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Many think that coal mining is a modern problem, after all there are still coal mines around, but don\u2019t be fooled, we have been mining coal since pre-historical times.<\/p>\n
Equally, whilst coal mining is generally associated with Yorkshire and South Wales, that is as much of a misconception as how long we\u2019ve been mining it.\u00a0 Historically, as a nation we have also mined coal in Nottinghamshire, Scotland, the Northwest, the Northeast and even Kent (late 20th century).<\/p>\n
Coal mining represents two potential issues to our homes and development in general.\u00a0 Firstly, and probably the one with the highest level of awareness is that of subsistence, where worked coal seams collapse underground and that collapse works its way up to the surface causing subsistence.\u00a0 The most dramatic form of subsistence is that of sink holes, although it must be remembered that coal mining is not the only cause of a sink hole, other mining operations can cause them, and they can occur naturally by the erosion of rock.<\/p>\n
Coal mining takes place in two forms, deep coal mines and surface\/shallow mines, known as opencast mining.<\/p>\n
Deep mining is not such a problem to developments as, typically, we are talking tens of metres below the surface, with generally a decent thickness of solid rock between the surface and the worked seam.\u00a0 Having said that, we still can\u2019t ignore deep mines.<\/p>\n
Near surface mining is the type with the longest history, the most common form, dating from pre-history is that of bell pits, where a hole is dug into the ground and the coal removed creating a bell-like profile, the diameter being a function of when the sides become potentially unstable, at which point the bell pit is abandoned and a new one sunk nearby.<\/p>\n
These bell pits were typically backfilled with anything available at the time and not in what we now consider an engineered manner.\u00a0 However, we still come across bell pits today.\u00a0 Adits are another form of near surface mining.\u00a0 Adits are generally found in hillsides where the coal is accessed horizontally (or nearly horizontally).<\/p>\n
The other risk we encounter from coal mining is that of mine gas. Mine gas (or in days gone by, Firedamp) is a combination of Methane and Carbon Dioxide. However, both Carbon Monoxide (white damp) and hydrogen Sulphide (Stink damp) can also be present.<\/p>\n
Mine gas is dangerous as its both explosive (due to its Methane content) and an asphyxiant (due to its Carbon Dioxide content).\u00a0 As such the potential for mine gas must be considered in any development proposal.<\/p>\n