Sunday, November 1, 2009
5:38 PM | 
Posted by
Ryś |
Over 30 Celsius degrees temperature, 100 % of moistness, almost zero visibility and permanent feeling, that something big is hanging over my head. Where have I recently been? Some equatorial jungle or maybe some sand-mud storm in Asia? None of them. This time my journey had very scientific overtone and was connected to my studies.
Many ask, what I am actually studying and when they hear - "geoengineering", they either try to nod with misunderstanding or congratulate me, assuring, that there will be always need of surveyors in geodesy. Actually the second try is more less accurate, because geoengineers or rather geotechnical engineers have to cooperate quite well with surveyors, however it is still far away from the right job, which I would be able to do after studies.
Geotechnicians are simply responsible for the field studies of rocks and soils, their movements and stability. Every time when you drive your car on motorways, in the tunnels or above the cliff, you can drive calmly unless it was checked by wrong person. However sometimes geotechnicians have to go underground, to the mines and caverns to find out and eventually solve the static problems, which can be hazardous for miners. So do we from time to time with various groups at university.
Last time – thanks to the invitation of the Hard Coal Mine "Piast" – we have gone down to one of the most interesting mines in Poland. You can ask, what can be interesting in that? For majority of people mine is associated with “Triple D” – dirt, dust and darkness. But to be fair, that is just a drop in the ocean of things, occurrences and effects appearing in miners’ working environment.
I must confess, that miners are probably the strongest people, I have ever met. Not only with their physical strength - all the time they have to carry heavy “escaping equipment”, which in case of danger should provide oxygen and save their lives – adding to that high temperatures, moisture and fumes coming from diesel machines – makes the environment very hard and tough. Puny wouldn’t manage to stay there 8 hours to say nothing of working and operating heavy machines. We were just walking about 6 kilometres in the mine for 3 hours and really some of us had enough of this. You have to know, that galleries, leading to the so-called “long wall” are one of the most unpleasant places where man can be. Only all the time changing airflows, moisture, uneven floor, deep ponds and darkness could be difficult for somebody but it gives just a foretaste of what is to come.
Usually in such conditions, man becomes tired and muddle-headed, but they can’t take the liberty of doing that. All the time they must pay very high attention to everything what they do and what happens around them. Small mistake or minute without thinking can end up tragically.
Miners show no fear underground, work hard and confident, but when you meet them after shift in some pub, few beers can sometimes stir up and release their emotions. Every morning when they meet in the elevator, which with speed of 6 m/s takes them underground, you can hear around very characteristic “Szczęść Boże” (God, give us luck). Miners are conscious, that every time when go down, they can die, but 99% of success is in their hands. They have to rely on their workmates, take responsibility not only for their own movements, but also for the others. There is no competition, who will work faster or more efficient, because the most important is safety. Therefore you can feel very strong bond between colleagues from shift, they have big respect to each other and they know that in case of any fatality their families won’t stay alone. And although for people who go there for the very first time, the enormous number of vulgarisms can disheartening – really sometimes the rain of swears and curses can bring you to the knees – miners are good friends, just in some unique way.
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