Second tunnel a possibility for re-entry of Pike River mine
Pike River Recovery Agency chief executive Dave Gawn and Pike River father Bernie Monk talk about the plan to reenter the Pike River mine drift.
Experts have suggested digging a new tunnel into the Pike River mine to try find out what caused the explosion that killed 29 men and potentially recover their bodies.
Technical experts in ventilation and geotechnical engineering gathered in Greymouth to work out how to re-enter the West Coast mine where 29 men were killed in November 2010.
Former chief mines inspector Tony Forster, who has previously given technical advice to the families fighting for re-entry, attended Thursday's workshop held by the Pike River Recovery Agency.
Building a short drift to create a second means of escape is one of the options being investigated for the re-entry of the Pike River mine.
"What I've seen is a very robust process ... I'd be the first to tell the families the process was flawed and there were fatal risks involved in this project and it's far from that," he said.
READ MORE:
* Pike-river-mine-reentry-to-take-longer-than-expected
* The promise to Pike River miners
* Reentry of West Coast's Pike River mine 'will be done'
* Pike River mine recovery should be completed by March, 2019 - PM
There were now three options on the table, including forming a short drift to create a new way of escape.
Twenty-nine men died when the Pike River mine exploded in November 2010.
"This is an example of new thinking that has been brought to the table ... That's a whole new viable option now in terms of a plan," Forster said.
The second option was entering the tunnel with no second means of escape but with very high levels of safety controls in place, which was "standard mining practice".
The third option was to create a vertical bore hole, which was previously suggested as a second means of escape.
Former chief mines inspector Tony Forster told a Pike River Recovery Agency workshop he has serious concerns about using a borehole as a second means of escape.
"I've got some concerns regarding that because there are legal implications for that understandably after Pike River ... If we came up with an option of what Pike River previously was, people would question what the heck have we been doing," Forster said.
"Pike River was designed around a single drift with a vertical shaft that people had to climb up. The chances of people being able to do that is nil or zero."
He said a large diameter bore hole could still be built to give recovery experts a last resort means of escape if required.
Technical experts gather in Greymouth to come up with a plan for re-entering the Pike River mine drift.
"It's not the favoured option. The favoured option would very much be driving this second means of egress," he said.
Stu McGregor, a geotechnical expert who attended the workshop, said the new tunnel would be about two metres wide.
"[It would be] fairly short and entering the drift at an appropriate location ... as far into the drift as we can," he said.
Agency chief executive Dave Gawn said it was too early to say how much re-entry would cost, but it was expected to be within the Government's $23 million budget.
The concept plan would be presented to Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little in June and the intent was still to enter Pike River before the end of the year.
Bernie Monk, whose son Michael died in the mine, said the victims' families were part of the workshops.
"The costings that have come through ... are no where near the costings that Solid Energy and other parties put in front of us," he said.
He paid tribute to the family members who stood their ground and the new Government for bringing about the Pike River Recovery Agency.
"I think we're on the right road to set an example for the future of New Zealand."
- Stuff
Comments