This series was amazing! Lots of room and no squeezing through a twelve inch gap. It's really nice although I would have broke my ankle walking on all those rocks. Thank you for letting us tag along on another fantastic adventure. Stay safe.
Haha, yeah, it sure was nice not having to crawl into something for once! I stumbled a lot on those loose rocks. Those were unbelievably hard to walk on. Thanks for coming along...
Mines are great for getting a break from the weather. Since they are a constant temperature, they feel cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Glad you enjoyed our stroll through the underground workings...
Pretty incredible, huh? I've never seen adits as large as were in here before. Even a large, modern lorry would have no trouble fitting through those passages.
Great video. This mine is huge. So many drifts going in so many directions. It would be easy to get lost in there. Thanks for sharing and again another great job.
Thank you. Yes, it is an enormous mine and we only scratched the surface with these videos. And, yes, one could indeed become lost in there. Many of those adits look the same.
Thank you guys for another look at the Underground Quarry . Mine karts the size of Dump trucks could use that passage ! Connecting to the other areas to mine the limestone also gives you plenty of Ventilation . I have to assume they had many people working in that Underground Quarry ,Busy Place ? It is a nice change for you to visit something that large . 58 views so far
The cement factory plus the mine had around 170 workers, about 50 working in mines. The entire mine was excavated in about 50 years, it was only stopped between 1943 and 1945 due to the war. As mentioned in the first video this mine used 250 kg of explosives a day.
More likely, actual diesel dump trucks were used. The DPM from so much equipment requires mechanical ventilation; there was likely a ventilation raise or drift with a tractor fan pulling exhaust out of the mine and sucking fresh air in.
You sure were right with your reply in part two that they really hollowed this mountain out!! They really cut that mountain up!! Can't wait to see what the siren song brings!!
Yes, it seems like they took out as much as they could without collapsing the mountain! I'll have a few other videos in between, but there are some really outstanding Italian mines coming up...
Another great video that mine goes on forever who knows how big that mine was with all the other tunnels back filled. I wonder how old that mine is I wonder if it dates back to the Rome days .
Thank you. Yes, I'd love to see a video of the full extent of this mine. I don't know about this mine in particular, but many of the mines in Italy have been worked off and on since the time of the Romans (and even before). It's pretty cool to see the evidence of mining from thousands of years before...
Man, that is BIG. Beautiful looking back out. When the mines are this big. Does that mean they 🧨a bunch? I watch a couple times, so much to see. Back fill to keep people out? Ty. Different rock blast out different? Right?
Yes, it's huge. There were even more levels that we weren't able to access on this visit too! Yes, it seems like they made a sort of half-assed effort to push some dirt in front of these huge portals, but nothing much.
Hehe, that's not huge... You should see the mine I work in! 😁 45 foot rooms 50 foot pillars 25 feet from floor to ceiling. Big enough to drive a 70 ton haul truck in..... However, the mine you explored was probably pretty big for miners back in its operating days
donald hakala I'll seen be starting a job operating equipment at an underground limestone mine that also runs 70-ton trucks. Whereabouts are you working?
It was so hard to walk around in there! I've never had anything like that in another mine... That backfill was enormous. You'd need an enormous bulldozer to make a dent in it.
TVR Exploring ya, you need to be very careful walking. Twisted knee or ankle not a good thing. Oh ok, never sure about back fill. A bit hard to see just what it would take to push it thru.. So easy sitting at home to say, Hey, just push open. 😂 😂😂😂😂
The quartz in this area is barren. So, it is actually just an interesting looking vein they ran across while chasing the limestone. In California or Nevada, that vein would definitely have gotten more attention!
Maybe the parallel tunnels were as much about safety as moving rock. Or was there some kind of traffic system being used with trucks going in one, and out the other?
I think it was primarily about just moving as much limestone out of this deposit as they could without causing the whole mountain to collapse. There were many, many parallel tunnels - far more than would be needed for safety or for routing traffic.
I'm surprised that they didn't do any roof bolting. That would have done quite a bit to keep the various rock strata together and avoid roof falls like you encountered. There seems to have been no effort made at ground control - the mine would be in far better shape now if basic bolting had been done. On a related note, I'll be starting a job running equipment at an underground limestone mine in Kentucky in a couple weeks. Let me know if you wind up in Appalachia!
That's curious about the roof bolting. I can't imagine what it would have been like in there with that stuff constantly sloughing off. Did they have to go through every day and clear out the groundfall before they started working? Like you said, if they had done the bolts, the mine would probably be in fantastic shape still. I'm glad you were able to pick up another mining job. No plans to be in Kentucky in the near future, but I'd love to come out and see you in a mine!
TVR Exploring They'd be proactively scaling loose rock, whether by hand with bars or with a mechanical scaler (we use an excavator/trackhoe with a scaler head). While the mine was abandoned, loose rock would fall on its own and accumulate over time. Scaling is usually done after blasting and before mucking, to make sure the drift is safe to work in. Dangerous work, but much safer with mechanical scalers.
Would bolting work in shale (seems futile), or just the limestone sections (obviously, I'm not too savvy geologically)? I find it interesting (& fortunate), in mines like this one w/such massive amounts of perpetual sloughing/groundfall, that rarely does any material come tumbling down while you're all creeping 'round in there. Thank yr lucky stars, indeed, that the huge calving boulder Alessio pointed out above yr heads, toward journey's end, remained in place!
The most bolting-intensive mines around are underground coal mines, which mine stratabound seams in sedimentary rock -- lots of shale to bolt there! It may not hold up forever, but it is necessary. If you're looking to keep shale up long term, your best bet is a combination of shotcrete, bolts, and mesh.
Interesting how many parallel adits and cross-cuts these mines have, like a honey comb. Not much in the way of artifacts in there, but those brick and concrete structures are cool.
I think they were trying to extract as much limestone as possible without causing the mountain to collapse... I wish there had been more artifacts, but the physical layout of the mine was quite interesting to me. Oh, and I'd never seen anything like those brick and concrete chutes before.
An unusual feature, looking rather like a cinder cone volcano, appears at 9:02, 9:19 and 9:34. Any idea what it might have been? Or at least caused it?
If memory serves correctly, that was a pile of dirt or mud that had water dripping onto the top of it. The water dripping down hollowed it out for the "cinder cone" look.
you call it a back filled chamber in coal mines in pa we call it a gob its where scope operator rams unwanted material the quickest place to dump it!!!!!!!!!!!
This series was amazing! Lots of room and no squeezing through a twelve inch gap. It's really nice although I would have broke my ankle walking on all those rocks. Thank you for letting us tag along on another fantastic adventure. Stay safe.
Haha, yeah, it sure was nice not having to crawl into something for once! I stumbled a lot on those loose rocks. Those were unbelievably hard to walk on. Thanks for coming along...
Nice to see someone has good lights in these mines
Another spectacular exploration !! You said right !! The next mine called us in the same way as the sirens of Ulysses !!
Haha, it certainly did!
thanks for the break from the heat down here in Texas...enjoyed yo ur stroll thru the tunnels of......cool to explore things..how intrestings
Mines are great for getting a break from the weather. Since they are a constant temperature, they feel cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Glad you enjoyed our stroll through the underground workings...
wow big adits could drive a truck in there. seems like be easy to get lost in there with so many drifts thumbs up
Yes, one could drive a very big truck in there!
WOW, that was one huge adit! Pretty much drive the big lorries all the way down that with ease!
Pretty incredible, huh? I've never seen adits as large as were in here before. Even a large, modern lorry would have no trouble fitting through those passages.
I'm sure that they did! We run Komatsu HD605-8 70-tonners at our mine; the drifts are 25-40 feet tall.
Great video. This mine is huge. So many drifts going in so many directions. It would be easy to get lost in there. Thanks for sharing and again another great job.
Thank you. Yes, it is an enormous mine and we only scratched the surface with these videos. And, yes, one could indeed become lost in there. Many of those adits look the same.
Those mines are beyond huge. All the mines ive been in are hand worked hard rock stuff. Amazing how much material they took out of that mountain.
Yes, the drifts are the biggest I have ever seen... They really hollowed this mountain out.
Thank you guys for another look at the Underground Quarry . Mine karts the size of Dump trucks could use that passage ! Connecting to the other areas to mine the limestone also gives you plenty of Ventilation . I have to assume they had many people working in that Underground Quarry ,Busy Place ? It is a nice change for you to visit something that large . 58 views so far
The cement factory plus the mine had around 170 workers, about 50 working in mines. The entire mine was excavated in about 50 years, it was only stopped between 1943 and 1945 due to the war. As mentioned in the first video this mine used 250 kg of explosives a day.
Thank you Alessio . Knowing the History also makes the explore enjoyable .
"Cement mixer - putzy, putzy. Cement mixer - putzy, putzy." I recollect hearing my mom singing this tune when I was a little kid.
More likely, actual diesel dump trucks were used. The DPM from so much equipment requires mechanical ventilation; there was likely a ventilation raise or drift with a tractor fan pulling exhaust out of the mine and sucking fresh air in.
Great follow up!
Those tunnels and chambers are huge!
They must have pulled some serious tonnage out of there!
Thank again for the vids!
Thank you very much. Yes, those are the largest mine tunnels I have ever seen! They extracted a staggering amount of limestone out of this deposit.
You sure were right with your reply in part two that they really hollowed this mountain out!! They really cut that mountain up!! Can't wait to see what the siren song brings!!
Yes, it seems like they took out as much as they could without collapsing the mountain! I'll have a few other videos in between, but there are some really outstanding Italian mines coming up...
They made Swiss cheese out of that mountain. Your guide sounds less than enthusiastic about exploring it all. Thanks for sharing your finds. Take care
I was very enthusiastic instead, I spent two almost complete days to explore it all together with some speleologist friends in another exploration.
Another great video that mine goes on forever who knows how big that mine was with all the other tunnels back filled. I wonder how old that mine is I wonder if it dates back to the Rome days .
Thank you. Yes, I'd love to see a video of the full extent of this mine. I don't know about this mine in particular, but many of the mines in Italy have been worked off and on since the time of the Romans (and even before). It's pretty cool to see the evidence of mining from thousands of years before...
Love this mine! Love this channel! Keep up the great work!
Thank you very much!
Wow!! I bet your legs & ankles are screaming after this one. Very ruff going.
Haha, yes, they certainly were!
Man, that is BIG. Beautiful looking back out. When the mines are this big. Does that mean they 🧨a bunch? I watch a couple times, so much to see. Back fill to keep people out? Ty. Different rock blast out different? Right?
Yes, it's huge. There were even more levels that we weren't able to access on this visit too! Yes, it seems like they made a sort of half-assed effort to push some dirt in front of these huge portals, but nothing much.
Hehe, that's not huge... You should see the mine I work in! 😁 45 foot rooms 50 foot pillars 25 feet from floor to ceiling. Big enough to drive a 70 ton haul truck in.....
However, the mine you explored was probably pretty big for miners back in its operating days
donald hakala I'll seen be starting a job operating equipment at an underground limestone mine that also runs 70-ton trucks. Whereabouts are you working?
Columbus Ohio
I'm very envious of your enjoying of la dolce vita!
Haha, there are definitely worse places to be!
Again, just wow. Crazy big. Walking on those big rock is hard. Could you push some of that back fill out or in?
It was so hard to walk around in there! I've never had anything like that in another mine... That backfill was enormous. You'd need an enormous bulldozer to make a dent in it.
TVR Exploring ya, you need to be very careful walking. Twisted knee or ankle not a good thing. Oh ok, never sure about back fill. A bit hard to see just what it would take to push it thru.. So easy sitting at home to say, Hey, just push open. 😂 😂😂😂😂
Looks like some quartz down there nice they were chasing something
The quartz in this area is barren. So, it is actually just an interesting looking vein they ran across while chasing the limestone. In California or Nevada, that vein would definitely have gotten more attention!
TVR Exploring the main vein they we're chasing got plenty of attention its just gone lol
Maybe the parallel tunnels were as much about safety as moving rock. Or was there some kind of traffic system being used with trucks going in one, and out the other?
I think it was primarily about just moving as much limestone out of this deposit as they could without causing the whole mountain to collapse. There were many, many parallel tunnels - far more than would be needed for safety or for routing traffic.
I'm surprised that they didn't do any roof bolting. That would have done quite a bit to keep the various rock strata together and avoid roof falls like you encountered. There seems to have been no effort made at ground control - the mine would be in far better shape now if basic bolting had been done.
On a related note, I'll be starting a job running equipment at an underground limestone mine in Kentucky in a couple weeks. Let me know if you wind up in Appalachia!
That's curious about the roof bolting. I can't imagine what it would have been like in there with that stuff constantly sloughing off. Did they have to go through every day and clear out the groundfall before they started working? Like you said, if they had done the bolts, the mine would probably be in fantastic shape still. I'm glad you were able to pick up another mining job. No plans to be in Kentucky in the near future, but I'd love to come out and see you in a mine!
TVR Exploring They'd be proactively scaling loose rock, whether by hand with bars or with a mechanical scaler (we use an excavator/trackhoe with a scaler head). While the mine was abandoned, loose rock would fall on its own and accumulate over time. Scaling is usually done after blasting and before mucking, to make sure the drift is safe to work in. Dangerous work, but much safer with mechanical scalers.
Would bolting work in shale (seems futile), or just the limestone sections (obviously, I'm not too savvy geologically)? I find it interesting (& fortunate), in mines like this one w/such massive amounts of perpetual sloughing/groundfall, that rarely does any material come tumbling down while you're all creeping 'round in there. Thank yr lucky stars, indeed, that the huge calving boulder Alessio pointed out above yr heads, toward journey's end, remained in place!
The most bolting-intensive mines around are underground coal mines, which mine stratabound seams in sedimentary rock -- lots of shale to bolt there! It may not hold up forever, but it is necessary. If you're looking to keep shale up long term, your best bet is a combination of shotcrete, bolts, and mesh.
I see...a multi-pronged approach: give it yr best, then clear out the rest. Thanx for the info!
You're not alone in there at 14:21 something is watching you.. look for the eye shine.
Apparently, there is a type of (small) wild cat that frequents the caves...
Interesting how many parallel adits and cross-cuts these mines have, like a honey comb. Not much in the way of artifacts in there, but those brick and concrete structures are cool.
I think they were trying to extract as much limestone as possible without causing the mountain to collapse... I wish there had been more artifacts, but the physical layout of the mine was quite interesting to me. Oh, and I'd never seen anything like those brick and concrete chutes before.
I think you must’ve scared all the ghosts out of this one
Ya nice light at 14:20 or so.
An unusual feature, looking rather like a cinder cone volcano, appears at 9:02, 9:19 and 9:34. Any idea what it might have been? Or at least caused it?
If memory serves correctly, that was a pile of dirt or mud that had water dripping onto the top of it. The water dripping down hollowed it out for the "cinder cone" look.
It's the chamber of secrets
I got lost just by watching this
Yeah, this one was crazy!
Huge doesn’t begin to describe the size of this mine. They apparently don’t mess around when they make mines. Lol
Yes, these are the biggest drifts I have ever seen. Like you said, they were serious about mining this one!
Utterly ginormous!
looks like a repeat of the first pass through..hope y'all got steel toed boots on be safe !
Heavy boots were definitely welcome in this one...
👍🏼❤️ very cool ty
I'm glad you liked this one. This series didn't get as many views, but I thought it was an impressive mine.
Hey, roughly what area is this in? I only ask because we've got some similar very large limestone mines near where I'm at.
This is near Florence, Italy.
sometime you should probably go into an abandon mine with a pickax and mine some ore
Nah, I'm not a miner... Too much work!
:(LMAO
I'm thinking all the fallen rock in this mine has come down due to to earth tremors. Is this in the Northern part of the country?
This mine is in Tuscany in the Chianti zone, this area is not very seismic.
you call it a back filled chamber in coal mines in pa we call it a gob its where scope operator rams unwanted material the quickest place to dump it!!!!!!!!!!!
That's funny. Every region and type of mining seems to have its own lingo!