Kellingley Colliery Shaft Treatment

Following closely after the works undertaken by SES' Special Projects to close the mine shafts at both Harworth Colliery and Thoresby Colliery for UK Coal Ltd, SES were awarded a similar contract at the last remaining deep mine in the UK. Owned by UK Coal Ltd, Kellingley Colliery ceased production in December 2015 and immediately afterwards SES commenced the works to seal off the two 700m deep mine shafts as part of the formal abandonment of the mine.

After an intensive programme of works to decommission the mine hoisting systems in both shafts which included the removal of twelve large steel ‘winding’ ropes with a combined length of 8500m and weighing a total of 36 tonnes, SES' Special Projects then installed steel soffits in each of the 7.5m diameter shafts and constructed in-situ steel reinforced concrete slabs to safeguard the shafts for future development of the site.

In addition to technical support, operational management, skilled operatives and all materials, SES also provided the design element for the concrete slabs which incorporated means of extracting the methane gas present in the mine workings for ‘green’ energy generation.

SES' Special Projects team played a key role in delivering the project for the client, completing all construction activities to a high standard whilst ensuring health and safety compliance at all times.  The project was delivered under critical time constraints ahead of programme and under budget. Furthermore, SES' Special Projects proactively managed, supervised and involved various other project stakeholders, including the sub-contractors to ensure the project ran efficiently.