Pit Workers in the Old Days #11: Driving Lagging (Driving of Lagging; Repair Method)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi no Yamabito #11: Uchikomi-nari (Narugi no Uchikomi; Shikuriho)
[Pit Workers in the Old Days #11: Driving Lagging (Driving of Lagging; Repair Method)]
21.2 x 30.3 cm Ink Painting

A part of the main slope near the pit mouth called a "hashirikomi" of each small pit was composed of earth and sand, and it sometimes collapsed because support units were knocked down in a mine car accident. When repairers repaired such a slope, they drove a lot of sharpened lagging (narugi: narigi in dialect) skin to skin into the sagging roof to prevent debris from falling before standing supports near the lagging. They drove each piece of lagging one by one, standing auxiliary support units as they advanced. The mass of narugi driven skin to skin was called "jigoku-nari." The narugi was mine timber 6 shaku (1.8 m) long with an end no thicker than 3 sun (9 cm) in diameter.
Most pit mouths surrounding Tagawa City were covered with volcanic ash or gravel. Leaking water in the rainy season would frequently wash this away, exposing and felling support units, and quickly causing large-scale collapses called o-taka-bares, which blocked main slopes.
In such cases, repairers repeatedly timbered and removed refuse after driving jigoku-nari into the fallen roofs, all while water was pooling on the bottoms, dripping from roofs, and making their work difficult. Once collapsed, the earth covering the slopes would not harden enough and could collapse again and again with only a little rain.

uchikomi-nari: driving lagging

Words in the Inset at the Bottom Right
doshabai tenjo: roof of ash, earth and sand
uchikomi-narugi: driving lagging
bare dojo: fallen soil
ban: floor or bottom rock
waku-ashi: leg of the support unit
sokumen: side view


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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