Near misses

[downsouth 7,143]

Been on a refresher course for my deep excavation and shuttering tickets today and we were going through battering back/angle or repose in different soil types and the weight of moving soil at different depths if a side comes in and it really got me thinking about some of the dodgy/dangerous situations ive put myself in out digging and at work over the years.Any of you lads had any near misses or know anyone whos come unstuck over the years.

[rob284 1,682]

Yeah was out digging with my father and got a mark at 10 ft on a place we had dug a few times. Solid clay for 4 foot the hit a large boulder, must have been 5ft in diameter. We had to start a new dig and dig beside it. Again we had about 5 ft of dry hard clay and then 5ft of the softest sand under this clay where the sett was burrowed. Once we got the right depth we tunnelled is under the rock as the rock was burried in hard clay and wasn’t budging. Near the end my father jumps in and pulls the dog out stretched under the boulder, passed me the dog and as he jumps out of the dig the boulder collapses. We were both speechless and a bit shook for a while after it, could have ended very differently. Always dug the place at 10 ft plus then someone came on without permission and had what looked like a tiny dog at no more than 4ft, Sod’s law.

[Rabbit Hunter 6,613]

The only real bad one I've had was on a Boxing Day dig to a fox a few seasons back in an empty man made lagoon. The mark was 16 ft but it was all sand so easy enough digging, half way down my mate asked if I'd be ok to carry on while he went for drinks etc and to meet another lad to bring back to help us, I said no problem, I carried on alone while they were gone, once they came back we werent far from breaking through, broke through not long after and as I got down on my knees to look up the tube I heard the lads shout and as I stood up half the dig collapsed right up above my waist and they quickly jumped in and heaved me out. From then on every time we tried to dig it kept collapsing in and in the end the farmer got the jcb and dug it, luckily we got to the dog( just starting to go into shock from the cold) and the dead fox in front of him. But as I'm getting older and think about it on the odd occasion, I shudder at the thought of being alone and it collapsing on me or not hearing the lads and being buried as it gave way, it can be a dodgy game sometimes.

[downsouth 7,143]

We were shown a chart today and at 4ft deep if you take one side of a dig back at a 45degree angle that will weigh 0.8 of a tonne.If that soil is moving/sliding that weight doubles on impact.Now if you have 400kg on your chest you are not breathing in and have a minute if your lucky before you're dead.Certainly makes you think when youre kneeling or laying down in rhe bottom of a dig.

[rob284 1,682]

Picture of the boulder after it collapsed. Was lucky that day.

[jigsaw 11,863]

2 minutes ago, rob284 said:

Picture of the boulder after it collapsed. Was lucky that day.

christ on a bike ,,that could have been bad 

 

[downsouth 7,143]

9 minutes ago, rob284 said:

Picture of the boulder after it collapsed. Was lucky that day.

f**k that

[rob284 1,682]

5 minutes ago, downsouth said:

f**k that

You can see just above it is where it was hanging stuck to the clay whilst we was under it, Never dug it since. Things you do for a dog eh. 

[dogmandont 9,769]

24 minutes ago, rob284 said:

Picture of the boulder after it collapsed. Was lucky that day.

That could of been nasty.

[Daniel cain 44,959]

12 hours ago, downsouth said:

We were shown a chart today and at 4ft deep if you take one side of a dig back at a 45degree angle that will weigh 0.8 of a tonne.If that soil is moving/sliding that weight doubles on impact.Now if you have 400kg on your chest you are not breathing in and have a minute if your lucky before you're dead.Certainly makes you think when youre kneeling or laying down in rhe bottom of a dig.

Naughty shit..... Anything over a metre we have to use trench shoring on site these days... Ive been down 4 m laying concrete storm pipes and front came in as machine driver was inserting metal road plate at front of box.... Lucky im a skinny c**t because i dived and flew up the pipe over the laser and crawled 60 odd metres back to the manhole....... Shit my pants to be fair. 

As i get older im starting to think about another trade.... As for digging to a terrier.... We have all taken risks, part and parcel of what we love

[downsouth 7,143]

Same here mate anything over a meter.Im ticketed to do timber and steele shuttering down to 5meters.I used to think they were taking the piss when they made us shutter stuff up at a meter and move all spoil right away from the hole but when you've been on the coursed and seen the videos and photos and theyve explained exactly how different grounds react it definitely makes you think about some of the sotuations youve put yourself in out with the dogs and at work in the past.

[Rat face 1,655]

We was on a  deep one a few weeks back in very loose sand. My arse fell out I must admit. We was down at 6m and looking down at my mate in the bottom thinking if this gose. It's game over for him

[dytkos 17,783]

2 hours ago, Rat face said:

We was on a  deep one a few weeks back in very loose sand. My arse fell out I must admit. We was down at 6m and looking down at my mate in the bottom thinking if this gose. It's game over for him

That's what happened to a fella I knew, almost 40 years back, caved in on him in sand in Cheshire.

R.I.P. Jimmy Richmond.

D.

[downsouth 7,143]

3 hours ago, Rat face said:

We was on a  deep one a few weeks back in very loose sand. My arse fell out I must admit. We was down at 6m and looking down at my mate in the bottom thinking if this gose. It's game over for him

How wide did you have the hole at that sort of depth.

[TOPPER 1,809]

makes me shudder when i think what we used to do digging the railway banks tunnelling in , my bro was in about 14 foot once and had a part collapse it was a good job we had a rope around his feet shit us up for a bit , we had a bad one couple of years back 26 ft through clay shale flint then into green sand real b***%*d of a dig i swore blind we were digging to a dead dog then the last 3 foot the box was going nuts they wanted out and she wasnt having it that 3 feet came out in seconds pulled the the dog threw her up shot the quarry and his mate and scrabbled out as it was collapsing i hate fcking sand , dodgey day lucky we lived to tell the tale it was a close call