This item comes from the Selby Superpit podcast which contains an ever increasing wealth of detailed information about the construction and operation of the Selby Pit. To find more go to https://selbycoalfield.home.blog

Gascoigne Wood Underground.

On December 28, 2024The spine tunnel developments at Gascoigne Wood were the longest and most complex mining developments ever undertaken in the UK. The south spine Robbins T.B.M. was the first to be completed on 22nd June 1987. The north spine tunnel, driven by a Thyssen Meco ( Paurat ) Titan E134C Roadheader, was completed on 24th November 1990.The south spine tunnel was equipped with 14,885 horsepower ( 10,100KW ), 1.3m wide steel cord conveyor capable of carrying 2200 tonnes of coal per hour at a speed of up to 8,4m/sec . It was 12,200m in length and weighed 2,500 tonnes when empty and transported coal 800m from lowest point to surface. The ASL was designed by Anderson Strathclyde and REI and was the most powerful conveyor in the world when installed. It was designed to handle the entire coal production of the Selby Coalfield and was the first of the spine tunnels to be fully operational.Gascoigne Wood South Spine steel cord conveyor.The north spine tunnel when operational was equipped with a 11,084 horsepower (8265 kw,)1.1m wide cable belt. The length of the conveyor was 9,450m with a tandem accelerator conveyor, 3,000m in length and 1.35m wide, loading from the inbye end, on to the cable belt. Both conveyors were capable of 2,000 tonnes per hour. It was designed by Cable Belt Conveyors Limited and was also capable of handling the full production of all the five mines.Wistow Staple Bunker delivering coal on to the cable belt.Deputy inspecting the cable beltWhen the Selby Complex was fully operational the Gascoigne Wood spine tunnels were fed from the five producing mines via multiple vertical bunkers. The staple bunkers were supplied with coal from the Barnsley seam which is 60m above the Gascoigne Tunnels.