By 1870, the ‘F’ Pit was the major coal outlet for the New Washington Colliery. Over the years, the pit has survived explosions, been re-modelled and modernised before finally drawing its last coal in 1968. Following the closure, the National Coal Board gifted the impressive winding house and headgear to the town of Washington.
As part of a museum feasibility study to determine if the pit could open to the public in September 2019, Landform Surveys was required to carry out a variety of survey techniques to assess the safety and condition of the building.
As part of the project, we conducted:
- A topographic survey which mapped the boundaries and levels of the site to assist with the project management of the scheme.
- A 3D laser scan survey which uses point cloud data to map the internal and external dimensions of the building and winding gear. This created a detailed model of the structures which could be used to plan future development and restoration.
- Building elevations which presented all structural openings such as windows, string courses and stone features clearly on a plan. With this, project managers could plan for any on-going and future maintenance work that was required.
- A drone survey to assess the condition of the roof and winding gear, this was used to evaluate the safety of the structure and plan future maintenance works.
We spent two days working and surveying the site before collating the data and presenting the drawings. This is a great example of where many different surveying tools have been used together to complete an intricate project.
