the fallen roof has become sufficiently consolidated to allow the mine to be re-opened.
| Fig. 9.—South Staffordshire method of working Thick Coal. |