T-Junction Dig 19
March 23-24, 2002

Slow Progress

36.0 feet to Carroll Cave or 82.5 feet below surface 

Diggers: John Bowles, Deb DuMont, Ethan Frantz, Bill Gee, Marty Griffin, Earl Hancock, Lannis Hancock, Gary Hart, Rick Hines, Bill Howard, Ron Lather, Dave McCool, Chris McCrackin, Jeff Page, Rosalie Shaw, Chris Wolters

It was good to have a large crew and several new faces.

We finished the chipping to square up the hole from the prior dig and completed three blasts cycles.  Total pull for the weekend was 5.65 feet.   

The first blast for the weekend (Blast 40) pulled 3.35 feet but the diameter of the hole was only about 20 inches.  A second set of holes was drilled to expand the diameter.  The blast expanded the diameter to well above the 30-inch target at the top but left a conical bottom in the lower 2 feet.  After a lengthy clean up with the chipper hammer we measured an additional gain or 1.05 feet.  For the third blast we switched from the template with 6 outer holes and 2 inner holes to the template with 8 equally spaced holes on the perimeter.  All holes were drilled to about 4 feet and loaded with 3 Power Splits each.  The Power Split was tamped down and 10 to 12 inches of stemming was added.  After clean up the pull was a disappointing 1.25 feet. 

We had extensive discussions to try to come up with a logical explanation for the disappointing pull on the last several digs.  We are concerned that the plastic tubes used to keep the holes clean prior to loading may be producing a bullet from the stemming placed on top of the charge there by allowing the expanding gas from the blast to escape without moving rock.  We tried pulling the tubes on the last blast but only two of eight could be removed.  On the next dig we will use shorter plastic tubes that should be removable prior to stemming the holes. 

The railroad rail was suspended in the 9-inch pilot hole for each blast.  After the second blast the rail seamed lighter as we pulled it to the surface.  Two feet of the 5-foot rail had been snapped off!  Does anyone have more rail or similar steel we could use?

Thank you
   Earl and Lannis for providing ham & beams and corn bread for lunch. 
   Chris McCrackin for bring a MIG welder.
   Earl and Chris M. for completing several welding projects.
   Ethan and Chris M for installing several new electrical outlets.
   Marty for the loan of his AC powered air compressor.
   Lannis for keeping records for all three blasts.
   Dave for hauling explosives, air compressor and again providing a pneumatic drill.
   Chris Wolters for fabricating a second generation 12 VDC down hole light.
   Everyone that went down hole to drill, load and chip.
   Rope pullers. 
   New comers: Deb DuMont, Ethan Frantz, Gary Hart, Bill Howard, Rosalie Shaw.

Reminder: Please send your 2002 dues and donations to:
Wayne Burnett
Treasurer, CCC
8322 Grant Ave.
Overland Park, KS  66212

Next Dig:  April 6-7  Eddie Simmons will be the Dig leader.   Call or email Eddie or me to sign up.
 
     Eddie  CAVEREBELS@prodigy.net  (417- 736 - 3195) 
     Rick  rickhines@aol.com  (913 - 897 - 4258)

Rick