QUARRY EXPLOSION!

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3829, 4 November 1936, Page 4

QUARRY EXPLOSION!

OVER 10,000 TONS BROUGHT DOWN. “A VERY SATISFACTORY RESULT.” Upwards of one hundred people took the opportunity to attend at the Te Kawa quarries on Tuesday afternoon to see a big face of stone crumble up from the force of an explosion of over two tons of gelignite. For some weeks beforehand the quarry foreman, Mr Henricksen, and his staff had been preparing for the big shot. The quarry resembles a large cup, with the rim at one part cut down to allow access for the trucks to be loaded with broken stone and hauled to the crusher some 100 yards away. The lowest level of the quarry is criss-crossed with tramlines, each leading to* a part of the quarry face, and all meeting at a turntable at the centre. A tunnel 45ft. deep had been made straight into the eastern face, and inside the tunnel crosscuts, giving an aggregate of about 130 ft in length. Inside were packed one hundred cases of explosive, each weighing 50 lbs. Thus there were over two tons of explosive ready for the pressing of an electric button that would explode the charge. Punctually at 3.15 p.m. the button was pressed, and with a quake that shook tlie hillside for hundreds of yards, and a muffled roar, the huge wall of stone bulged and crashed to the floor of the quarry, ami huge quantities of stone, and earth top hamper, poured down on top of the clean stone. It is estimated that the 10,000 tons of stone expected to be dislodged was easily exceeded. Some quarry workers give estimates up to 15,000 tons. If the figure is taken at 12,500 tons it will be seen that there was a splendid return for the outlay and time occu pied in preparing the shot. Mr Goosman, one of the proprietors, expressed himself as very pleased with the result, and he paid a tribute to the quarry loreman and his men for having prepared such a successful shot, so that everything went accord ing to plan. When the falling stone had settled, there was a hurried rush by spectators from their point of vantage to inspect the result of the explosion, and all agree that it was a fitting end to a well planned preparation.