It was a lovely sunny January day in Selby when we went to visit the Selby Coalfield Memorial. It is sited in Bondgate, a few minutes walk just outside the town centre. The area is lovely to walk with or without a dog. Lovely monument to remember all the men who worked at Selby with every mine represented including the Mines Rescue Service.
A brilliant three dimensional map of the complex shows the extent and true scale of the Selby Coalfield.
When I started at Riccall Mine in 1988 the mine had a system of maintenance which was relatively new in the industry called the Routine Condition Monitoring or R.C.M. The team consisted of mechanical staff initially who carried out weekly monitoring of all equipment throughout the mine. Fans, machine gearboxes, motors, compressors, conveyor gear heads and rollers were all monitored. The system was based on testing an item of equipment, when brand new to set a baseline for the vibration profile for the item. The equipment was then analysed for vibration on a regular basis using a machine called a shock pulse monitor or S.P.M. Any irregular vibrations were picked up, investigated and monitored to ensure catastrophic failure didn’t occur during production. S.P.M. was the electronic device used in the development of this type of maintenance and it worked well in the early years of this technologies. The other major part of the system was gearbox oil debris analysis. Oil samples were taken on a regular basis from all gearcases. The oil was mixed with a solvent solution to remove the oil. The sample was then passed through a filter to gather any debris. The solvent was evaporated leaving a debris sample. This was analysed for types of metal particles or dirt. All the gathered information was inputted into the data monitoring system so that deterioration of internal bearings, rotating parts and oil deterioration due to ingress of dirt were picked up at an early stage.
As the system progressed extremely advanced, intrinsically safe, electronic equipment became available.This machine was called a Vibration Spectrum Analyser. At this point an electrical section of the R.C.M. department was created due to the extra workload.
All machinery had a list of specifications when manufactured. These included number and bearing types within the machine. All the specifications were inputted into the Spectrum Analyser software and all new machines such as fans, motors and gearboxes were tested for vibration oscillations and harmonics when brand new. This data was used as the baseline for future monitoring. Any faults in a machine were quickly found and investigated. This sophisticated system, along with oil debris analysis ensured almost no catastrophic failures of equipment and loss of production.
As automation progressed widely in the industry, all ventilation fans, compressors and conveyors were monitored constantly as part of the control and operating system, MINOS, to ensure safe operations.
As we were in Selby taking some photographs for a post on the Selby Coalfield memorial, I suggested to my wife that we go and have a look at the Wistow Mine site. We arrived at the entrance and I walked a few metres into the old carpark. After a couple of minutes I got the attention of a bloke doing some ground work on the site. I explained to him who I was and what I wanted to do. He gave me a phone number for the owner of the site. I called Richard, who kindly gave me permission to take the photographs I wanted for my blog.
The rear of the boiler house.
Workshop entrance.
Electricians snap cabin door with the obligatory fruit stickers.
The last calendar. 2004 closure year.
The transformer and mine reactor caged areas.
Workshops.
Transformer cages.
No1 shaft cap with methane drainage valve.
Pit yard looking towards workshops.
Walking around the site, which now has no power, made me realise how long it was and how things have changed since the Selby Coalfield was producing coal. The site is now used for trailer storage and is under renovation, with members of staff on ground works and 24 hours security.
The dogs are owned by Damien, who kindly escorted us around, so we were safe, but we still gave the five guard dogs at various points a wide birth. What struck me, as it did on a visit to Riccall Mine recently, is how quiet the place is now.
I would like to thank Damien for his assistance and his escort of the site and Richard for his kind permission to access the site.
The North Conveyor Mk2B Roadheader at 194m.
When the North Conveyor heading had progressed 700m in Feb 1985 a large junction was created. The Mk2B roadheader then continued on to the north of the mine. At the same 700m point in the North Intake heading in Feb 1986, a junction was created and the cross slit was created between the North Conveyor and North Intake roadways. At the North Intake junction, an heading was started, to develop the coal at the west of the mine. When the heading had progressed 100m a further junction was created. The machine turned right to create a 70 metre cross slit for the West Return and West Intake stub headings. The machine then drove an heading back towards the North Intake at 45° to create a ventilation slit for the heading fans and loco access. This development was phase 2 of Riccall Mine, to access the coal at the west of the mine up to the boundary with Wistow Mine.
In October 1986, the North Return and North Conveyor lateral roadways were completed. The South Conveyor was completed and the Return was well advanced. Both North and South Intakes were half completed and face developments were also started on both sides of the mine. This was the first phase of the development of the mine.
The West Development Headings.
In Nov 1988 the west development headings were started by mining contractors, Thyssens. The machines used for the West Conveyor heading was a Dosco Mk2B roadheader and West Return headings was a Dosco MK2A revised hydraulics roadheader. The headings were supplied by two Becorit battery locos owned by Thyssens. These locos moved equipment from a transhipment point at the bottom of the West Conveyor roadway.
Before the West Return lateral heading started, the West Return connection roadway, to the North Return, had to be completed. It was a 1 in 17 drift changing to a 1 in 5, driving above the North Intake and North Conveyor roadways. The connection, a 1 in 1 Drift, was created upwards from the North Return, using bore and fire with a slusher to muck out, to complete the heading. This drift was called Zolly’s Drift after the Thyssens general foreman. This allowed the West Return air to travel to the upcast No2 shaft.
The West lateral headings progressed and made junctions for H471s and H472s faces. The West faces were to be taken off the West Return retreating in a north to south direction. The first face to be developed was H472s. These headings were driven by Thyssens using Lee Norse LN800 2.5tt continuous miners and were supported using arch girders.
H472 Face and South West Trunk.
H472s face development gates were started in March 1990 and the 700m face headings, including 230m faceline, were completed in Oct 1990.
The cross slit between the West Return and Conveyor Road was completed and the west side 6.6kv ring main MIVAC substation was built in the slit, at a later date, to supply all the 8 west faces and and headings. A roadway was taken off the West Conveyor called the South West Trunk.
H472s coal face was the first one at Riccall Mine to have a Joy shearer. The first Joy shearer used in the country was at Manton Colliery on 39s face. It was a 3LS and proved very successful. At the time H472 was to be installed, 2 shearers were made available for Riccall Mine. A Joy 4LS and the ex Manton Colliery, Joy 3LS. It was decided that Riccall Mine had the Joy 3LS and Trentham Colliery got a new Joy 4LS. The 485kw, 3LS installed at Manton Colliery and then Riccall Mine, was the only one ever used in the U.K. and is now on display at the National Coal Mining Museum.
Joy 3LS Shearer cutters
The Joy 3LS was a brilliant coal cutter. It was a very powerful multi motor shearer capable of unbelievable cutting speeds. The combined horsepower of the machine was over 600 horsepower with each of the two cutter motors rated at 250 horsepower. The hydraulic onboard pump, and the D.C. traction, haulage motors were a combined rating of 100 horsepower. The hydraulic pump was used purely for moving the ranger arm rams.
The 2×35 Horsepower D.C. traction motors were thyristor controlled with speed control set using a programmable electronic module. The traction drives operated a gear which sat on a huge captivated chain to haul the shearer through the face. We were told that when used in the American mines, where the face workers didn’t work on the tailgate side of the shearer, the machine could cut at 60 feet per minute. We had stricter dust regulations in the UK so these speeds were restricted. The shearer driver operated the machine using a remote control powered from his lamp battery via a lead.
The machine had a control section with an LED diagnostic panel situated in the middle section which was useful for fault finding. The cutter drums on the shearer was so designed that if it struck a solid object such as a chock beam, the output shaft from the ranger arm, to the cutter, sheared to ensure no damage to the gears of the ranger arm occurred. It was called a quill shaft.
H472s face was developed, as mentioned earlier, using Lee Norse continuous miners using arch supports. It was ready to start production in Jan 1991. The main gate pantechnicon was rail mounted and the face equipment was Gullick Dobson transferred from the northside of the mine. The face was very successful, finishing production in June 1991.
H472s face team with methane borers.
All faces at Riccall Mine had the entire electrical equipment, including transformers, returned to the surface, on every face, for a complete overhaul, redesign and testing. As the electrical equipment evolved, due to electrical developments, plug and socket connections were fitted, where allowed, for ease of salvage and installation.
West side faces from H470s
West side faces from H472s showing South West Trunk development.
West side faces from H474s H477S.
Lee Norse LN 800 continuous miners were used for all the West Side face headings with high rates of developments achieved due to the seam section becoming thicker as the mine progressed westward and the introduction of total bolting as the support system. The last 3 faces at the west of the mine were supplied with face equipment from the newly formed mining company, Longwall International, a merger of Meco International and Dobson in Jan 1993.
As the West lateral developments progressed the conveyor system was changed due to the length of the drivages and the faces worked. The slit from the outbye end of the conveyor road to the steel cord had a Huwood double drive which delivered onto the steel cord conveyor. A further Huwood double drive was installed just inbye of H472s slit supplied by an Wallacetown H65 installed on a large purdy platform outbye of H472s.The platform had to be built with sufficient height to allow men to walk underneath so we built the switchgear on the platform and then lifted the entire platform as high as possible. The conveyor became a manrider except for a short section at H472s junction where the South West Trunk delivered on the West Conveyor.
The face taken from the inbye end of the West Return was H477s with a seam section over 3m and the chocks working on there limit. The equipment was then transferred to H478s which was a face developed on the West Side of the South West Trunk roadway. The next two faces taken off the West Return were H471s with 1000m gates and H470s with 550m gates. These faces used the equipment from H478s and were very successful faces both completed by Feb 1998.
Photo above shows the H471s face team in mid 1997. The lads shown are top row, left to right; Steve Priestley (Tiger), Andy Lister and Bob Yorke. Middle row, right to left; Ian Liptrot, Eddie Jordan and Steve Commons (Old hand). Front row, left to right; Roy Minett, Paul Morton (Pinky), Willie Baxter and Paul Ward. The photo has been kindly given to me by Ian Liptrot who has a copy from the RJB News magazine. It is taken at the main gate entry to the face.
The last two faces worked on the west side of Riccall Mine were developed from the West Conveyor roadway. These were very short faces to remove the final couple of blocks of coal at the west side of the mine. H434A’s development was started in September 1997. The Main Gate was driven with a Dosco MD1100, a 34 Tonne, 157 kw, medium sized roadheading machine.
Dosco MD1100 Roadheader.
West side H434A’s and H434B’s face plans.
H434A’s tail gate was driven along with the face line heading and then abandoned on 20 Feb 1998. In June 1999 the heading was de-gassed and development was restarted to complete the main gate roadway back towards the West Conveyor roadway. The heading was completed in September 1999. The face, which had 400m gates and a face length of 180m was installed and started production in January 2000 using a Joy 3LS Shearer with Joy face equipment and standard Wallacetown SIMOS 1100v electrical equipment. The face finished production in 12 weeks on 29th March 2000.
H434B’s started development on 20th Nov 2000. The face headings were completed in the same way as H434A’s in one complete development starting with tail gate, faceline then main gate using a Dosco MD1100 and was completed on 23rd May 2001. The equipment from H434A’s was installed and production started on 13th August 2001. The face was 200m long with 500m gate roads and took 3 month to complete production, finishing on 23rd Nov 2001. This was the very last face at the west side of Riccall Mine.
All the West faces had outstanding production figures, producing millions of tonnes due to the outstanding workforce, face conditions, seam section and Gullick Dobson / Longwall international face equipment, including the brilliant Joy 3LS shearer mentioned earlier, which was used on most of the West side faces from 1990 until 2001.
Many thanks to Ian Liptrot, who was an electrician at Riccall Mine, for information on H434s faces and the great photo of H471s team.
Many thanks to Kevin Grant for information about the Thyssens developments.
When Riccall Mine closed as a producing mine in October 2004 many changes had to happen on the surface and its buildings to change the use of the site. When the Selby Coalfield was conceived and planned, the surface infrastructure was planned to be demolished and returned back to farming land but this did not happen. UK Coal persuaded the the planning authorities that the 104 acre site could be used as a multi use, mixed industrial, warehouse and office space after specific areas and buildings were demolished and made safe.
Harworth Estates acquired the site from UK Coal during the transition period in the coal industry and the A19 Business Park was created on the site.
Entrance from old car park
Probably the biggest task on a closed mine site was to make the mine entrances safe. The next major job was to demolish and clear the winder towers and winders.
After discussions, UK Coal persuaded, the then Coal Authority, that due to the high engineering standard and strength of the Selby Coalfield mine shafts that the integrity would ensure the shafts would last 150 years. This meant that the shafts did not need to be filled, at great expense, but a heavily engineered cap in each of the shafts, small plug and further cap on the surface would make the shaft entry secure.
The first task was to remove all power and communication cables, pipes, winder ropes and guide ropes to ensure the integrity and strength of the seal into the shaft wall. In the case at Riccall Mine, all the above mentioned items were cleared to a level below the area in the shafts below the air drift entrance at the No1 downcast shaft and the fan drift at No2 upcast shaft. The 24 ft diameter shaft had pockets (holes) cut into the concrete of the shaft wall at various points. This was a very difficult job due to the incredible strength of the concrete shaft linings used at Riccall. Large girders were installed across the shaft and fitted into these pockets and bolted together with other jointing pieces to create a huge, high strength lattice work for the steel cap base to sit on.
Once the steel cap was installed, the shaft air drifts and shaft tops were filled with a clean limestone aggregate and poured concrete to a point just below surface level. The final stage was to create a concrete shaft top cap over the infill.
No1 downcast shaft cap
No2 upcast shaft cap
The No1 winding tower, No1 winding house, No2 koepe winder and fan house, shown above, were all demolished, using heavy duty equipment, due to the heavily engineered structures, once the caps were fitted on the shafts. The methane plant to the right of the fan house was also decommissioned and the equipment removed.
The entrance to lamproom from No1 shaft.
The photo above shows where the covered area to the No1 shaft top was. It was a large tiled area with bottle filling and cleaning facilities.
The view looking from the pit lane into the pit yard with store building on the right.
The view above shows the store building on the right and the fluidised bed boiler house on the left. In the early 1990s Riccall Mine started using a generator supplied by Dale Engineering. The generator was supplied via the mine’s methane drainage system from the coal faces. The system had to have a filtration unit to remove any dust picked up from the piping of the methane from the face to the surface. The site of the generator is shown below.
View looking onto methane drainage house and generator site.
The view across the pit yard looking onto the electrical workshop, cable store and The workshop. The stockyard was a huge area to the right of the photo.
The view across the pit yard from the shaftsmens workshop looking onto the mechanical workshop, workshop offices and electrical / cable workshops.
The view from No1 shaft entrance looking at the electrical substation, the site of the No1 winding house and shaftsmens workshop. The No1 shaft cap is on the right.
When you walk around the surface at a closed mine you always remember how busy it was. It is a sad sight and so very quiet. When it was a working mine, men and machinery were moving around at all times of the day and night with the associated noises of fans, winders, moving mine cars and shifts of men chattering at certain times of the day. A sad end to it all.
Information about shaft remediation kindly provided by Dave Scott, a mate who worked at Glasshoughton Colliery, Wistow Mine and Kellingley Colliery.
Due to the severe geological and water ingress problems encountered on the first two faces, H01AW and H02AWs at Wistow Mine the mine was totally re-planned. The entire development of Wistow Mine changed from mining longwall faces to a system of single entry coal faces taken from the west side of A Block area of the mine. As the mine developed shortwall and longwall faces were introduced at the east of the mine.
Above: A Block
Above: South West
Above: North East
Above: North East off North Trunk Road
Above: Black Fen No2 and No3 Return
Wistow Mine was the only mine in the Selby coalfield to have water problems and, due to the replanning and redesigning of the mine, full production was not achieved until early 1990. Wistow set many records during its life; it was the first mine in Europe to mine 100,000 tons in a week; it was the first mine to produce 2.5 million tons in less than one year and was the first mine to produce not only 200,000 tons in one week, but a record of nearly 116,000 tonnes from a single coalface in 1995. It also produced 3 million tons in 1994 along with Riccall Mine in the same year. Wistow overcame very difficult mining conditions and had to develop more roadways than any other mine in the complex due to the single entry face system. During its working life Wistow Mine produced not only outstanding production figure but amazing drivage rates to achieve these production figures.
Many thanks to my wife for her spreadsheet and data work on this post.
The spine tunnel developments at Gascoigne Wood were the longest and most complex mining developments ever undertaken in the UK. The south spine Robbins T.B.M. was the first to be completed on 22nd June 1987. The north spine tunnel, driven by a Thyssen Meco ( Paurat ) Titan E134C Roadheader, was completed on 24th November 1990.
The south spine tunnel was equipped with 14,885 horsepower ( 10,100KW ), 1.3m wide, 28.1mm thickness, steel cord conveyor capable of carrying 2200 tonnes of coal per hour at a speed of up to 8,4m/sec . It was 12,232m in length and weighed 2,500 tonnes when empty and transported coal 805m from lowest point to surface. The drive was a Direct drive, twin E frame DC winder motors (5050kw) and was designed by Anderson Strathclyde and REI and was the most powerful conveyor in the world when installed.
Information plate on A.S.L.Conveyor Drive
It was designed to handle the entire coal production of the Selby Coalfield and was the first of the spine tunnels to be fully operational.
Gascoigne Wood South Spine Steel Cord Conveyor.
The North Spine tunnel, when operational was equipped with a 11,084 horsepower (8750 kw), direct drive, twin D frame winder motors rated at 4375 kw, 1.05m wide cable belt. The length of the conveyor was 9,650m with a tandem accelerator conveyor, 3,000m in length and 1.35m wide, loading from the inbye end, on to the cable belt.
The Cable Belt Tandem Conveyor.
Both conveyors were capable of 2,000 tonnes per hour. It was designed by Cable Belt Conveyors Limited and was also capable of handling the full production of all the five mines.
Wistow Staple Bunker delivering coal on to the cable belt.
Deputy inspecting the cable belt
When the Selby Complex was fully operational the Gascoigne Wood spine tunnels were fed from the five producing mines via multiple vertical bunkers. The staple bunkers were supplied with coal from the Barnsley seam which is 60m above the Gascoigne Tunnels.
During production the Gascoigne Wood conveyors had to run constantly and stoppages were very rare due to the sheer amount of production from the five mines. Any stoppages, other than safety related , were planned so that production could be re- directed to either of the main conveyors. At the bottom of each staple bunker, a monitored and controlled feed of coal was achieved using Westerland Feeders. These feeders had load cells so coal feeds could be measured and controlled. All the bunkers were controlled by Gascoigne Wood surface control room. The feed of coal was delivered via hoppers with hydraulic doors, each with a capacity of 85 tonnes and could direct the coal supply to either of the spine tunnel conveyors. During the spine tunnel developments a system of boreholes from Wistow Mine to Gascoigne were planned for access. The borehole at V3s was a small bore staple shaft. The next cross slit at V4s was originally a single bunker but later became West and East staple bunkers, at 4.5m diameter, each with a Westerland weigh feeder. The coal clearance from Wistow Mine to Gascoigne Wood Mine started in January 1983 in order to start production at Wistow Mine in July 1983.
Wistow Mine staple bunkers and boreholes
As the Gascoigne Wood spine tunnels progressed further staple shafts and access shafts were made. At 7208m a ventilation shaft from Wistow was made. The next cross slit was called V7s where a staple shaft was sunk. The next cross slit was V8s where two staple bunkers were sunk with access ladders to Wistow Mine.
V8s Heading during construction.
V8s cross slit when completed.
Vent slit during construction.
This cross slit had a north and south staple bunker when completed. Just inbye of this slit at 7916m, a second ventilation shaft was constructed and the shaft at 7208m was disused.
Wistow Mine staple shafts and boreholes
The south spine Robbins TBM tunnel progressed very well , but the north spine tunnel slowed due to very bad ground conditions which required back ripping at a later date.
Amco heading men back ripping in South Spine Tunnel.
In early 1986 The south spine Robbins TBM heading broke the world record for a Tunnel Boring Machine when the AMCO heading teams mined a record of 19m in one shift, 43m in a day and 152.4 metres in a week breaking a record from 1981.
The world record breaking AMCO Heading Teams January 1986
The next production connection was with Stillingfleet Mine. This staple bunker was a revised version of original plans to have dedicated staple bunkers at Stillingfleet Mine and North Selby Mines. The revised plan was to have a conveyor through Stillingfleet Mine from North Selby Mine and deliver the combined production through one staple shaft when North Selby was in full production.
Stillingfleet / North Selby Connection.
The south spine tunnel progressed well until late 1986 when the TBM hit very soft conditions. The tunnel boring machine was unable to cut in the soft rock and virtually stopped. A connection with Riccall Mine was imperative as the coal production from Riccall and Whitemoor Mines depended on Gascoigne Wood for the coal clearance. The only answer was a heading from Riccall Mine back towards Gascoigne Wood so a heading started from Riccall Mine in early 1987. The Stillingfleet Connection heading was well established, when the south spine TBM overcame the soft conditions using a concrete grouting system. The heading progressed well to the final point and completed the spine tunnel on the 22nd June 1987.
Gascoigne Wood Spine Tunnel connection with Riccall Mine at completion of both Spine Tunnels.
As you can see from the plan above the ventilation borehole, access borehole and coal clearance staple shafts are shown.
A 1in 7 drift connection was made from Riccall and booster fans were installed and powered from a dedicated supply in Riccall Mine pit bottom substation.
To ensure the safe access and egress in and between the spine tunnels at Gascoigne Wood Mine, cross slits were made as mentioned in a previous post. These were used for ventilation, substations, loco pass byes, charging stations, for the locomotive fleet, pumping stations, staple bunker access and ventilation/ access boreholes. To enable the safety of the men in the case of a fire in the spine tunnels, smoke doors were installed in these slits. The doors could be operated remotely from the surface control room in an emergency situation.
One of the V slits with electrical equipment and conveyor control panels.
V11s ventilation slit smoke doors
To keep the 25km of spine tunnels stone dusted, was as you can imagine, a major job. Planning was imperative to attain high standards in such a massive complex of tunnels and cross slits due to distances to travel. Gascoigne Wood used various methods of applying the stone dust.
Cryogenic stone dust train
The cryogenic (compressed nitrogen) system was used to deliver huge amounts of stone dust in the spine tunnels. This system was used at most of the mines in around the Selby Coalfield.
Cryogenic stone duster in use.
Cryogenic stone duster in use.
Stone dusting at a Westerland feeder slit in the south spine tunnel.
Compressed air was available along the spine tunnels with compressor house situated at various points. It was used for stone dusting at transfer points as seen above using the hopper and lance.
Keeping the conveyors maintained and safe was also a huge job. A system was devised to replace defective rollers using a loco mounted portable lifting station to take the weight off the conveyor of the defective roller to enable replacement. Inspection were done using a purpose designed loco carriage which was low slung to enable inspections on the move.
Replacing a defective conveyor roller on the ASL conveyor.
Conveyor inspection train.
Teams of men were also deployed to keep the spillage to a minimum. As you can imagine moving 12 million tonnes of coal along a conveyor system will always cause some level of spillage.
ASL conveyor spillage.
Cable belt spillage.
Compressor Houses.
As mentioned earlier compressed air was used throughout the spine tunnels. Back ripping was another job which required regular attention. Long sections of both spine tunnels were backripped and dinted. Cable bolting was also used at various points in the tunnels.
Installing 26 ft cable bolts.
Gascoigne Wood had a fleet of Clayton BoBo locomotives for transporting men and equipment from the drift bottom to inbye working areas. Due to the sheer length of the tunnels, loco charging and battery changing stations were sited along the tunnels in either specially widened roadway or passbye slits.
Changing a BoBo battery.
Becorit equipment for changing batteries.
My sincere thanks to Neil Rowley for allowing me to use his photographs and information.
When the develoment of the Riccall Mine surface started the site was basically part of a disused WW2 airfield last used in 1958. The site was 64 acres of the RAF Riccall satellite station, the rest of the base is now part of Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve.
The first thing to do was clear the site and prepare the shafts for sinking. The shafts in the Selby Complex used a brine solution system to freeze the water bearing strata to enable sinking to take place through the water, rock and ice.
The shaft sinking contractors used at Selby were Cementation Mining Ltd who sank Wistow, Riccall and North Selby mines. Thyssen Mining (UK) sank Stillingfleet and Whitemoor mines. The water bearing strata in the Riccall shafts were frozen to a depth of 253m. To achieve the frozen zone, boreholes were drilled at uniform distances around the circumference of each shaft to 255 metres. Pipes were entered into the boreholes and filled with a saline solution. The pipes were connected to a compressor and the freezing process was started. When the freezing process was completed a thirty foot plug of ice was created around the shaft. Once the frozen zone is achieved around the shaft circumference sinking can start.
As the groundworks for the shaft tops were prepared lots of equipment was moved onto site to support the sinking operations.
A concrete preparation plant was installed onsite due to the immense quantities needed for not only the shafts but building bases, surface buildings, ductings and fan house ventilation airways.
The shaft sinking in the first thirty metres of the two shafts had major differences in design. Number one shaft was a downcast shaft, with a ventilation intake drift on the East side of the shaft. This was incorporated into the shaft design and was part of the concrete shaft wall just below the surface. The ventilation drift had a shaft heater system but was never used.
Number two shaft was an upcast shaft. The shaft design at the surface incorporated a fan drift connected to the two main 2100kw ventilation fans to the east of the shaft via 2 smooth concrete tunnels.
The shafts were sunk using drill and blast and progressed well through the water bearing strata. Once the initial surface sections were completed the sinking winders and associated equipment needed to sink the shafts were installed.
Each shaft had a 5 deck sinking stage suspended in the shaft to carry out the various processes involved. This sinking stage had 4 synchronised winches to lift and lower the stage. The processes involved in the sinking were the drilling of the shaft bottom, blasting and mucking out. The shaft walls had to be drilled, bolted and meshed. Two metre long shutters were put in place around the shaft and concrete was poured into the void between the shutters and the shaft wall to line the shaft. The shaft concrete lining was 1metre thick. Water resistant seals were fitted in the shaft lining in certain areas of the shaft sinking. In the middle of the sinking stage was an access hole for the cactus grab and kibble used for removing the shaft muck to the surface. When the sinking stage was lifted and lowered, a communication and power cable was also lifted and lowered. As the shaft was sunk concrete pouring pipes, compressed air and water pipes were installed.
Shaft sinking winder.
Any period when men were working in the shaft, doors were placed on the access to the shaft to ensure no equipment or debris fell into the shaft.
This photo shows the Cactus Grab, for mucking out, man riding kibble, meshing and strap basket. Air, water and concrete pipes are shown ready for installation in the shaft. The shaft doors are shown in the up position.
During the sinking process the mining engineers had to overcome some problems. The solutions were planned and designed into the sinking process. One of these problems was the Basal Permian Sands which had a water pressure relief system installed. This involved leaving a two metre gap in the shaft concrete lining to ensure the relief system worked and seals were installed but allowing the shaft sinking to progress. When the process was proven to work the shaft lining was completed.
Photo shows Neil Rowley on the top sinking stage at 629m depth in the shaft inspecting the basal permian sand water relief system prior to shaft lining. The shutterings and seals are visible. The shaft lining is one metre thick, sulphate resisting concrete. The concrete linings at Riccall and North Selby Mines were increased in strength due to strata hydrostatic pressures.
Photo shows temporary headgears with No1 permanent winding house built and air inlet shaft. The concrete batching plant is shown between the temporary headgears.
Photo shows fan drift to fan house under construction. The building housed two 2200kw axial flow, variable pitch fans.
Fan drift showing ventilation fans.
As the shaft sinking progressed the surface buildings and infrastructure were built simultaneously. The permanent shaft headgear was built at the side of the temporary equipment and were moved into position when sinking finished.
Photo shows permanent headgear to the right, sinking headgear on the left.
When completed in September 1983 the shaft depths were 792m at No1 shaft and 805m at No2 shaft set at 100m centres and 7.315m diameter.
Riccall Mine No1 shaft Mine car handling plant.
Riccall Mine No1 pit bottom mine car handling plant.
Car park looking at pit yard during construction.
The photograph below shows Riccall Mine when all temporary equipment was removed and all the surface buildings were fully operational. When completed the mine was barely visible from the road having used the extracted material from the shaft sinking and soil to create a natural banking around the site. The winding headgears were also designed to be shorter in height than conventional towers.
Many thanks and kind regards to Neil Rowley, an Undermanager at Riccall Mine during the development of the mine and Deputy Manager at Gascoigne Wood mine for providing photographs and information in this post.
North Side
Introduction: The first two faces at Riccall Mine were HO2DRs known as D2s and HO1CRs known as C1s. They started production in January 1988. The ‘C’ coal faces were at the south side of the mine. The ‘D’ coal faces were at the north of the mine. The first eight coal faces were all developed from the north and south return roadways, retreating from east to west with the seam dipping to the east. During the development and subsequent installation of D2s face a huge, simultaneous work program was underway to install the coal clearance system to Gascoigne Wood Mine.
The first north side face, HO2DRs.
The first face at the north of the mine was D2s. This face was around 900m from the pit bottom and had a face length of 200m. The Tailgate was developed using a Lee Norse LN800 1TT continuous miner. This machine was an american specification machine, the first of it’s kind in the UK. The machine had 120v control circuits unlike UK machines which had intrinsically safe, pilot voltage, control circuits. The machine had to be modified to pilot control to operate from UK Gate End Boxes before it was accepted into a UK coal mine. All electricians who worked on this machine had to complete a two day training course before working on the machine. This heading was the first development at Riccall Mine to use roof bolting as a primary support so was monitored very closely. The machine was extremely powerful and would cut out in less than 10 minutes. The gate length was 1600m with the machine also cutting the face line. The face was at a depth of 850m from the surface.
H403s maingate Lee Norse LN800 Continuous Miner
The Main Gate was developed using a Dosco MK2a Roadheader Revised Hydraulics. The supports were identical to the ones used on C1s face with a Cruciform leg, on the face side, for extra support when the shearer cut into the main gate. The main gate progressed really well due to the amount of coal in the face of the heading which made cutting easier. Both C1s and D2s were supplied with equipment using Clayton BoBo battery locomotives.
The main difference between the north faces and south faces were the face equipment manufacturer. The A.F.C., stageloader, crusher / sizer, coal face shield supports and powerpack pumps and tank were supplied by Gullick Dobson. The face supports had chock interface units which could be set to advance the A.F.C. and face supports automatically in zones or by shearer initiation and were lit throughout. Both the north and the south faces used Davis Derby signalling and audio systems, with a SIVAD A.F.C. and stageloader control and monitoring unit mounted on the main gate pantech. The face signal and audio system cables had camlock cable entries for easier fault finding.
The shearer was an Anderson Strathclyde AM500 DERDs
Between the Stageloader drive head and the pantech was a Hausherr Dinting Machine. This gave the roadway in front of the stageloader delivery sufficient height to move whilst retreating.
The pantechnicon with the face electrical switchgear, cables, pumps, tanks and transformers was identical to C1s face which was monorail mounted. The double acting ram used for moving the equipment out whilst the face retreated, was rated at 85 tonnes and was mounted at the outbye end of the Pantech. As the pantech moved outbye on the monorail, the 6.6kv 631 pliable wire armoured cable also mounted on the monorail, bunched up creating figure eights. When the face had retreated 95m the Wallacetown M82 face isolator was moved outbye 100m and the 631 cable was pulled out straight allowing the face to retreat another 100m.
This face, due to gate length, had a tandem conveyor. The main gate end had the same overband magnet as C1s, removing any metal debris before delivering the coal onto the steel cord conveyor.
D2s was a success along with C1s and continued producing well until 100M from the finish mark where a sandstone intrusion fault 30m from the main gate end, stopped the face. Huge sandstone lumps were causing severe problems in the fault area with one falling onto the ranging arm and lifting the 60 tonne shearer off the haulage rack unit. Boring and firing was used for a few days but due to the shearer being unable to cut the sandstone through the fault and very dangerous face conditions the face had to be stopped early on 19th December 1988.
The next face to start production at the north side of the mine was H403s. This face was a carbon copy of D2s in face and gate length. The main gate was developed using the ex D2s tailgate Lee Norse LN800 1TT Continuous miner with the tailgate driven with a new JCM 12 Continuous Miner. Both gates were supported using arches.
Due to problems with soft roof on the Riccall coal faces mentioned in another post and the base lifter ram modification to the face supports, D3s(H403s) was installed with an new, modified Gullick face kit and shearer. This face had a AM 500 DERDS Selectronic M.I.D.A.S. shearer designed to overcome the friable roof.
The M.I.D.A.S.( Machine Information Display and Automation System) had been trialled at Wath Main and Silverwood Collieries on single ended shearers and was designed for automatic steering of the shearer. When installed, the shearer transmitted data to the surface control room, via the mine transmission system using a new type of trailing cable called a type 7S, with transmission cores, to relay the data to the main gate and then to the surface.
Using the onboard system called a Machine Automation Digital Display(M.A.D.D.) , the shearer had parameters set, including seam section, face length and amount of coal top to be left. During cutting, the machine had a roof follower arm mounted on top of the shearer ranging arm touching the top of the seam. As the shearer progressed through the face, the follower arm gathered data on the coal seam undulations from a unit mounted at the base of the follower arm, transmitting it to the M.A.D.D. unit. At the end of the cut, an end of face detector sent a signal to the M.A.D.D. unit to save the last cut information, along with data gathered from inclinometers on the shearer called Face Advance Tilt(F.A.T) which measuring face advance angle of the seam. On the return cut the shearer, using the last cut data and automatically steered the ranging arm, using solenoid operation of the machine to control the operation. The shearer also had servo operated control of the shearer speed with a push button and electronic speed controller called a PB8 End Station. The shearer on D3s was a double ended shearer so the electronic control system was modified to operate and gather data whilst cutting coal. The data was then used to control the two cutting drum on the return strip of coal.
The pumps and tanks were identical to D2s and were monorail mounted. The only difference was the electrical gate end boxes, which were the ex C1s Wallacetown S.I.M.O.S. equipment. The face started on 3rd January 1989. The face performed OK due to the M.I.D.A.S. shearer overcoming the weak roof, but had it’s problems in certain areas and took 12 months to complete finishing on 17th January 1990.
The D3s face team with the M.I.D.A.S. shearer expert, shift charge engineer, Dave Greenwell.
The next face to be developed was H404s using 2 x Lee Norse LN800 2tt continuous miners. Once the LN 800 machines were proven, they were the mainstay for all the Riccall Mine face developments. The Lee Norse machines at Riccall used a specially developed, heavy duty, bridge conveyor bolted to the tail delivery which had a Lioness drive to clear the coal. The conveyor was wider than a standard bridge conveyor and could clear the coal very quickly. The heading machine cable handler was a Purdy monorail system which had a double runner system. This was in effect 2 monorails welded together. The machine cable moved in the lower rollers whilst the entire monorail could be moved forward on the roof mounted top rollers. This way only the roof mounting brackets, with runners needed moving forward. Both H404s headings, which were 1100m, were supported using roof bolts as the primary supports.
Riccall Mine north side faces.
H404s main gate was a different face design to H403s as it had a floor mounted pantechnicon with remote chock pumps. The electrical switchgear was Baldwin and Francis B.F.S. It was designed to be installed as part of the stage loader so was inline with the conveyor. It was a complete nightmare to install and maintain due to the sliding platform access for the switchgear, and the type 201b cables running over the top, in the very tight gap. A few fingers and hands were trapped during the installation. The transformers were rail mounted on skids with a monorail system to transfer the cable supplies into the switchgear.
The automated, remote, face support power packs were installed at the main gate end. The pressure supplies to the face were supplied through high pressure, threaded flanged jointed, pressurised pipes. The flexible hoses to the face were connected through a valve bank for isolation purposes at the face. This was the only time this system was ever used at Riccall Mine.
The shearer was an identical AM 500 DERDS Selectronic M.I.D.A.S. shearer used on H403.
The longer, 230m face started in February 1990 and due to the advanced technology of the shearer progressed in some very heavy face conditions. The face finished 50m early in October 1991 due to a washout. The face was salvaged quickly and re-installed on H406s.
The next face was H405s, which used the ex H404s, Lee Norse LN800 continuous miners to develop the face gate headings. The bolted headings progressed quickly with the face ready for installation in late 1991. The face supports, power pack pumps and tanks were Gullick Dobson, with the power packs and tanks installed at the face. The main gate electrical equipment was the overhauled, ex H403s, but totally re-designed to be rail mounted. All faces installed after Jan 1991 were rail mounted pantechnicons due to the face headings using total roof bolting as the support system.
The 250m long, H405s face performed well and finished production in April 1992.
The next face to start production was H406s which was the only face taken off the North Intake nearly opposite H405s. This face was a 200m face with 700m gate roadways and had identical equipment to H405s, except the shearer which was a standard AM 500 DERDS . The face started production in Jan 1992 and finished in July 1992. When the faces at the north of the mine were completed the Gullick Dobson face equipment and 2 of the LN 800 continuous miners were used at the west of the mine.
In 1992, Riccall Mine was the first one of the Selby Mines to produce over 2 million tonnes producing 2,200,000 million tonnes. In 1993 Riccall Mine produced 2,600,000 million tonnes of coal. In 1994 Riccall Mine produced 3,060,000 tonnes of coal. These outstanding figures were produced from 12 longwall coalfaces. Two faces were at the north of the mine, 4 faces were at the west of the mine, two faces were at the east of the mine and 3 faces were at the south west of the mine.
The Drifts
The Gascoigne Wood Drifts were the second stage of the development of the Selby Superpit. The undergound connection with Wistow Mine was of the upmost importance as all production surfaced at Gascoigne Wood. The drivages were started at almost the same time as the actual shaft sinking at Wistow in early 1978. The two drifts were parallel and set at 70.40m centres and were driven at 1 in 4 to 832m where a sealing ring was installed to stop water ingress.
The geology of the Selby area means that water was always going to be a major problem to be overcome, as it was during the shaft sinking in the Doncaster coalfield in the early part of the century and Kellingley Colliery in the late 1950s/early 1960s. It involved major mining engineering work starting from the initial ground works.
Their were three major water problems encountered during the drivage of the drifts. The Bunter Sandstone, a major aquifer in the Selby area and a major supplier of water, accessed by many borehole-wells. It is situated beneath the glacial deposits. The Lower Magnesian Limestone where up to 340 litres of flow per minute were expected and the Basal Sands where ingress from the Magnesian Limestone strata could cause running quicksand, at artesian pressure to be encountered. This problem had caused huge problems at Bentley Colliery during the shaft sinking process.
The Bunter Sandstone outcrops 800m east of the drifts and was one of the factors for the site being chosen.
The initial access to the drifts was by open cut method. The cuttings were initially de-watered by up to 60 pumps to allow the construction of the circular tunnel lining. A 1.5m, 10m depth, ventilation shaft was constructed at 40.25m in each of the drift portals. A system of de-watering wells were installed at the top 148m of the drift. The drifts was driven by modified single boom S.B.600 Dosco roadheader. This modification allowed the construction of circular, graphite-cast iron tubbing rings each sealed to the last and grouted to seal the tunnel. As the tunnel progressed, the heading was pre drilled and grout cones were injected to seal water ingress 30m in front of the face of the headings. This continued for 14 stages in 13m sections until the 178m area was completed. The next problem to be encountered was the Basal Sands, as predicted, 200m from the surface. This problem was overcome by using technology used in shaft sinking. The ground was frozen from the surface, using the existing technology involving 100 drill holes around each heading and the headings were driven 108m through solid ice. The heading had waterproof seals installed as they progressed to allow the sand layer to thaw. At 832m mark in the drivage sealing rings were installed to ensure a dry drift was achieved.
Selby Superpit 