The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-06-14
or CITY IN
UPPER PENINSULA
IS SINKING
While Men Work In Mine Undsr'
meath Iron Mountain. Ground Set
ties at Rate Of Quarter Of an
Inch q Day.
Railroad Has Been Lifting Its Road
bed in Deep Gssh in Earth fox
Twelve Years.

MARQUETTE. Mich. June ia
unique sight in the heart OF the city
If Iron Mountain. metropolis OF the
Menominee iron range. 10 . great pit
nearly one-half mile long. 500 to soo
feet wide and 100 to-1so feet deep.
The existence OF this pit 10 due to the
fact that underneath II 10 . portion OF
the workings OF the United States
Steel corporaton's Chaplin mine and
that there is In these workings the
caving system Of mining. now being
conducted at a depth Of 1900 To l.%oo
feet. Across this big depression II 10
necessary to maintain Q public high
way. a foot path. the tracks OF ootn
the Chicago & Northwestern and Chi
cago. Milwaukee q 81. Paul railroads.
a Pinch pipe line and 2s-inch sew
err main. This latter pipe carries
away the water pumped from the
mine. In addition to the sewage OF the
city.
When the caving system was nrst
introduced at the Chaplin mine tne
sinking OF the Chicago & Northwest
ern roadbed averaged nve-eighths OF
an inch q day, or nineteen feet year
For a number of years past II mas
been less than quarter OF an incn
day. The Chicago, milwaukee 4
St Paul company extended Its line TO
the city after the pit had started to
form. and II has been filing and HIT
ing it's roadbed since 1898. "A gravei
train is kept AT work practically all
the time. The crossing 10 at point
where mining Is carried on with par
ticular activity. and the setting Is
from twenty to twenty-five feet year
The all IL 1873 feet. with slope dis
lance on the side of 225 feet
In keeping up the Chicago. Milwau-
kee & st. Paul roadbed, fat cars, load
ed by steam shovel, are used to haul
the gravel and sand. They are dump
ed by means Of a pillow drawn by the
locomotive and attached to It by
steel cable. Three tracks are main
tanned. That In the center Is the main
line, while the other two, which are
usually from three to Ave feet lower
are used simply as benches or should
ers from which to dump the dirt and
thus maintain a wide embankment
As the roadbed settles. the ties on the
outer tracks are elevated and the
earth is tamped underneath them.
When these tracks are brought up
about to the level OF the main line,
the work Is diverted and the main
line is lifted until It Is In its true posi-
ton. AS the mine Ia growing deeper
and the ground Is continually set
Ting, the base of the Ill il ever widen
ing and as a result the railroad gains
but very little on the sinking.
The work of the Chicago & North
western company IL much simpler, In
asmuch as its right-of-way Ia near the
street and the settling Is less The
Northwestern has been maintaining
its track since 1897. The Steel cor.
poration keeps up the highway. and
In doing SO maintains one side Of the
embankment for the railroad com
pany. The street crossing settles ap-
proximately eight feet q year. and this
is filled with waste dirt hauled by
wagon from the mine, the railroad
bringing In a few trainloads OF earth
internationally as needed In the fall,
before winter sets in. additional wag-
ons are utilized and SUFFICIENT mater
ial Is hauled in to bring the road up
as nearly level as possible. The street
is fifty feet wide.
The pipe lines are side by side. be-
ing mounted upon pillars twenty feet
apart and built Of wooden blocks. The
pipes are on rollers, to take care Of
the expansion and contraction. Be-
tween each OF the large supports
there IL a smaller one upon which a
jack screw 10 mounted. AS the en-
tire line settles these jacks are given
a few turns until the pipe Is brought
TO q level position. and then II is
wedged In place on the main pillars.
After the jacks have been extended
their full length they are taken down,
their foundation is rebuilt and the
jacks replaced. IN this way both the
water and air lines have been main
tanned a number Of years without any
serious accident. On top of the pipes
there Is a framework which forms a
foofpath acrosc the mine