Value: £182,000

The Project

This area of Cornwall has a long history of tin mining concentrated around and within the towns of Redruth and Camborne. The area is of significant environmental and archeological interest with some of the shafts containing important colonies of bats.

Our contract was to expose and plug over twenty six mine shafts in various locations including public parks, fields, roads and gardens. The work entailed site clearance and temporary and permanent fencing of a further 7 No. shafts to maintain their archeological importance whilst keeping the public safe. The shafts were excavated down to firm bedrock, sometimes up to 10m in depth. The installation of steel beams and a timber deck in turn was used to support a reinforced concrete plug approximately 3 metres thick.



One shaft covered with a reinforced concrete slab at surface level incorporated a large vent and bat access tower, all faced in granite masonry.

Additional large areas of ground had shallow workings and these were dealt with by reinforcing the earth using Paragrid Geotextile under 0.5m of overburden.

Access to the various sites was often difficult and an THE PROJECT important feature of the work was close liaison with the various parties concerned, including Statutory Authorities, Landowners, neighbouring properties, Environmental and Archeological Officers and the public at large.

Health and Safety was controlled by our resident Mine Manager in conjunction with the requirements of HM Inspectorate of Mines and Quarries. Working over shafts with depths of up to 900m required great care using harnesses, lifelines and substantial temporary platforms