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Hunter Orchard (1935-2009) - Braceman. Recorded 1 September 1991. Part 1/1.

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SummaryHUNTER ORCHARD
Recorded 1 September 1991
Part 1/1

00:30
Jack is interested in the sinking of shafts with Allied Construction starting in 1977 at the air shaft in No. 1. He was there from the start.

00:45
Goodsir and Cooper cleared the site. Headframe and winder – 100 ft high working out of a bucket using a winch with 500 hp. The hole was 16 ft 6” - the collar of the shaft which is reinforced with steel (in this case at No 1, it had an avarzay is where the air is sucked out by the fans when the shaft is completed) Initially it had reinforced steel concrete. Air below is passed through ventilation tubes about as big as a 44 gal drum about 3m long. These are suspended on wire ropes. The drum holds 1500 ft of rope. The shaft was 1200 ft deep. The drum would be 7’x7’. The rope was 1” diameter. It was a non-spin rope with an outer core and an inner core.

4:45
There were 4 men to a shift with a braceman (in charge of tipping the bucket on the surface) and the winder driver on the surface.

5:15
Allied provided the portable bathroom.

5:40
The (4) men went down in the bucket using hand held machines – Orchard goes on the describe the workings underground using the 2yd capacity circular bucket about 6ft high by 4ft across. The compressor was an Atlas Kopko and a DY4. It was a receiver on the surface. For use with a jack hammer. It drilled 3m holes up to 100 holes at a time, plus using explosives (6 boxes at a shot) AN60 gelignite was used. (Not manufactured now.) Bolted under the platform is the Crydeaman Grab which operates from the compressor. The Grab collected the diggings into the bucket over the side of the shaft. Here Orchard describes the operation of the Grab. Two buckets were used – one empty and one filling.

11:15
They concreted as they went down. They prepared the ground for blasting and the formwork. They had to level the ground off at 21 ft and sink 8 pieces of 8x2 around the bottom and then lower the formwork on to it. Against the formwork, you fill it with dirt to stop the concrete spilling out, then you put the keyway in. That tightens it up.

14:00
The shaft took 12 months using 2 shifts. Jack and Hunter look at a book illustrating the stages and the pipes. Concrete came from BMG to start with and you could get 3 pours a week. Quickset was used initially. BMG needed a day’s notice and the service deteriorated so they transferred the business to Mitchells.

19:05
The doors up on top were air operated and it was lit by cap lamps and air operated spotlights. The ground was kept damp.

20:45
The spill was collected up top and taken away by contractor Ron Pine. He had a front end loader and carted away 35 buckets of dirt per firing. The spill at No 2 was used as carpark.

21:53
At No 2 there were 3 shifts of winding drivers. At No 2 they had a very noisy hydraulic motor on top – “I don’t know how he heard the signals”.

23:30
Jack and Hunter look at photos of the monkey rider and the winder and the main winder rope or Capel.

25:00
They discuss accidents of which there were few. The only time they rode down on the buckets was when they were empty and you had to get inside.

26:53
He shows a photo of a clamshell grab – 2ft wide. A double drum winder. The top deck of the stage with a guy winding. They discuss signaling using a whistle or hooter using compressed air. RSJs.

31:00
They look at a photo of a 100 ft head frame under construction, also the formwork that fits into the shaft and the key way. Orchard tells of 6” thickness of concrete in places between the frame and the wall and 2’ thick in the collar part area.

34:17
Tennant Creek. Orchard has worked at Noble’s Knob putting a shaft down for the gold. He was there for 2 years.

35:20
Photos of another headframe similar to No 2 shaft at Lithgow. Its made up of one big backstay. The design came from South Africa.

45:40
Orchard’s wife passed away last year. His 16 year old daughter needed care. Orchard was 56 at the time.

Tape duration: 40:20 Last edited by: Dave Trimble

SubjectBracemenAllied ConstructionEllalong Colliery (N.S.W.)Orchard, Hunter, 1935-2009 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Coal mines and mining -- New South Wales -- Cessnock Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

PersonJack Delaney Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CreatorOrchard, Hunter, 1935-2009Delaney, Jack, 1919-2010 Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

CollectionVoices of the Hunter Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

Date Created1st September 1991Identifier433A Last edited by: lyn.keily@newcastle.edu.au

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