“Blows and Goes” Mine Portal, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

September 2022

Gate Type: SEMI-CUPOLA

In 2022 we revived our long-standing Bat Gate Workshop series, first started in 1995 at Boulder Cave, Washington. This time, both the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources were sponsors. Only Jim Kennedy was still around from the original instructors, so he partnered with John Chenger of Bat Conservation and Management to put on this workshop. Student time was split between classroom lectures on cave microclimates, bat ecology, project management, bat gate design, and construction, and many other important topics, and hands-on bat gate construction on a nearby abandoned mine portal known to house endangered and sensitive species of bats. All photos © Jim Kennedy.

Workshop participants got a chance to try their hands at cutting and welding.
We began by leveling and pinning a header against the overhanging rock face.
From the header, we leveled out our other headers and measured the columns, finally adding our sills.
Once the frame was complete, it was an easy matter to add the side and top bars.
Footers hold down the skirting on this nearly-completed gate.