N.Z. FLIER’S NOVEL IDEA FOR COAL PIT PROPS
LONDON. Dec. 12.
The 42-year-old New Zealand test pilot, Mr. Martin Fountain-Barber, was struck with an idea. Why not adapt the plane’s hydraulic undercarriage system to coalmine pit props? The idea has been adopted and 594 hydraulic props, fitted as an experiment at the Williamsthorpe colliery, proved so successful that they have also been installed in other mines in the Chesterfield area.
The new prop can be more easily fitted than the ordinary steel and wood prop and can support upwards of 50 tons.
The new type of hydraulic prop ■•gives" to increasing roof pressure, whereas the normal prop buckles. It is, therefore, also safer.
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22820, 15 December 1948, Page 9
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113N.Z. FLIER’S NOVEL IDEA FOR COAL PIT PROPS Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22820, 15 December 1948, Page 9
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