Comments on: Salt Mine Under Detroit

Salt Mine Under Detroit

NortonDC — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 08:15:18 -0800

Mined until 1983.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 08:16:32 -0800

wait for it, Miguel... via Larkfarm V2

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 08:30:40 -0800

Yep. And we put it on our roads in winter to 1) melt the ice and 2) rust our vehicles so that we need to buy new ones. (Although today's cars last a LOT longer in this respect than they used to.) BTW, anyone care to guess what's the first country you encounter if you head due south from downtown Detroit? ;)

By: plep

plep — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 08:33:16 -0800

A fascinating tale - thanks NortonDC. The English Midlands town of Dudley (near where I grew up) has a network of abandoned limestone mines beneath it. Many of the tunnels can still be visited by tours run by the Dudley Canal Trust - here's a photo gallery. (And here's 'the Legging Song', an anthem of sorts).
Here's another site on the Portsdown Tunnels, beneath Portsmouth, and one on the Williamson Tunnels, beneath Liverpool... pmurray63 - the answer's Canada of course. ;)

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 09:18:00 -0800

I never knew a thing about this, thanks. Man, I could really go for a beer and pretzels right now. By the way, what do you suppose the salt miners said on Monday morning? Back to the...office?

By: Faze

Faze — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 09:22:23 -0800

Hey, there's an enormous working salt mine under Cleveland, extending way out into Lake Erie. Here's a story about a woman who worked in it, and some of the labor issues involved.

By: chandy72

chandy72 — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 09:46:40 -0800

But wait, pmurray63, Journey sang about the "city boy born and raised in South Detroit" -- does this mean that Journey was really laying out an allegorical tale for peaceful international relations in the form of a power ballad?! Maybe all that salt is why Detroit's old wounds are still so painful.

By: carter

carter — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 09:57:22 -0800

Slightly OT, but for the Brits, time to post the obligatory Subterranea Britannica link (again!). Re. the Dudley links (thanks plep!) I didn't see a full explanation of 'legging' on the Push Boys Push page, apart from the fact that it was 'slow and dangerous', but basically it consisted of a couple of planks that stuck out laterally either side of the longboat almost to the tunnel walls, on which you lay on your back, and then sort of walked along the vertical wall of the tunnel, while gripping the plank. This moved the longboat through the tunnel. From the song, it looks as if people fell off a lot.

By: plep

plep — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 10:47:50 -0800

carter - that is correct. It was the only way to move the barges along those airless tunnels.

By: stonerose

stonerose — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:08:06 -0800

Here's the Detroit salt mine now.

By: TedW

TedW — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:11:22 -0800

I haven't been able to get the FPP link to load yet (but will keep trying). In the meantime, here are some other salt mines to look at or read about.

By: notsnot

notsnot — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:12:45 -0800

Christ, Faze, that story's depressing. Thanks for the link, though.

By: carter

carter — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:19:17 -0800

TedW - doesn't work for me in Mozilla, but does in IE.

By: TedW

TedW — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:35:58 -0800

Thanks carter and NortonDC.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:48:33 -0800

Huh, "the mine reopened in October 1998." I did not know that.</Carson>

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 11:52:13 -0800

pmurray63 - the answer's Canada of course. ;) Yep. I just love that bit of geographical trivia. And speaking of Detroit geographical trivia... they recently uncovered the "Point of Origin" -- the spot from which Judge Augustus Woodward laid out the Detroit street grid in 1805. (DFP story and front page photo)

By: carter

carter — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 12:12:44 -0800

More geographical trivia ... London also has a stone reputed to be its centre. It's supposed to be 2000 years old, and is called the London Omphalos.

By: MzB

MzB — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 13:08:28 -0800

Romanian salt mines

By: Yossarian

Yossarian — Fri, 13 Jun 2003 13:14:30 -0800

Wow, great link. I live near metro detroit and had never known that. Thanx for link to the cleveladnd link too I use to live directly across from the morton salt mine. Very cool to watch the huge boats come in. Fascinating to learn its the same salt bed.