Summary Coal is the fuel that is responsible for more than half the electricity we use on a daily basis. "Modern Marvels: Coal Mines" traces the amazing technological advances that have led to today's extremely efficient methods of mining this resource from the earth. We first go underground with the miners in a shaft mine in West Virginia to witness a huge machine rip apart a wall of coal as one miner maneuvers the machine with a remote control. In another mine in Pennsylvania, we see the most advanced method of underground coal mining at work -- longwall mining. A massive machine extracts an entire wall of coal in just seconds. Then we travel back in time to explore ancient coal mining techniques when laborers used primitive tools to pick at the coal wherever they could find it. The coal was used to warm their homes and to bake their pottery. By the 13th Century, coal started to slowly replace wood as the main source of fuel as the European forests begin to dwindle. In the next several hundred years, mining methods slowly evolved in an attempt to keep up with the growing demand for coal. First, the simplistic bell pit method was developed in which miners dug shallow narrow shafts straight down and carried the coal out. Then tunnels started to appear as miners developed drift mining. By the 1800's, as the miners started to dig deeper, disasters occurred. Roof cave-ins and methane gas explosions killed thousands of miners. Eventually, new methods were developed to help prevent these ...
Directed : Unknown
Written : Unknown
Stars : Lloyd Sherr William Atwater Adam Richman Harlan Saperstein
Genres : History Documentary
Release date : Apr 1, 2003
Countries of origin : United States
Official sites : History
Language : English
Filming locations : Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Production companies : Al Roker Productions Actuality Productions American Dad
Summary Coal is the fuel that is responsible for more than half the electricity we use on a daily basis. "Modern Marvels: Coal Mines" traces the amazing technological advances that have led to today's extremely efficient methods of mining this resource from the earth. We first go underground with the miners in a shaft mine in West Virginia to witness a huge machine rip apart a wall of coal as one miner maneuvers the machine with a remote control. In another mine in Pennsylvania, we see the most advanced method of underground coal mining at work -- longwall mining. A massive machine extracts an entire wall of coal in just seconds. Then we travel back in time to explore ancient coal mining techniques when laborers used primitive tools to pick at the coal wherever they could find it. The coal was used to warm their homes and to bake their pottery. By the 13th Century, coal started to slowly replace wood as the main source of fuel as the European forests begin to dwindle. In the next several hundred years, mining methods slowly evolved in an attempt to keep up with the growing demand for coal. First, the simplistic bell pit method was developed in which miners dug shallow narrow shafts straight down and carried the coal out. Then tunnels started to appear as miners developed drift mining. By the 1800's, as the miners started to dig deeper, disasters occurred. Roof cave-ins and methane gas explosions killed thousands of miners. Eventually, new methods were developed to help prevent these ...
Genres : History Documentary
Release date : Apr 1, 2003
Countries of origin : United States
Official sites : History
Language : English
Filming locations : Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Production companies : Al Roker Productions Actuality Productions American Dad
