GLAMORGANSHIRE - WELSH SHOVEL

Series

Series Name

Mining Review 12th Year

Issue

Issue No.

10

Date Released

Jun 1959

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1GLAMORGANSHIRE - WELSH SHOVEL
2. 2LONDON - BEER FROM COAL
3. 3LANCASHIRE - FRED NORRIS

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

BFI synopsis: New techniques at Nantgarw colliery, near Cardiff. New technique for concreting tunnel walls shown with two men experimenting on wall of surface, then underground. Shot of driving tunnel to get coal, followed by Conway 60 Electric loader removing coal.
NCB Commentary - At Nantgarw Colliery, not far from Cardiff, they have a special technique for concreting tunnels. The mixture is sprayed under pressure to a thickness of as much as nine inches. Underground we can see the results. The system makes it possible to provide concrete walls right up to the tunnel-face. An important safety factor with the rate of drifting constantly being increased by the introduction of new machinery.
Here at Nantgarw they’re driving a 14 ft. roadway on a slightly rising gradient. Three compressed air drills, rig mounted, are used to bore the 50 shot holes. The whole process takes about an hour and ten minutes.
After firing, the Conway 60 electric loader, is brought to the face. The big shovel has a capacity of 3/4 of a cubic yard, and it throws the spoil back on to a conveyor which is mounted as part of the machine. Behind, and attached to it, is a mine car - one of the 25 filled after every shotfiring. The mucking operation is completed in just over an hour and a half, then they start the cycle all over again.
Four men only are required and at Nantgarw, productivity per man shift is three times the national average. Machines like the Conway loader and others seen previously in Mining Review are speeding up the operation of getting to the nations coal.

Keywords

Mining; Inventions and discoveries; Energy resources

Locations

Wales

Written sources

British Film Institute Databases   Used for synopsis
Film User   Vol.13 No.157 November 1959, p586.
The National Archives COAL 32   /12 Scripts for Mining Review, 1956-1960

Credits:

Production Co.

Documentary Technicians Alliance

Sponsor

National Coal Board