19th Colloquium on Old Mining, 07-08.11.2019, Leoben in Austria

The 236 m deep Römer Shaft, named after the mining officer (Bergkommissionsrat) Jobst Christoph Römer, was sunken from 1837 to 1855 and belongs to the historical complex of shaft facilities of the former Altenberg tin mine in the Erzgebirge Mountains. It is the last shaft sunken directly in the Altenberg “Zwitterstock” deposit.

Operation of the shaft was terminated in 1982 due to geotechnical instabilities of the rocks in the immediate surroundings of the Altenberg Pinge (sink hole). After several dismantling phases since abandoning, the shaft building is a ruin only, located inside the restricted zone around the Altenberg Pinge determined according to geotechnical instability. As the Römer Shaft was declared a cultural heritage, its ruin has to be maintained in the current state. Within the frame of safekeeping and reconstruction measures the old shaft collar had to be rehabilitated while guaranteeing at the same time mine ventilation and with the purpose of save entering the site, ground stabilisation under consideration of the special geotechnical conditions. Accordingly, above the shaft head a reinforced concrete plate was built with a grating of the shaft opening. The window openings and the wall copings of the ruin had to be stabilised under consideration of the special requirements of the cultural heritage commission in such way that no risk remained for public safety in the immediate neighbourhood and for the shaft cover inside the ruin.

G.E.O.S. did the planning, construction supervision and object documentation of the project on behalf of and to the fullest satisfaction of the 'Kali-Spat-Erz' operation of the 'Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH' (LMBV). The project was presented by Kersten Kühn, Head of Deposits at G.E.O.S., at the 19th Old Mining Colloquium (ABK) under the patronage of the Austrian Mining Association at the University of Leoben on 08.11.2019.

A more detailed description of the project is published in the proceedings of the 19th ABK: 19. Altbergbau-Kolloquium