Here are pictures I took from the Hurd Mine Hoisting Shaft Subscidence. It is pretty close to houses, but not close enough to be a problem. This mine shaft is VERY dangerous, I would not advise anyone to go past the fence. The ground is prone to sudden colapse as the shaft has no collar yet and was probably a small pit that was backfilled with just dirt when the area was developed.

I didn't examine the pictures closely enough the first time, but after using Photoshop tricks on the last two slides, I brightened the dark areas of the pictures which I took with my mega flash on my camera. It looks like there is an air space underneath the bedrock which could possibly go into the mine. I need to examine some maps of the mine, but while this is overall still pretty close to the surface, it almost appears that this could be the top of a stope or a drift off this hoisting shaft.

As this shaft is a very deep shaft which is plugged, I would not advise anyone to attempt to go down into it. The See the pictures below:




This is the shaft from far away. The shaft is in the middle of this orange plastic fence.




Closer view of the shaft. From far away the shaft looks small.




Standing near the shaft. Notice how in these photos the shaft has no collar. It was most likely just a small pit or depression left from when the shaft closed on itself after the shaft cribbing gave way. When the surrounding homes were built, this small depression was probably just filled with dirt.




Standing a safe distance back, but near the shaft. I was holding my camera on a tripod OVER the shaft with my flash on maximum. After brightening this up, you can see where the bed rock ends. It appears to be an air space under the bedrock. I can't tell for sure, but it almost looks like this could be the top of a stope or a drift.




Another photo looking into the shaft. You can again see an open space below the bedrock.

Nice work Greg! Excellent photos. I wonder how many passersby on Weldon Rd know what's lurking nearby?

Closer to my neighborhood, there are two on-going subsidences that I've been watching develop. One is on Rt 46 E in Mine Hill, across the street from the garden center. It's between the roadway and the sidewalk, and I believe it is the surface manifestation of the Baker Mine drift under Rt 46. It has become quite pronounced. I wonder if a hole will open up?

Another one is the remains of the Huff Mine, adjacent to the powerline r-o-w, 20 yards or so up the hill from Main St., Wharton. There's a significantly large depression that has been growing over the course of the past year. As we know from drawings of the Huff workings, there are some large stopes under there.

Happy New Year!
Rob

_________________
Miner Rob

Sweeett... almost looks like you can jump right in!

From looking at the old 1868 map I have of the North East workings of the Hurd Mine, it is difficult to say exactly what this air space is. According to the map, this shaft, which is part of the "Deep Mine", is around 200 feet deep. Once near the bottom of the shaft, there is a slope which follows the bottom rock of the ore which continues further underground. The bottom rock is probably around 160 feet down from the top of the shaft and goes down at a pitch of about 22 degrees North East. Later information I have read states that this slope is about 6000 feet long. The map shows that this verticle shaft continues another 40 feet deep beyond the bottom rock, presumably for water removal although water would have been pumped out of the pumping shaft. It is possible that these shafts are actually deeper due to the fact that the 1868 map only shows the slope extending for 300 feet.

As far as what we see in the picture, there was a gangway which goes between the hoisting shaft and the pumping shaft which is about 75 feet down from the top of the shaft. There was also an "upper platform" which sits about 100 down from the top of the shaft which also goes between the pumping shaft and the hoisting shaft. The 1868 map I have for this mine does not show a stope here, although the surface of the shaft appears to be in the outcrop of ore. It is also very possible that this area may have been stoped out before the mine closed as I do not have maps for when the mine closed in 1903. Before the mine closed, the final mining methods involved allowing the mine to flood, then the miners robbed the pillars via rafts as the water rose and let the ore fall into the water. Once enough ore was allowed to fall, the mine was pumped dry to allow retrieval of the ore. It is hard to say if the upper platform is still present although it probably was also used as a horizontal pillar for wall support.

heres the shot i took 2 weeks ago: