Jan 212010
http://news.stv.tv/scotland/north/151770-biggest-man-made-hole-in-europe-goes-on-sale/
The biggest man-made hole in Europe will is to be put up for sale on the open market for the first time in 150 years.
Rubislaw Quarry, dubbed ‘the hole Aberdeen came out of’, was the source of the stone that gave the Granite City its name.
For Sale signs are due to go up at the landmark in the west end of Aberdeen on Thursday inviting offers.
Aw, it’s adorable. It’s so small and petite! Here’s a Google satellite image:
But then, here it is compared to the biggest man-made hole in America:
10 Responses to “Biggest man-made hole in Europe goes on sale”
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Proud to be an American!
Im sorry, aren’t their coal, salt, and stone mines in Bavaria and Poland and Czech Repub bigger than that port-A-john? I mean come on, look at the pic, that hole is not even a city block across.
OK, just read the article. It is 5 acres, 466ft deep. I am fairly certain that there are open mines in Poland and Romania considerably bigger than that. Hell, we got abandoned strip mines bigger than that here in west PA.
I wonder why they didn’t count the Fauld crater as the largest man-made hole in the UK:
http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/fauld/fauldcrater.htm
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fauld_Explosion
It has an area of 12 acres and is 120 metres deep. Dug in a few seconds in 1944 when part of an underground RAF ammunition dump went up. Over 3,500 tons of high explosive was involved (a small fraction of the total store). An entire farm and reservoir disappeared into the hole, and around 75 people died.
My best friend lived near to it when I was a kid. I have a book (“Disasters Underground” by N.J. McCamley) that has some photographs of the aftermath. Dead sheep buried in fallen dirt and gypsum. An aerial view of the crater taken afterwards looks just like a meteorite impact.
Not as impressive as many of the mines in the US, but certainly more dramatic on a human scale.
RIP everyone who died.
> I wonder why they didn’t count the Fauld crater as the largest man-made hole in the UK:
1) They probably wanted to restrict it to “intentional.”
2) Comparing satellite images…
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=Hanbury+Hill,+Hanbury,+Burton-on-trent,+Staffordshire+DE13,+United+Kingdom&sll=52.852716,-1.732535&sspn=0.004691,0.013561&ie=UTF8&om=1&z=16&ll=52.847364,-1.733415&spn=0.005806,0.021629&t=k
and
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hazlehead+park+scotland&sll=57.140873,-2.174177&sspn=0.012341,0.038495&ie=UTF8&hq=hazlehead+park+scotland&hnear=Hazlehead+Park&ll=57.139709,-2.147698&spn=0.00588,0.019248&t=h&z=16
The crater is certainly larger in area, but probably not as deep. The quarry probably has a larger excavated volume.
Not sure, but this might be the largest nonnuclear made-made explosion crater. But there have certainly been bigger non-nuclear explosions… the Oppau, Germany, explosion of 1921, with 4500 or so tons of fertilizer; the 1944 Port Chicago explosion with 4600 tons of ordnance; the M inor Scale and Misty Picture pseudo-nuke tests of the mid 80’s, with about 4700 tons of ANFO; the Texas City disaster of 1947, when 4700 tons of ammonium nitrate went up; and the “British Bang,” where 6800 tons of high explosives were used in an attempt to destroy the island.
Still, even though it was realtively small, it’s hard to beat the 500 ton “Sailor Hat” test for Just Plain Awesome:
http://cg22.ussengland.org/History/SailorHat/Sailor_hat.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXTwFsO1UvE&feature=related
Yep, I reckon they meant intentional. I’m just a little keen to spread the word as so few people have ever heard of Fauld (esp. compared to Port Chicago et al). Although it was not suppressed in the news in 1944, there was so much going on at the time that the disaster did not get the prominence it deserved.
Btw, much of the Fauld crater was apparently infilled later. This is one reason that so many of the facts about it are disputed – how many tons of explosive went up, the exact size of the crater, the number of dead. It is surrounded with rumour, falsehoods and even superstition.
I have heard people claiming it is the biggest explosion ever in Europe (doubtful), the largest conventional explosion in WWII (possible, depending on the type and quantity of explosive), or even the biggest explosion ever (ridiculous). Even the size of the crater is debatable, as it continued to grow after the explosion as the sides slumped in and more tunnels collapsed.
The RAF have said that all the remaining explosives have been removed. They have also said that there are many tons remaining buried. Which one is correct? (Possibly both – they may have removed all the bombs they could reach, but none of the buried ones).
I hadn’t heard of Sailor Hat – some good pictures on those websites.
Anyway, just thought it may be of interest. Cheers for a fascinating website.
> so few people have ever heard of Fauld
*I* hadn’t. And I like that what that go *boom.*
> biggest explosion ever in Europe (doubtful)
Might depend on just what you mean by “biggest.” The Oppau explosion used considerably more explosive by weight, but the explosive was less than half as powerful. But I think the “British Bang” on Heligoland has to be the winner… 6800 tons of high explosives. And if’n someone wants to claim that it doesn’t count because Heligoland is an island, not attached to Europe, then one must say the same about Britain.
We also blew up a manly amount of AN/FO at NTS during the MX basing development years, in a test of missile shelter designs. Not sure how much, but in the thousands of tons for sure.
Whoops, WSMR, not NTS. MINOR SCALE:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/ops/minor-scale.htm
Unless “largest” criteria is specified, this is definitely not the largest manmade hole in Europe.
An example: Belchatow open mine in Poland is 13x2km (almost 9000 acres), over 200m deep (>650 feet), excavated 700 million tons of coal.
> Belchatow open mine in Poland
OK, now *that* is a Manly Enterprise:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Belchatow+mine+poland&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=36.726391,78.837891&ie=UTF8&hq=mine+poland&hnear=Gmina+Be%C5%82chat%C3%B3w,+Poland&ll=51.246659,19.325294&spn=0.113472,0.307961&t=k&z=12
Not quite as big as the Bingham Canyon mine, but still a valiant effort