PRA C T I C AL SH A FT SI N KI N G B Y D NAL CI O DSO M . E. FRAN S N , l C IfiEF ENGI NEER THE T . A. GI LLESPI E COM PANY SEC’OND EDITION Corrected with two new Appendices M cG R AW — H I L L B OOK C OM PA N Y 239 WEST 39TH STREET NEW YORK , T E T L ND N E 6 S R E O O C . BOUVERIE , , 1 91 2 Co ri ht 19 10 1912 b the C RAW- I L B oox COMPANY py g , , , y M G H L The Plimton Press Norwood Ma . p ss U. S. A. PREFACE TO THE FIRST ED I TI ON THE subject matter of this book was published as a Min s and Mimrals u 1909 series of articles in e , d ring and 1 s i 1 9 0. It is reproduced , with ome alterations and add n u Mr. tio s , thro gh the courtesy of Rufus J Foster, manager, M d Min r ine an als. r B . v s e and M . Eugene Wilson , editor of The writer also wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to t Mines and Mine mls r H H . Soe M . k, who was editor of when most of the articles came out . e e 1 910. S ptemb r, PREFACE TO SECOND EDI TI ON SINCE the text of the fi rst edition of Practical Shaft ” o n u Sinking was written , cement gr ut has bee sed in several American shafts to cut off flows of water encountered in sinking , and its further use for this purpose will undoubtedly i become more common . The writer , therefore , bel eves that a description of the methods used in grouting off flows of water in two of the city aqueduct shafts (Catskill Aqueduct x Project) will make an interesting appendi . Such a de scription is given in Appendix A. It will be noted that in one of these shafts a stratum of loose sand prevented the u entire excl sion of the water by grouting alone , that a concrete lining provided with drain pipes was placed , and that the shaft was fi nally made entirely dry by grouting this lining . Several of the city aqueduct shafts in Brooklyn and the lower east side of Manhattan Island were sunk through great depths of water- bearing sand by the pneumatic cais A son process . section of one of these caissons , accompanied V V i PREFACE by a description of the methods used in sinking it and seal in i B g it to the rock , is shown in Append x . One change has been made in the shaft records on page 83 ne i to accommodate a w Amer can record . Several foot t and no es have also been added , one or two typographical errors corrected . CONTENTS CHAPTER PREFACE I SOME DEEP SHAFTS FEATURES OF CONTRACTS FOR SINKING FORM OF CONTRACT PLANT E UIRED B OILERS OI TING NGINE HEAD- RAME II R Q , H S E S, F AND BUCKET AmComp nnssons III SI NKI NG THROUGH SURFACE SOFT GROUND WOODEN SHEET ING TEEL SHEETING CAISSONS OF TEE n n S S L, Woo , o CONCRETE IV SINKI NG THROUGH Sorr GROUND PNEUMATIC PROCESS SHI ELD METHOD V SI NKI NG IN Rocx ARRANGEMENT or HOLES TOOLS AND METHODS USED IN D RILLING Cos'rs AND SPEED VI THE SINKING-DRUM PROCESS MAMMOTH PUMP THE FREEZ I NG PROCESS VII THE KIND-CHAUDRON BORING Pnocnss CEMENTATION or WATER-B EARING FISSURES P H D VIII LIFTING WATER HORIZONTAL v s. VERTI CAL UMPS AN LING PUMPS IN SHAFT Coa sn PUMPS I X SHAF' I‘ LI NI NGS X CONCRETE LIN IN GS Cos'rs PER LINEAR Foo'r FOR RECTANGU LAB L IPTICA AND UADRILATERAL SHAFI ‘S E L L, Q PPE I RO TING HAFT 4 AND 24 N. Y. ITY UEDUCT A ND X A. G U S S , C AQ N B . PRACTICAL SHAFT SINKING CHAPTER I ' SOME DEEP SHAFTS FEATURES OF CONTRAo'ps FoR I SINKING — FORM OF CONTRACT THE mini in u origin of ng is lost the mists of antiq ity , ni but it is certain that , since the begin ng of history, metals u and minerals have been so ght after . The Egyptians operated gold , silver , and copper mines in Ethiopia and on the Arabian border ; the Phoenicians found gold and iron in the islands of the Mediterranean and lead and silver i in Spain . The earliest mnes were probably snrface work fi r ings , but the st historical mention of openings driven in ri but the earth refers not to a d ft or tunnel to a shaft . In “ the Book of Job it is written of man that He breaketh open a shaft away from where men sojourn ; they are for gotten of the foot ; they hang afar from men ; they swing to ” “ u : and fro . Pliny describes c tting hitches in a shaft Else where pathless rocks are cut away and are hollowed out to He u u furnish a rest for beams . who c ts is s spended with ropes . Shaft sinking and tunnel operations in ancient times were confi ned to solid earth and rock . The Roman engi neers drove rock tunnels that would seem long to-day ; they originated the method of disintegrating rock by fi re and they sunk shafts along the line of their t unnels from which to drive additional headings . Forty shafts one of them f u 400 t. deep were sed for the excavation of their longest tunnel . ? For many centuries after the Roman Era nothing com parable to the Roman work was attempted , since the cost in labor and human life of the fi re—and—water method was PRACTICAL SHAFT SINKING i was terrifi c. The nvention of gunpowder the next step , but gunpowder was apparently not used for blasting purposes 1 679 . s in r until , at Malpas , France Mine the Ha tz Moun tains and in Cornwall had been worked to great depths in the seventeenth century before the steam engine was e li e d veloped , but its app cation to hoisting of course mad 1n fi rst bossfiflé undreamed of speed sinking . The practical i fi rst i hi The invention of dynam te , the commerc al gh i 1 866 - air 1855 u t explos ve , in , and the compressed drill in , p rock shaft sinking on its present basis. Although from time to time special methods such as the freezing and the r i i bo ing processes have been developed for spec al cond tions, i for ordinary shafts hand s nking is cheapest and best . i i i confi ned Excepting the steam ho st , nvent ons have been to means for shattering the rock ; steam shovels are some u i - times sed in tunnels , but shaft spo l is to day loaded by hand into buckets , as in the days of the Romans . u s Before the last half of the nineteenth cent ry, oft ground sinking was confi ned to material penetrable by fore poling . Although considerable depths have been reached is i t in this way , where the ground bad the method s at bes slow and precarious . The Germans originated the hydrau licall Th y forced sinking drum and the freezing process . e pneumatic process was fi rst used by Brunel in the Thames . i Tunnel Recently , concrete s nking drums or open caissons have been extensively used . The sizes and shapes of shafts are governed by the nature r of the material to be hoisted th ough them , by the char acter of the ground to be penetrated , and also largely by local usage . Since mine cars and skips are approximately rect mi e angular in plan , a rectangle is the most econo cal shap i for a hoist shaft , g ving the maximum usable area with the minimum excavation ; this advantage , however , does not apply to an air shaft . The rectangular shape is also adapted i to timbering, the cheapest form of lining, and is on th s SOME DEEP SHAFTS 3 Am account standard in erica . In Europe, on the other i hand , all shafts are circular or elliptical and are l ned with i brick or concrete masonry . Th s type has the disadvantage i fi rst r ni of h gh cost , but a mason y li ng is proof against fi re . decay and and explosions In wet strata also , a circular shaft may be lined with iron tubbing and thus kept entirely dry . In large mines two openings are always advisable to secure satisfactory ventilation ; in coal mines where explo sive gases form they are absolutely necessary , and in most i states are required by law . The ho st shaft may be upcast or downcast in either case an airway is usually provided in A11 mi addition to the hoist compartments . nes worthy of the name have balanced cages requiring two hoistways ; the airway makes a three- compartment shaft the most common type . In rectangular shafts , where several com artments p are needed , a long shaft one compartment wide is easier to sink and timber than a short shaft two com artments i 7 10 ft. p wide ; for nstance , if four X compart 2 ft is 1 0 8 . ments are desired , a shaft X preferable to one 20 X 14 ft. i i fi elds i In America , in the b tum nous coal , ho st shafts 1 i i 8 0 n.