Dunbar Sandstone Mine #3, Fayette County, Pennsylvania

July 2018

Gate Types: BASIC and SEMI-CUPOLA

In a bold experiment by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the lower entrance of this abandoned mine on state-owned lands was sealed in an effort to trap more cold air and improve it as a bat hibernaculum. The upper entrances, however, were left open, and therefore still subject to unauthorized entries. Both upper entrances had been attempted to be backfilled after the mine closed, but the rubble eventually settled and they reopened. We spent a day just creating a trail up the mine debris to the openings. The first gate was constructed inside the collapse where a choke point made it more practical, while the second was built at the bottom of a large ant-lion trap. We could not have done either without the fantastic help from the local Gamelands crew. All photos © Jim Kennedy.

The steel and concrete closure at the main mine portal.
Our cutting area was at the base of the rubble slope.
The newly-created trail looking up the slope…
…and looking back down towards the cutting area.
This is part of the ugly long crack that we had to secure against intruders.
Down inside, it looked more like this.
The gate turned out quite well, despite the cramped working conditions.
One gate completed, we then moved on to this little beauty.
We began by stabilizing a dirt slope and some rubble, then anchored a frame to the available bedrock.
We used perpendicular top bars for strength.
Five years later, with a little rust, the finished gate still looks great!