New Ross steel near 300 Level

Crews replacing steel in the Ross Shaft have refurbished 426 feet of the shaft, which puts them 36 feet above the 300 Level. ?I?m proud of the guys,? Ross Shaft Foreman George Vandine says. ?They?ve done a nice job.? Four crews of four, plus two toplanders, are working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week on the project.

Steel replacement began in August and early work included start-up tasks. For example crews had to install new work decks in the cage and north skip compartments, two small cranes and a Skyclimber ascender, similar to the devices used to wash windows on skyscrapers.

Replacing all the steel in the 5,000-foot shaft will take several years. The first section of the project, from the surface to the 1250 Level, should be complete by this time next year, Vandine said.

On Friday morning Steve Babbitt, a photography professor from Black Hills State University, spent a couple of hours in the shaft. Babbitt has been working with the Communications Department for three years on a project to document the creation of the Sanford Lab. (Babbitt and Sanford Lab Multimedia Specialist Matt Kapust will show a collection of their photos during the Neutrino Day science festival on July 13.)

Babbitt is a fine arts and industrial photographer, and he often has worked in challenging environments. The Ross Shaft, however, posed special problems. ?It?s rare I have to work in such a confined space,? he said. ?And to be able to look up and down the shaft, that was pretty impressive.? The assignment reminded him of shooting in caves or in the slot canyons of southern Utah. ?It was very cool,? he said.

Babbitt also was impressed by the crew replacing the steel. ?I was having a hard time moving around with a camera and a tripod,? he said. ?Then I started thinking about how these guys put all these steel beams into place, in exactly the right spot. And it all has to be perfect. I stopped whining after that.?Open cut

Editor's note: Did you catch the fuzzy math? How could crews have installed 426 feet of new steel down the Ross Shaft and still be above the 300 Level? The 300 Level was measured before the Ross Shaft was built from a shaft which no longer exists, it was probably located where the Open Cut is now.