T-Junction Dig 20
Dig Report April 6th and 7th

Diggers:  Bill Copeland, Todd Heintz, Ken Long, Gary Hart, Deb Dumont, Greg Buckley, Dave McCool, Chris Wolters, Mike Hartley, Mike (Julio) Wise, Rolland Moore, Kerry Rowland, and Eddie & LaDawna Simmons


    Saturday morning, my wife and I were delighted to see a handful of people at the dig when we arrived (which was a little late). As I looked around, I noticed no explosives truck. Apparently, Dave was running late also.
    Ken volunteered to do some chipping on the walls, while we waited. He was lowered into the shaft, and began cleaning from the top down. He was using the little air chisel and Marty's compressor. (Which we had excellent luck with all weekend.) He was able to get almost half way down when Dave arrived.
     We pulled Ken out and began preparations to drill. Gary Hart would be the second down hole worker. After some brief instructions from Greg and Dave, Gary was lowered and started drilling the 9 necessary holes.
      Some other information during the same time:
1) Bill Copeland and Todd Heintz thankfully offered to do some cave work for MVOR. They took some maps and locations and headed out. They drove and walked all day to little avail. They were denied at one location that was iffy anyway.  And had trouble locating current landowners at other locations. We thank them for their all day help and ask for help this weekend in doing the same thing. If we can get enough people there we can maybe get it all done in a day.
2) We started requiring everyone working down hole, to be in one of our safety harnesses. A separate rope was rigged and attached to the worker.  We used a handle ascender for a very easy and effective belay. Neither the harness nor the extra rope proved to be too troublesome.
3) Rick had received, and sent, our new two-way radios. Greg brought us a pair of nice waterproof headsets. After playing with them on the surface, Gary would try them out first with Greg working mezzanine. After using them on and off all day, I can say they were a little cantankerous. They are very touchy as far as the voice activation. You had to be very patient with them. Also, it was almost impossible to wear them, as intended, when you were down the hole. They'll take some practice, and time, to get used to. When they did work, it sure beat yelling.
4) Dave and Chris had decided to add a third drill hole to the template's center. Dave had picked up enough explosives to try this technique. This is why I previously listed Gary in drilling "9" holes.
          Gary was pulled out after about 2 hard hours of non-stop drilling. He was trying to be very cautious of maintaining clean holes throughout the drilling. Since we've been having problems with our holes filling up before they can be loaded, this was an issue he needed to take time in doing. (I might add, we still do not have an effective way to keep these holes clean. We had trouble with both loadings. This needs to be addressed.)
     Before we did the first blast, one of our Rolla Specialist arrived to offer his assistance. John Bowles is no newcomer and was anxious to get in the hole and do his part on this day also. He brought with him, some stemming caps. These little cone shaped caps would be placed on top of the explosives before the stemming is done. The idea is to kind of trap the explosive under the stemming. He was interested in us trying this on the first blast with all power split to see if it made a difference. They had also hooked Dave with some emulsion to try on the second blast.
    Chris was lowered mid afternoon to load the holes. We were approaching 3:00pm, and waiting for only our first blast. When Chris came out, once again he had trouble with the holes having variable amounts of debris in them. Having 3 which were virtually useless.  Those three were offsetting enough, Chris felt comfortable going with what we had.
    Six holes were loaded with 2.5 sticks PS, 2-3s and 4-12s. Det cord was also used. At 3:12pm we heard our first "BOOM". It was unusually load, sucking the tank doors in and out, and blowing off all the yellow garden hose on top.
     After the smoke cleared, a measurement revealed a foot drop before chipping. John was lowered down and worked continuously for about 2 hours. Once done and out, he spoke of some vertical ledges left over from apparently where the 3 holes were plugged and didn't get blown. John wasn't worried about them, thinking we could blast under them, and chip them off after. A final measurement showed 81'4". A two-foot gain, that's pretty good under past circumstances. Oh yeah, the nine inch hole was clear too, measuring 116'6"
     Just the thing to warm John up, LaDawna and Deb prepared everyone some freshly cut vegetable soup and garlic bread. With the wind picking up and a evening chill setting in, the warm soup was much appreciated. Thanks LD and Deb.
      I was lowered around 7:30pm to begin drilling the second set of holes. The template was not going to fit, so I would have to drill with the approximate pattern. (Which wasn't hard when you have a foot, or more, of the previous holes left over, to go by.)
     I would drill ten holes for them. Still using PVC plugs of varied lengths, I was having trouble in maintains clean holes. The start of each hole was digging open so big, it was hard for anything to protect them.
     I was pulled out at 9:30 and preparations for loading those holes, was underway. Chris was lowered, and shortly after needed the air nozzle to clean with. After awhile in the hole, he came out telling us he was only able to load 8 of the 10. Those 8 were loaded with 2.5 sticks PS each; 3-0s, 2-3s, and 3-12s. Det cord was also used. Shortly after 10:00 we heard "BOOM".
    By this time, some people had left and others had retired for the evening. So, this would be all the work for Saturday. We would clean in the morning, and probably sacrifice the third boom. (Luckily, it did not start raining till we had packed up and departed.)
     Sunday morning around 9:30 Rolland Moore was lowered down to clean-up blast 2. (Rolland had just driven in Friday for the dig, from Bowling Green, Kentucky.) Right off, he commented on a clean looking blast, circular and even. Rolland would also continue for 2 hours while the rest of us picked up our mess and rolled up rope.
    Rolland said the floor was fairly flat and ready for the template. A measurement of 82' revealed we had only picked up 1.5' on blast two. A drop through the nine-inch hole showed at 116'5". (Still good there)
    A big thanks to everyone who helped and for supper. Bill and Todd for a long cave hunting day, and John, for offering his help.

See you at the next dig
Or MVOR cave hunt next weekend
eddie  caverebels@prodigy.net