Tommorrow morning at 08h00 we will be putting the power off to 2 plant and the tunnel and will remain off the end of another era
Will the tunnel flood?
They can turn off as many lights as they want, they will never turn off the lights we have within us ... They can take us out of Oranjemund, but they will never take Oranjemund out of us ... and I think this website is the best proof of that e154
Quote from: Michael Alexander on March 29, 2008, 11:01:46 AM
Will the tunnel flood?
Yes and they will be closing the top no more tunnel
mmmh!
i ALWAYS THought that the tunnel would have made a good tourist attraction.....
I think the dangers around the tunnel at the moment are high they are going to close the top with a steel plate, if they want to reopen it later for tourist attraction that can be done got some pics will post them later
Alfred
Hi Alf. this sounds like a bad joke. But I think you're being serious.
Phew! That was close.... I had visions of them filling the tunnel in...... Put at least we see that they have the wisdom of just sealing it up....
My mate and ex Oranjemunder, Wayne Handley, who works for Nature conservation, was on the mine on Friday with a group of people, They were looking at the rehabilitation of the mine after mining..... he was last on the mine 19 years ago, and commented how quiet the place looks.... reckons the bucket wheel has just been abandoned to the elements... this machine was the pride and joy of CDM.... anyhow the point here, was what to do with the old hostels like Mittag and Affenrucken..... the mine wanted to demolish them and replant the desert.... but alas... some wise thinker reckons they can revamp them into tourist camps and info centres and create jobs..... so all is not lost.....
Hope prevails .. more wise thinkers . more input .. lets see what happens ? ......
I remember the bucket wheel arriving in OM. It was a small sensation. It came from some German compony. Thyssen, Krupp?? Can't remember. Now it's one compony. In some way!
I think it was Krupp... there were two the 400 and then the bigger 800, when I worked at 50G we had the honour of joining thos ebig fat cables to keep the blerrie thing powered whenever they moved it....
I was involved of the emergency pwr for that monster, i think it was Ohrenstein & Koppel, i look on one of my films, should be on there
We had a wagon with a generator to pwr up when pumps and normal power failed. That was just enough to move the excavator out of the danger zone.
Here in my HP cant read the maker
http://www.dersofaladen.de/edelsteine/html/body_diamant5.html
Quote from: georg ruf jr. on March 29, 2008, 08:53:00 PM
Hi Alf. this sounds like a bad joke. But I think you're being serious.
Georg Power is off and nature is doing it's job the tunnel will fill up over a week or two lets seen what happens in a year or two
Quote from: Alfred Boehme on March 30, 2008, 03:14:55 PM
Quote from: georg ruf jr. on March 29, 2008, 08:53:00 PM
Hi Alf. this sounds like a bad joke. But I think you're being serious.
Georg Power is off and nature is doing it's job the tunnel will fill up over a week or two lets seen what happens in a year or two
Thanks Alf for the info, you keep us posted
Hi Alfred
Is that the last of the plants to close? What is happening at 4 plant/sorthouse? Could be the end of an era.
Would be interesting if they opened Affenrucken to tourism. Can see it now: "And here is room 4d, Malcolm's old room. He was here in the 70s....." I'm sure any tourist would be so excited.
By the way, I got the photos - they are excellent. Many thanks - will have to buy you a few beers when I hit Oranjemund at the end of the year.
Cheers
Malcolm
Hi Malcolm
Great to hear from you again 4 plt recovery sorthouse is still running and I'm going to take you up on those beers, you welcome to be my guest
Some photo's of the 2 plt tunnel prior to closure and the final day
Alfred
1st - The last time the water was pumped out
2nd - The tunnel shaft with the sump at the bottom
3rd - The stair well
4th - Beach pump 14 x 12 inch
More photo's
1st - End of tunnel
2nd - Riser pipes
3rd - Bulk head door
4th - Tunnel shaft taken from bottom
More photo's
1st - Tunnel
2nd - Plates being positioned to close tunnel
3rd - Workers indicating the tunnel closed
4th - The tunnel shaft on the left in the old days
Alfred
Thanks Alfred for those pics.
While looking at them, i recalled the near desaster in about 1974
Ronny Jew was nearly lost when he was at the end of the tunnel and water flodded the place....
The entrance beeing lower was almost completly flooded. he managed to come out.
One of the inspection covers made of see through material had busted.
In an attempt to pump the water out, with the flooded 6.6 kV HT motors, which of course failed, motors of course burned out.........long story.
A great document of 2 Plant history your pics. I will copy them for my archives
End of an era..... :emot78: , Colin Benton, you took me there, showed me the place when I was your Appie, it always fascinated me.... a tunnel under the ocean..
Alfie, great Pics, I'm glad you took them, you now have the honour of being the last person to photograph the tunnel before it was closed forever, one wonders what the archeologists of the future will think, if it is ever rediscovered...
What was the length of the tunnel? Anyone....
The tunnel is about 600 m as far as i recall, would not swear on it
I wonder, dit anyone know that story about Ronny Jew ???
I had a story of a person who was down there when it flooded. ( Colin did'nt you tell me, or was it Alan Delaney?), the chap was down there at the half way mark when the leak occured, he had to run to the sea end of the tunnel and sit there in the darkness till the divers came to the rescue....... it sounds like a story for a good diamond novel.....
In the case of Ronny, he managed to get out by himself, no divers involveld
Big excitement however, waiting at the end of the tunnel would have been the end possibly.
The sea would have pressed the tunnel full of water. At the end (highest spot) could have been an air bubble. But i think not for long.
I was in that tunnel very often. Creepy feeling with the atlantic above you.......
I liked the way you could hear the ocean crashing around above your head...the scary part, was the water that dripped in from above the roof....
Thanks Alf .. good pictures .. never went into that tunnel ... Our quest for clean water for screening and the measures that were used ..
@ Georg .. your pics I saw .. the 3 plant jetty .. fascinating and many memories .. I always got this feeling that mother nature did not like our intrusion into the sea cos when one was at the end of the jetty .. you could see these huge swells of green grey cold atlantic gather and then race forward and hit the jetty as if they wanted to smash it to smithereens , each swell trying to be bigger than the other one .. .. I remember they had to put in a lot more dollose in front to protect the jetty
@ Sandy
Glad you could see the video
Here one more, the wave rider off 3 Plant
Yo will see people you know from that time........Niel Hasland, Pepe Freemantle as we go out with the chopper to land on the ship and service or lay out the wave rider.
That was a wave survey by the Univerity to asses problems for Sea Mining
http://www.livevideo.com/video/D22F1100801D4AABA462DB8620C1617D/wave-survey-diamond-coast-nami.aspx?lastvcid=289816
The Jetty 3 Plant, which is the second one built after the first was taken away by a spring tide, gave lots of challenges to all involved.
I have done my share, like all others on 3 Plant. I stood on top of the lay out arm of the crane for doing repairs.
A longer story. Dont want to tell names.
The crane had an electrical problem. The Limit switch at the end of the arm needed replacement.
No one was prepared to go there. Big discussions in the work shop what to do.
One however sais he will go, provided i go go first. So i dit. The brave electrician then went, standing at the end of the arm ( outrigger) he panicked. I took hime back step by step. He was so glad that i dit not tell the others of that failure. I could understand him. I was fortunate not to fear the hight, the moving clouds , wind and the sea could be scary.
The story goes on...... After we all got together in the shop i asked for volunteers. No one at first. In came to my office an electrician, he was prepared to go..... i promissed him time off on the weekend to go to CT. 5 minutes later a second electrician also volunteered provided getting time off to go to CT. ( Blackmailers LOL)
This way the problem was solved and all were happy.
Its not the only incident of that type on the plant. Hights was a problem to many, not to stupid me, and i had to go places to prove it to the guys. The scrubber crane another example.
To be honest i could not do that any more, would sh..t myself today.... walking the rails of the crane and under me the monsters scrubbers running.
Enough of that story for today.
http://www.livevideo.com/video/D22F1100801D4AABA462DB8620C1617D/wave-survey-diamond-coast-nami.aspx?lastvcid=289816
Servicing those overhead cranes was always a mission in overcoming fear each time it came up .. first day or two one would be crawling around hooking safety belt in at every move .. then after a day or two one would be running along on top of the gantry as though one were on the ground .. yes and looking down at those scrubbers was not nice , the motion had a hypnotic effect at that height and felt as though it was going to pull you off the edge .. I remember one day at 4 plant .. the new dryer plant .. one very high section .. there was an I beam onto which a hoist had to be fitted . it was in place but had no stop plate at the end of the beam ( somebody forgot ?? ) .. no problem to this one contractor ( and I had seen him the night before in sportsmans as drunk as a skunk ) he casually walked out the 2 -3 metres to the end of the beam with huge drill in hand and proceeded to drill two holes which would be sufficient to attach the stop plate .. this man standing at the end of the beam , no safety harness no nothing and drilling two holes .. my skin crawled at seeing this .. finished the holes and casually walked back onto the platform to make up stop plate .. I did not stay around to see him continue his work ..
Quote from: georgswa on April 02, 2008, 07:18:19 AM
In the case of Ronny, he managed to get out by himself, no divers involveld
Big excitement however, waiting at the end of the tunnel would have been the end possibly.
The sea would have pressed the tunnel full of water. At the end (highest spot) could have been an air bubble. But i think not for long.
I was in that tunnel very often. Creepy feeling with the atlantic above you.......
The tunnel was my resp for 14 months when I worked there, they had a survival chamber at the end, blacket tinned food ect fortunatly I never used it so can't say how long a person could stay therethe tunnel is about 500m into the sea. I know there was a video of when they actualy build it mybe we can try and dig it out
@ Alfred
That shows us, ie sandy and me, how much we are still involved with memories of our times in the mine
I therefore thank you for your updates, always welcome here, its as thought all was yesterday
Thanx brother, Stephen has many memories of the mine,was there for 10years. As he is not registered,he has not been giving his imput but I do show him the pics and info regarding the mine.
Why has he not registered? He could be the big 400 member...... idontknow
I shall do that.....but don't expect him online as its bad enough Lindzi and I fighting over the computer.Which is actually hers and she pays the vodacom thingy.
Number 400! Great title. Go on Steven.
Lets all get back to 2 plant now this is an important topic.
I always thought it would make a great tourist attraction, and creat jobs to build a glass windowed restaurant on the top of the 2 Plant Mine dump... great view....
create jobs it would.....
Quote from: Michael Alexander on April 02, 2008, 06:54:26 AM
End of an era..... :emot78: , Colin Benton, you took me there, showed me the place when I was your Appie, it always fascinated me.... a tunnel under the ocean..
Alfie, great Pics, I'm glad you took them, you now have the honour of being the last person to photograph the tunnel before it was closed forever, one wonders what the archeologists of the future will think, if it is ever rediscovered...
What was the length of the tunnel? Anyone....
Mike unfortunatly I did not go down myself but spend some time there while they where removing the old pumps and prior to the closing, talking to Gunther Salchow he was the kind gentlman who gave me those photo's
I'm glad you guys enjoyed that, maybe the re-opening is closer than we expect and I will be to glad to start a new tipic "The re-opening of the tunnel for tourism and enjoy the new Steak house on top of the dump "
Alfred
I used to work at 2 plant we used to do See water Intake inspections (SWI) every wednesday during day shift.Had to phone Central controll room (CCR) when we entered and then again when we exited.We had a break down at the plant and the SWI was not used for about a week after it was started it must have sucked through about a ton of Cray fish we had bakkie loads of the stuff we had to clear to prevent blockages guess what we at for lunch for the following week! I have quite a few photos of the tunnel as well as two videos