Longannet coal mine

Last updated

Longannet coal mine was a deep mine complex in Fife, Scotland.

History

Longannet was the remnant of three mines, established in the 1960s. Built on the north side of the Firth of Forth, east of Kincardine, it connected with the Bogside, Castlehill and Solsgirth Collieries, forming a single, five miles long, tunnel. [1] They provided fuel for the nearby, 2,400MW Longannet Power Station.

The Bogside Colliery closed in the 1980s, and by the early 1990s, the Castlehill and Solsgirth coal reserves were exhausted. Production continued from the Castlebridge area. On privatisation of the coal industry, the complex passed into the ownership of Mining Scotland and later Scottish Coal (Deep Mine) Ltd. [1] In the late 1990s, new "roadway" tunnels were driven to access a coal seam beneath the Forth, downstream of the Kincardine Bridge. When production from Castlebridge ceased, in 2000, the northern side of the complex was sealed off and flooded. Dams were constructed, isolating the old workings from the active Kincardine working. [1]

In March 2002, millions of gallons of water flooded into the underground workings. The 15 people below ground at the time were in another part of the mine and all were evacuated safely. [1] Shortly after the flooding, Scottish Coal (Deep Mine) Limited, went into receivership. It became clear that no new operator would take over the mine, and all the pumps were switched off, allowing further flooding. Without access, the true cause of the flooding could not be conclusively determined by the investigation. It was concluded that one of the dams, or the surrounding strata, had probably failed, but the exact reason was not known. The design margins for the dams appeared to be adequate. [1]

Before the site's complete flattening in 2019 the multiple buildings on the site lay derelict with most of their interiors undamaged and untouched since its abandonment in late 2002 after the liquidation of Scottish Coal (Deep Mine) Ltd. The site now lies to the North East of a Specialist Sand Facility.

Longannet was the last deep mine of any significance in Scotland and its closure effectively ended underground coal mining in Scotland. As of 2008, opencast coal mining continued in Scotland, with 51.4% of Great Britain's opencast coal mines (18 out of 35 mines) and 60.1% of the saleable production by weight (5.68m tonnes out of 9.45m tonnes). [2]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Circumstances Surrounding the Flooding of the Longannet Complex Mine, Fife, Scotland" (PDF). Health and Safety Executive - Inspectorate of Mines. Retrieved 20 August 2009.
  2. "Coal: opencast coal mining statistics 2008". British Geological Survey — MineralsUK. Retrieved 30 January 2010.

Coordinates: 56°3′31″N3°41′32″W / 56.05861°N 3.69222°W / 56.05861; -3.69222

Related Research Articles

Firth of Forth Estuary of Scotlands River Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary (firth) of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south.

Longannet power station

Longannet power station was a large coal-fired power station in Fife, and the last coal-fired power station in Scotland. It was capable of co-firing biomass, natural gas and sludge. The station stood on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine on Forth.

The Upper Hirst is a coal seam in central Scotland that was mined in the 1950s through to 2002, mainly to supply Kincardine Power Station, and later, Longannet Power Station, in Fife.

Valleyfield, Fife Human settlement in Scotland

Valleyfield consists of High Valleyfield and Low Valleyfield which are neighbouring villages in Fife, Scotland, midway between Dunfermline and Kincardine-on-Forth. Low Valleyfield is on the shore of the Firth of Forth, High Valleyfield on the ridge immediately to the north.

Stirling–Alloa–Kincardine rail link

The Stirling–Alloa–Kincardine rail link is a completed railway project to re-open 21 kilometres (13 mi) of between Stirling, Alloa and Kincardine in Scotland. The route opened to rail traffic in March 2008.

The Kincardine Line is a railway in Clackmannanshire and Fife, Scotland. It was originally built to serve settlements along the north shore of the Firth of Forth, between Alloa and Dunfermline.

Industry and the Eglinton Castle estate

The Eglinton Castle estate was situated at Irvine, on the outskirts of Kilwinning, North Ayrshire, Scotland in the former district of Cunninghame. Eglinton Castle, was once home to the Montgomeries, Earls of Eglinton and chiefs of the Clan Montgomery. Eglinton Country Park now occupies part of the site.

Preston Island is a former artificial island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. The reclaimed land was once used for salt production, using local coal. It is part of Fife.

Open-pit coal mining in the United Kingdom is in decline. Output has fallen every year since 2010. In 2010, the United Kingdom was forecast to produce about ten million tonnes of coal a year from open-pit mines. Most came from Scotland, with the largest operator there being the Scottish Coal subsidiary of Scottish Resources Group. Actual production in 2010 was over 13 million tonnes but this has declined to less than 8 million tonnes in 2014. Deep coal mining stopped completely at the end of 2015 and the UK is planning to phase out the use of coal to produce electricity by 2024.

Fife Coalfield

The Fife Coalfield was one of the principal coalfields in Scotland. Over fifty collieries were in operation at various times between the middle of the nineteenth century and the closure of the last pit in 1988. The coalfield extended across the southern part of Fife where rocks of the Coal Measures Group occur and was one of a series of coalfields throughout the Midland Valley from which coal was won by both deep workings and opencasting methods. It is traditionally divided into the West Fife, Central Fife and East Fife coalfields with Kirkcaldy having been a particularly important area. Some of the mines extended beyond Fife under the Firth of Forth following the seams which occupy the Leven Syncline which extends to the south shore of the firth at Musselburgh and beyond.

Midlothian Coalfield

The Midlothian Coalfield is a coalfield in southeast Scotland situated immediately to the east and southeast of Edinburgh. It is geologically continuous with the East Fife Coalfield beneath the Firth of Forth though the undersea coal reserves have only been partly exploited. There were undersea workings extending from Prestonlinks Colliery. The sulphur content of the majority of Midlothian coals is less than 1% making it especially suitable for modern requirements.

Raniganj Coalfield is primarily located in the Asansol and Durgapur subdivisions of Paschim Bardhaman district of West Bengal. It spreads over to the neighboring districts of Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and to Dhanbad district of Jharkhand.

The Tarenni Colliery and its associated workings, are a series of coal mines and pits located between the villages of Godre'r Graig and Cilybebyll located in the valley of the River Tawe, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, South Wales.

The Firth of Forth was historically crossed by ferry until the opening of the Forth Road Bridge in 1964.

Guido Mine and Coal Mining Museum Historic mine and museum in Silesia, Poland

The Guido mine, Polish: Zabytkowa Kopalnia Węgla Kamiennego is a historic deep coal mine and museum in Zabrze, Silesia, Poland. The museum is an Anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. This is an object of cultural heritage inscribed in the registry of the Silesian Voivodeship and a cultural monument in Poland.

The Diglake Colliery Disaster, was a coal-mining disaster at what was Audley Colliery in Bignall End, North Staffordshire, on 14 January 1895. A flood of water rushed into the mine and caused the deaths of 77 miners. Only three bodies were recovered, with efforts to retrieve the dead hampered by floodwater. 73 bodies are still entombed underground.

Bokaro and Kargali Area is one of the operational areas of the Central Coalfields Limited located mainly in the Bokaro district and partly in the Giridih district, both in the state of Jharkhand, India.

Hazaribagh Area is one of the operational areas of the Central Coalfields Limited located mainly in the Hazaribagh and Ramgarh districts in the state of Jharkhand, India.

Kuju Area is one of the operational areas of the Central Coalfields Limited located mainly in the Ramgarh district in the state of Jharkhand, India.

Argada Area is one of the operational areas of the Central Coalfields Limited located in the Ramgarh and Hazaribagh districts in the state of Jharkhand, India.