2 Plant

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

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

[Malcolm Bertoni]

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

[Alfred Boehme]

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

[Alfred Boehme]

More photo's
1st - End of tunnel
2nd - Riser pipes
3rd - Bulk head door
4th - Tunnel shaft taken from bottom

[Alfred Boehme]

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

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

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

[Michael Alexander]

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....

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

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 ???

[Michael Alexander]

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.....

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

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.......

[Michael Alexander]

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....

[SandyB]

  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   

[georgswa (Georg Ruf) (RIP)]

@ 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

[SandyB]

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 .. 

[Alfred Boehme]

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