The monkey is raised by two men pulling the ropes at the same angle. They should stand exactly opposite each other, and work together steadily, so as to keep the tube perfectly vertical, and prevent it from swaying about while being driven. If the tube shows an inclination to slope towards one side, a rope should be fastened to its top and kept taut on the opposite side, so as gradually to bring the tube back to the vertical. When the men have raised the monkey to within a few inches of the pulleys, they lift their hands suddenly, thus slackening the ropes and allowing the monkey to descend with its full weight on to the clamp. The monkey is steadied by a third man, who also assists to force it down at each descent. This man, likewise, from time to time, with a pair of gas-tongs, turns the tube round in the ground, which assists the process of driving, particularly when the point comes in contact with stones.
Particular attention must be paid to the clamp, to see that it does not move on the tube; the bolts must be tightened up at the first appearance of any slipping.
When the clamp has been driven down to the ground, the monkey is raised off it, the screws of the clamp are slackened, and the clamp is again screwed to the tube, about 18 inches or 2 feet from the ground. After this, the monkey is lowered on to it, and the pulleys are then raised until they are again 6 or 7 feet from the ground.
The driving is continued until but 5 or 6 inches of the well tube remain above the ground, when the clamp, monkey, and pulleys are removed, and an additional length of tube screwed on to that in the ground. This is done by first screwing a collar on to the tube in the ground, and then screwing the next length of tube into the collar, till it buts against the lower tube; a little white-lead must be placed on the threads of the collar before the ends of the tubes are screwed into it.
The driving can thus be continued until the well has obtained the desired depth. Soon after another length has been added, the upper length should be turned round a little with the gas-tongs, to tighten the joints, which have a tendency to become loose from the jarring of the monkey. Care must be taken, after getting into a water-bearing stratum, not to drive through it, owing to anxiety to get a large supply. From time to time, and always before screwing on an additional length of tube, the well should be sounded, by means of a small lead attached to a line, to ascertain the depth of water, if any, and character of the earth which has penetrated through the holes perforated in the lower part of the well tube. As soon as it appears that the well has been driven deep enough, the pump is screwed on to the top and the water drawn up. It usually happens that the water is at first thick, and comes in but small quantities; but after pumping for some little time, as the chamber round the bottom of the well becomes enlarged, the quantity increases and the water becomes clearer.
When sinking in gravel or clay, the bottom of the well tube is liable to become filled up by the material penetrating through the holes; and before a supply of water can be obtained, this accumulation must be removed by means of the cleaning pipes.
The cleaning pipes are of small diameter, 1⁄2-inch externally, and the several lengths are connected together in the same way as the well tubes, by collars screwing on over the adjoining end of two pipes.
To clear the well, one cleaning pipe after another is lowered into the well, until the lower end touches the accumulation; the pipes must be held carefully, for if one were to drop into the well it would be impossible to get it out without drawing the well. A pump is then attached to the upper cleaning pipe by means of a reducing socket; the lower end of the cleaning pipe is then raised and held about an inch above the accumulation by means of the gas-tongs: water is next poured down the well outside the cleaning pipe, and, being pumped up through the cleaning pipe, brings up with it the upper portion of the accumulation; the cleaning pipe is gradually lowered, and the pumping continued until the whole of the stuff inside the well tube is removed. The pump is then removed from the cleaning pipe, and the cleaning pipes are withdrawn piece by piece; and finally the pump is screwed on to the upper end of the tube well, Fig. 96, which is then in working order.
The tube being very small, is in itself capable of containing only a limited supply of water, which would be exhausted by a few strokes of the pump; the condition, therefore, upon which alone these tube wells can be effective, is that there shall be a free flow of water from the outside through the apertures into the lower end of the tube. When the stratum in which the water is found is very porous, as in the case of gravel and some sorts of chalk, the water flows freely; and a yield has been obtained in such situations as great and rapid as the pump has been able to lift, that is 600 gallons an hour. In some other soils, such as sandy loam, the yield in itself may not be sufficiently rapid to supply the pump; in such cases, the effect of constant pumping is to draw up with the water from the bottom a good deal of clay and sand, and so gradually to form a reservoir, as it were, around the foot of the tube, in which water accumulates when the pump is not in action, as is the case in a common well. In dense clays, however, of a close and very tenacious character, the American tube well is not applicable, as the small perforations become sealed, and water will not enter the tube. When the stratum reached by driving is a quicksand, the quantity of sand drawn up from the water will be so great, that a considerable amount will have to be pumped before the water will come up clear; and even in some positions, when the quicksand is of great extent, the effect of the pumping may be to injure the foundations of adjoining buildings on the surface of the ground.
The tube well cannot itself be driven through rock, although it might be used for drawing water from a subjacent stratum through a hole bored in the rock to receive it.
Subject to these conditions, these tube wells afford a ready and economical means for drawing water to the surface from a depth not exceeding 27 or 28 feet.
The first well that was executed of great depth, and which gave rise to the adoption of tools which directed public attention to the art of well boring, was that for the city of Paris by Mulot, at the Abattoir of Grenelle. This was commenced in the year 1832; and after more than eight years’ incessant labour, water rose, on the 26th of February, 1842, from the total depth of 1798 feet. Subsequent to this, many wells have been sunk on the Continent, with the hope of attaining the brine springs so often met with in the Rhine provinces, or the springs destined for the supply of towns, and which are even deeper than the well of Grenelle, reaching in some cases to the extraordinary depth of 2800 feet; but all of them, like the Grenelle well, of small diameter. In their construction, however, the German engineers introduced some important modifications of the tools employed; and, amongst other inventions, Euyenhausen imparted a sliding movement to the striking part of the tool used for comminuting the rock, so as to fall always through a certain distance; and thus, while he produced a uniform action upon the rock at the bottom, he avoided the jar of the tools. Kind also began to apply his system to the working of the large excavations for the purpose of winning coal. Whilst the art was in this state, and when he had already executed some very important works in Germany, Belgium, the North of France, Creuzot, and Seraing, the Municipal Council of Paris determined to entrust him with the execution of a new well they were about to sink at Passy.
In sinking the well of Passy, the weight of the trepan for comminuting the rock was about 1 ton 16 cwt., 1800 kilog.: the height through which it fell was about 60 centimètres; and its diameter was 3 feet 37⁄16 inches, 1 mètre. The rods were of oak, about 8 inches on the side, and the dimensions of the cutting tool were limited to 3 feet 37⁄16 inches because it worked the whole time in water; but generally the class of borings Kind undertook were of such a description as justified resorting to tools of great dimensions. When sinking the shafts for winning coal, his operations required to be carried on with the full diameters of 10 feet or 14 feet; and he then drove a boring of 3 feet 4 inches diameter in the first instance, and subsequently enlarged this excavation. There can be no objection to executing Artesian borings of this diameter, other than the probable exhaustion of the supply; particularly as it is now known that the yield of water by these methods is proportionate to the diameter of the column; though, strange as it may appear, the first opposition to Kind’s plan of sinking the well of Passy was founded upon the assumption that he would not meet with a larger supply of water from the subcretaceous formations than had been met with at Grenelle, where the diameter of the boring was at the bottom not more than 8 inches. It is now, however, proved that there is a direct gain in adopting the larger borings, not only as regards the quantity of water to be derived from them, but also in their execution, arising from the fact that the tools can be made more secure against the effects of torsion or of concussion against the sides of the excavation, which is the cause of the most serious accidents met with in well sinking.
The trepan of M. Kind contains some peculiar details, which are shown in Figs. 97, 98. The trepan is composed of two principal pieces, the frame and the arms, both of wrought-iron, with the exception of the teeth of the cutting part, which are of cast steel. The frame has at the bottom a series of holes, slightly conical, into which the teeth are inserted, and tightly wedged up, Fig. 99. These teeth are placed with their cutting edges on the longitudinal axis of the frame that receives them; and at the extremity of the frame there are formed two heads, forged out of the same piece with the body of the tool, which also carries two teeth, placed in the same direction as the others, but double their width, in order to render this part of the tool more powerful. By increasing the dimensions of these end teeth, the diameter of the boring can be augmented, so as to compensate for the diminution of the clear space caused by the tubing, necessarily introduced for security in traversing strata disposed to fall in, or for the purpose of allowing the water from below to escape at an intermediate level.
Above the lower part of the frame of the trepan is a second piece composed of two parts bolted together, and made to support the lower portion of the frame. This part of the machinery also carries two teeth at its extremities, which serve to guide the tool in its descent, and to work off the asperities left by the lower portion of the trepan. Above this, again, are the guides of the machinery, properly speaking, consisting of two pieces of wrought-iron, arranged in the form of a cross, with the ends turned up, so as to preserve the machinery perfectly vertical in its movements, by pressing against the sides of the boring already executed. These pieces are independent of the blades of the trepan, and may be moved closer to it or farther away from it, as may be desired. The stem and the arms are terminated by a single piece of wrought-iron, which is joined to the frame with a kind of saddle-joint, and is kept in its place by means of keys and wedges. The whole of the trepan is finally jointed to the great rods that communicate the motion from the surface, by means of a screw-coupling, formed below the part of the tool which bears the joint; this arrangement permits the free fall of the cutting part, and unites the top of the arms and frame, and the rod, Fig. 100. It has been proposed to substitute for this screw-coupling a keyed joint, in order to avoid the inconvenience frequently found to attend the rusting of the screw, which often interposes great difficulties in cases where it becomes necessary to withdraw the trepan.
The sliding joint is the part of Euyenhausen’s invention most unhesitatingly adopted by Kind, and it is one of the peculiarities of his system as contrasted with the processes formerly in use. So long as his operations were confined to the small dimensions usually adopted for Artesian borings, he contented himself with making a description of joint with a free fall; a simple movement of disengagement regulating the height fixed by the machinery itself, like the fall of the monkey in a pile-driving machine; but it was found that this system did not answer when applied to large borings, and it also presented certain dangers. Kind then, for the larger class of borings, availed himself of sliding guides, so contrived as to be equally thrown out of gear when the machinery had come to the end of the stroke, and maintained in their respective positions by being made in two pieces, of which the inner one worked upon slides, moving freely in the piece that communicated the motion to the striking part of the machinery. The two parts of the tool were connected with pins, and with a sliding joint, which, in the Passy well, was thrown out of gear by the reaction of the column of water above the tool unloosing the click that upheld the lower part of the trepan, Figs. 101 to 103. The changes thus made in the usual way of releasing the tool, and in guiding it in its fall were, however, matters of detail; they involved no new principle in the manner of well boring: and the modern authorities upon the subject consider that there was something deficient in Kind’s system of making the column of water act upon a disc by which the click was set in motion. This system, in fact, required the presence of a column of water not always to be commanded, especially when the borings had to be executed in the carboniferous strata.
The rods used for the suspension of the trepan, and for the transmission of the blows to it, were of oak; and this alone would constitute one of the most characteristic differences between the system of tools introduced by Kind and those made by the majority of well-borers, but which, like the disengagement of the tool intended to comminute the rock, depended for its success upon the boring being filled with water. The resistance that the wood offers, by its elasticity, to the effects of any sudden jar, is also to be taken into account in the comparison of the latter with iron, for the iron is liable to change its form under the influence of this cause. The resistance to an effort of torsion need not, however, be much dwelt on, for the turn given to the trepan is always made when the tool is lifted up from its bed. For the purpose of making the rods, Kind recommended that straight-grown trees, of the requisite diameter, should be selected, rather than they should be made of cut-timber, as there is less danger of the wood warping, and the character of the wood is more homogeneous. He generally used these trees in lengths of about 50 feet, and he connected them at the ends with wrought-iron joints, fitting one into the other, Fig. 104. The ironwork of the joints is made with a shoulder underneath the screw-coupling, to allow the rods to be suspended by the ordinary crow’s foot during the operation of raising or lowering them. In the works executed at Passy there was a kind of frame erected over the centre of the boring, of sufficient height to allow of the rods being withdrawn in two lengths at a time, thus producing a considerable economy of time and labour.
Nearly all the processes yet introduced for removing the products of the excavation must be considered to be, more or less, defective, because all are established on the supposition that the comminuting tool must be withdrawn, in order that the shell, or other tool intended to remove the products of the working of the comminutor, may be inserted. This remark applies to Kind’s operations at Passy and elsewhere, as he removed the rock detached from the bottom of the excavation by a shell, Figs. 105, 106, which was a modification of the tool he invariably employs for this purpose. It consisted of a cylinder of wrought-iron, suspended from the rods by a frame, and fastened to it, a little below the centre of gravity, so that the operation of upsetting it, when loaded, could be easily performed. This cylinder was lowered to the level of the last workings of the trepan, and the materials already detached by that instrument were forced into the tool, by the gradual movement of the latter in a vertical direction. Some other implements, employed by Kind for the purpose of removing the products of the excavation in the shafts for the coal-mines of the North of France, were ingenious, and well adapted to the large dimensions of the shafts; but they were all, in some degree, exposed to the danger of becoming fixed, if used in the small borings of Artesian wells, by the minute particles of rocks falling down between their sides and the excavation from above. Their use was therefore abandoned, and the well of Passy was cleared out with the shell, the bottom of which was made to open upwards, with a hinged flap, which admitted the finer materials detached by the trepan. There were also several tools for the purpose of withdrawing the broken parts of the machinery from the excavation, or whatever substances might fall in from above; and all were marked by a great degree of simplicity, but they did not differ enough from those generally used for the same purpose to merit further remarks. In fact, the accidents intended to be guarded against or remedied are so precisely alike in all cases, that there can be little variety in the manufacture of these instruments. But there is no doubt that Kind deprived himself of a valuable appliance in not using the ball-clack, la soupape à boulet, that other well-borers employ, Fig. 107.
At Passy great strength was given to the head of the striking tool, and to the part of the machinery applied to turn the trepan, because the great weight of the latter superinduced the danger of its breaking off under the influence of the shock, and because the solidity of this part of the machinery necessarily regulated the whole working of the tool. The head of the boring arrangement was connected with the balance-beam of the steam-engine by a straight link-chain, with a screw-coupling, admitting of being lengthened as the trepan descended, Figs. 108, 109. The balance-beam, in order to increase its elastic force in the upward stroke, is in Kind’s works made of wood, in two pieces; the upper one being of fir and the lower one of beech. The whole of the machinery is put in motion by steam, which is admitted to the upper part of the cylinder, and presses it down, and thus raises the tool at the other end of the beam to that part in connection with the cylinder. The counterpoise to the weight of the tools is also placed upon the cylinder-end of the beam. The cylinder receives the steam through ports that are opened and closed by hand, like those of a steam-hammer; so that the number of the strokes of the piston may be increased or diminished, and the length of the strokes may be increased, as occasion may require.
The balance-beam is continued beyond the point where the piston is connected with it, and it goes to meet the blocks placed to check the force of the blow given by the descent of the tool. The guides of the piston-head are attached to the part of the machinery that acts in this manner; but at Passy, Kind made the balance-beam work upon two free plummer-blocks, or blocks having no permanent cover, that they might be more easily moved whenever it was necessary to displace the beam, for the purpose of taking up or letting down the rods, or for changing the tools; for the balance-beam was always immediately over the centre of the tools, and it therefore had to be displaced every time that the latter were required to be changed. This was effected by allowing the beam to slide horizontally, so as to leave the mouth of the pit open. The counter-check, above mentioned, likewise prevented the piston from striking the cylinder cover with too great a force, when it was brought back by the weight of the tools to its original position. The operation of raising and lowering the rods, or of changing the tools, was performed at Passy by a separate steam-engine, and the shell was discharged into a special truck, moving upon a railway expressly laid for this purpose in the great tower erected over the excavation. All these arrangements were in fact made with the extreme attention to the details of the various parts of the work which characterizes the proceedings of foreign engineers, and conduces so much to their success.
The beating, or comminution of the rock, was usually effected at Passy at the rate of from fifteen strokes to twenty strokes a minute. The rate of descent, of course, differed in a marked manner, according to the nature of the rock operated upon; but, generally speaking, the trepan was worked for the space of about eight hours at a time, after which it was withdrawn, and the shell let down in order to remove the débris. The average number of men employed in the gang, besides the foreman, or the superintendent of the well, was about fourteen: they consisted of a smith and hammerman, whose duty it was to keep the tools in order; and two shifts of men entrusted with the excavation, namely, an engine-driver and stoker, a chief workman, or sub-foreman, and three assistants. The total time employed in sinking the shafts executed upon this system in the North of France, where it has been applied without meeting with the accidents encountered in the Passy well, was found to be susceptible of being divided in the following manner: from 25 per cent. to 56 per cent. was employed in manœuvring the trepan; from 11 per cent. to 141⁄2 per cent. in raising and lowering the tools; from 19 per cent. to 21 per cent. in removing the materials detached from the rocks, and cleaning out the bottom of the excavation; and from 8 per cent. to 101⁄2 per cent. was lost, owing to the stoppage of the engines, or to the accidents from broken tools, or to other causes always attending these operations. In the well of Passy there was, of course, a considerable difference in the proportions of the time employed in the various details of the work; and the long period occupied in obviating the effects of the slips which took place in the clays, both in the basement beds of the Paris basin and in the subcretaceous strata, would render any comparison derived from that well of little value; but it would appear that, until the great accident occurred, the various operations went on precisely as Kind had calculated upon.
In the year 1872 Emerson Bainbridge, C.E., drew attention to the Kind-Chaudron system of sinking mine shafts through water-bearing strata, without the use of pumping machinery, in a paper read before the Institute of Civil Engineers. As the operation is almost identical with that which would have to be carried through in the case of a well sunk through an upper series of water-bearing strata, of minor importance or of impure quality, past rock and into the lower water strata, as for instance through tertiaries and chalk into the lower greensand, the following extract from Bainbridge’s paper may be read with interest.
In the first place, it may be desirable to describe briefly the system of sinking hitherto pursued in passing through strata yielding large quantities of water. The most important sinkings of this character have been carried out in the county of Durham, to the east of the point at which the Permian overlie the carboniferous rocks. In this district there is a thin bed of sand between the Permian rock and the coal measures. Towards this bed the feeders of water are generally found to increase, and in the sand there is usually a large reservoir of water. The mode of sinking will be understood by reference to Fig. 110. Whilst sinking in hard rock, it has ordinarily been the custom to place iron curbs, or cribs, wherever a bed of stone appeared to form a natural barrier between two distinct feeders of water. Thus it has frequently happened that important feeders have been tubbed back, rendering much less pumping power necessary than would have been required had all the feeders been allowed to accumulate in the shaft. As will be seen by Fig. 110, the number of wedging cribs employed is no less than thirteen in 250 feet. The cribs forming the foundation of each set of tubbing are generally much more massive and costly than the segments of tubbing.
The process of fixing the crib is as follows;—The diameter of the shaft is made about 30 inches larger than that of the inside of the tubbing. When a bed of rock, which may be considered sufficiently hard and close to separate the feeders above and below it, is reached, the shaft is contracted to the diameter of the tubbing, and a smooth horizontal face is made on which to place the wedging crib. The wedging crib, which usually consists of segments about 4 feet long by 6 inches high by 14 inches wide, is then placed on the bed. To give the crib a firm and secure position, it is tightly wedged with wood, both behind and between the joints; the tubbing is then built upon it to the next wedging crib, which rests upon a bell-shaped section of rock. When the tubbing nearly reaches this crib, the rock is removed piece by piece, and the top ring of tubbing is placed close up against the crib. It will thus be seen that the fixing of each crib is a costly process, often causing considerable delay.
In some cases, where it has been difficult to find suitable foundations for intermediate wedging cribs, the whole of the water-bearing rocks have been sunk through without attempting to stop the feeders separately, and no tubbing has been placed in the shaft till the wedging crib could be fixed below the lowest feeder. This process is more expeditious where there are small quantities of water; but where the water is excessive greater delay is caused by contending with it than from putting in numerous sets of tubbing to stop the feeders separately. The tubbing used in England has almost invariably been of cast-iron; on the Continent, till recently, tubbing of wood has chiefly been used. Illustrations of both descriptions are shown by Figs. 111 and 112.
Figs. 113, 114, show, in elevation, the plant and the arrangements generally in use at extensive sinkings. Where the water is in large quantities it is usually pumped by an engine erected for the purpose, assisted by the engine or engines intended to be employed to raise the coal. A small capstan engine is used for passing the men and material up and down the pit during the sinking, such engine being provided also with a drum on slow motion, which is used for heavy weights. The continual pumping, the placing of cribs, and the fixing of the tubbing are proceeded with till the lowest feeder is reached, when a hard bed is sought for on which to fix the lowest wedging crib. In all cases the water has to be pumped out before the wedging crib, which forms the foundation of each set of tubbing, can be placed.
From this description it will be understood that the sinkers, who number from ten to twelve at one time, working four hours at a shift in a pit, say, 14 feet in diameter, are compelled to work in water until all the tubbing is fixed. This causes a serious obstacle to blasting, and in other ways delays the progress of the work.
The tubbing used for damming back the water is generally in segments from 1 foot to 3 feet high, and about 4 feet in length, the thickness varying from half an inch to 33⁄4 inches. It is kept in position by packing with wood behind the joints; and is made water-tight by placing between the segments pieces of wood sheeting about half an inch thick, which are wedged when all the tubbing is fixed, usually twice with wood, and sometimes once with iron wedges.
To equalize the pressure of water and gas behind the different sets of tubbing, pass pipes, Figs. 115 and 116, are sometimes used. Another expedient to effect this is to have a valve, working upwards, placed in the wedging crib, Fig. 117. A ball is also sometimes used, Fig. 118.
The various modes of piercing beds of quicksand are;—By hanging tubbing to that already fixed, and adding fresh rings as the sand is removed. This is only practicable when the quantity of sand is inconsiderable. By heavily weighting a cylinder of iron of the same size as the shaft, and thus forcing it down through the sand. By keeping back the sand by the use of piles—a resource that can only be recommended when the bed of sand is not of great thickness. When the water is excessive, by using pneumatic agency. As these operations are apart from our immediate subject we need not further discuss them.
M. Chaudron’s system, which is a modification of Kind’s, is divisible into the following distinct processes, which consist of;—
The erection of the necessary machinery on the surface, and the opening of the mine.
The boring of the pits to the lowest part of the water-bearing strata.
The placing of the tubbing.
The introduction of cement behind the tubbing to complete its solidity.
The extraction of the water from the pits, and the placing of the wedging cribs, or “faux cuvelage,” below the moss box.
Figs. 119 to 121 show in elevations and in plan the plant usually employed on the surface. O is a small capstan engine, having a cylinder 20 inches in diameter and a stroke of 32 inches, working on the third motion. Attached to this engine, and working in the small pit C, is a counterbalance weight. This engine is used for raising and lowering boring tools, and for lifting the débris resulting from the boring. As far as the platform, which is about 10 feet from the surface, the pit has a diameter of 19 feet, or 4 feet more than the diameter of the pit below. A at level of about 38 feet above this platform there is a tramway on which small trucks run, carrying the débris cylinder on one side, and the boring tools on the other. At a level of 48 feet above the platform are placed supports for the wooden spears to which the boring tools are attached. The machinery for boring is worked by a cylinder, which has a diameter of 391⁄3 inches, and a full stroke of 391⁄3 inches, the usual stroke varying from 2 feet to 3 feet. A massive beam of wood transmits motion from this cylinder to the boring apparatus, the connection between the beam and the piston-rod and the beam and the boring tools being made by a chain. The engine-man sits close to the engine, and applies the steam above the piston only. The down stroke of the boring tools is caused by the sudden opening of the exhaust, and a frame then prevents the shock of the boring rods from being too severe. The engines work at speeds varying from 12 to 18 strokes a minute, according to the character of the strata passed through.
After the working platform is fixed, the first boring tool applied is the small trepan, Figs. 122 to 125. This tool is attached to the wooden beam by the same arrangement shown by Fig. 109. The boring tools can be lowered at pleasure by means of an adjusting screw. Next in order comes the handle for boring. This is worked by four men on the platform, and is turned by the aid of a swivel. Attached to the handle-piece are wooden rods, made from Riga pitch pine. These rods are 59 feet in length and 73⁄4 inches square. A swivelled ring, Figs. 126, 127, is attached to the rope when raising and lowering the boring rods. The small trepan cuts a hole 4 feet 83⁄4 inches in diameter, and has fourteen teeth, fitted in cylindrical holes and secured by pins entering through circular slots. The teeth are steeled. At a distance of 4 feet 4 inches above the main teeth of the trepan there is an arm, with a tooth at each end. This piece answers the purpose of a guide, and at the same time removes irregularities from the sides of the hole. At a distance of 13 feet 6 inches above the main teeth are the actual guides, consisting of two strong arms of iron fixed on the tool, and placed at right-angles to each other. The hole made by the small trepan is not kept at any fixed distance in advance of the full-sized pit, but the distance generally varies from 10 to 30 yards. With the small trepan, which weighs 8 tons, the progress varies from 6 to 10 feet a day.
The large trepan, Figs. 128 to 130, weighs 161⁄2 tons, is forged in one solid piece, and has twenty-eight teeth. A projection of iron forms the centre of this trepan, and fits loosely into the hole made by the small trepan, acting as a guide for the tool. At a distance of 7 feet 6 inches above the teeth, a guide is sometimes fixed on the frame, but is not furnished with teeth. At a distance of 13 feet 3 inches from the teeth are two other guides at right-angles to each other. These guides are let down the pit with the boring tool, the hinged part of the guides being raised whilst passing through the beams at the top of the pit, which are only 6 feet 7 inches apart. When the tool is ready to work, the two arms are let down against the side of the pit, and are hung in the shaft by ropes, thus acting as a guide for the trepan, which moves through them. To provide against a shock to the spears when the trepan strikes the rock on the down stroke, at the upper part of the frame a slot motion is arranged, the play of which amounts to about half an inch. The teeth of the large trepan are not horizontal, but are deeper towards the inside of the pit, the face of the inside tooth being 33⁄4 inches lower than the outside. The object of this is to cause the débris to drop at once into the small hole, by the face of the rock at the bottom of the pit being somewhat inclined. The teeth used, Figs. 131 to 134, are the same both for the large and the small trepan, and weigh about 72 lb. each. As a rule, only one set of teeth is kept in use, this set working for twelve hours, the alternate twelve hours being employed in raising the débris. This time is divided in about the following proportions;—Boring, twelve hours; drawing the rods, one hour to five hours, according to depth; raising the débris, two hours; and lowering the rods one hour to five hours. The maximum speed of the larger trepan may be taken at about 3 feet a day. The ordinary distance sunk is not more than 2 feet a day, and in flint and other hard rocks the boring has proceeded as slowly as 3 inches a day.
The débris in the small bore-hole contains pieces of a maximum size of about 8 cubic inches. In the large boring, pieces of rock measuring 32 cubic inches have been found. As a rule, however, the material is beaten very fine, having much the appearance of mud or sand. In both the large and the small borings the débris is raised by a shell, similar to Figs. 105, 106, and in this system consisting of a wrought-iron cylinder, 3 feet 3 inches in diameter by 6 feet 9 inches long, and containing two flap-valves at the bottom, through which the excavated material enters. This apparatus is passed down the shaft by the bore-rods, and it is moved up and down through a distance varying from 6 to 8 inches, for about a quarter of an hour, and is then drawn up and emptied. In some cases where the rock is hard, three sizes of trepan are used consecutively, the sizes being 5 feet, 8 feet, and 13 feet.
The several other tools and appliances used during the boring operations are shown, Figs. 135 to 140, including the key, Figs. 139, 140, used at the surface to disconnect the rods, the hook on which each rod is hung after being raised to the high platform and there detached, the bar upon which the hooks are moved, and the fork for suspending the rods or tools from the rollers when it is desired to move the rods or tools from above the shaft.
Figs. 141 to 146 are of the connections to the trepan and spears or rods.
Should broken tools fall into the shaft, several varieties of apparatus are used for their recovery. In case of broken rods of any kind having a protuberance that can be clutched, a hook or crow, Figs. 137, 138, of an epicycloidal form, enables the object to be taken hold of very readily. Where the broken part has no shoulder which can be held, but is simply a bar, the apparatus shown by Figs. 147, 148, is employed. This is composed of two parts. The rods, the bottom of which have teeth inside, are prevented from diverging by the cone and slide on the main rods. When passed over a rod or pipe, they clutch it by means of the teeth, and draw it up. Chaudron has, by this tool, raised a column of pipes 295 feet in length and 8 inches in diameter. An instrument, called a “grapin,” Figs. 149, 150, is used for raising broken teeth or other small objects which may have fallen into the bottom of the shaft. This tool also has one part sliding in the other, and is lowered with the claws closed. The parts are moved by two ropes worked from the surface. By weighting the cross-bar, which is attached to the moving parts, the pressure desired can be exerted on the claws. The weight is then lifted, the claws are opened, and are made to close upon the substance to be raised. This instrument is now seldom required.