People at Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old days #14 (Pillars as Preventives against Collapse)
1958 - 1963

Mukashi Yama no Hitobito #14 (Kata Kabe Horaku Boshi no Uchibashira)
[People at Coal Pits (Yama) in the Old days #14 (Pillars as Preventives against Collapse)]
20.5 x 29.3 cm Ink Painting

Hard shale roofs never fell and no support units were needed to support them. However, the floors of roadways in old pits would swell (ban-bukure ga suru) because of high rock pressure affecting all of the roadways. As a result, walls on the inclined sides (kata) of the roadways began to fall (kayaru). Repairers had to completely support such walls by standing pillars called uchibashiras along them. Feet of the pillars sometimes stuck out if the hitches called ashi-gamas for them were not dug deep enough when they were stood. Additionally, mine cars could not go through tracked roadways (sharo) because the tops of the mine cars touched the roofs unless the bottoms of the roadways were constantly cut and leveled (ban-uchi or kujirisage).

Text at the Top
A miner could not shoulder a piece of timber (because of low roofs) and he/she carried it under his/her arm, supporting it with his/her waist.


Translation Assisted by Mr. Nathan Johndro

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