FUNDAMENTALS

access to seam from surface

 

seam access types

   

Vertical Shafts
 

Vertical Shafts

Apart from adits, vertical shafts involve the shortest excavation distance from surface to seam and the least sterilization of reserves.

The sinking process in the excavation of a vertical shaft results in the redistribution of vertical stresses (and removal of gravitational loads), hence it can be easier to sink a vertical shaft through poor ground conditions than to sink a drift.