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Construction of the A30 bypass 1982

These series of photographs were taken by B175 in 1982 and he has very kindly allowed me to reproduce them here in connection with this history as they are relevant to the history of Mellanear.

The comments are those of B175 and the copyright of the photographs belong to B175. Any comments or discussions on them can be dealt with on the forum at www.aditnow.co.uk


These photos are of the work that took place under the A30 just north of Mellanear Bridge at the back of Hayle during the construction of the A30 Hayle bypass.

As the topsoil was stripped around 6 shafts became clearly visible as blue lode material had been tipped into the shafts in an area of elvan ground - so blue rectangles on an orange background. This occurred exactly at the cut/fill point above the bridge location. As the shafts were probed by dth drill another raise opened up on the back of a stope so the decision was made to probe drill all the area to determine the extent of any voids.

The results indicated open voids and the further decision taken to open cut the area (the cut/fill line represents the narrowest part of the road so easements and accessibility issues ensued) down to the stopes and adit level to ensure that the road above wouldn't be affected by subsidence and that the water discharge regime through the adit from the more extensive workings to the SE wouldn't be compromised and create further problems with flooding from shafts as had happened previously.

The sequence of photos show the works in progress in May 1982. There was a £0.5M contingency fund and this work used up a lot of it.


Left hand photo - Not quite Mellanear but along the road a bit at Wheal Alfred where the ground was so tough (altered shales?) the road builders resorted to blasting - DTH Hammer with 100mm bit, very hard ground and water makes for surprising results. Right hand photo - After the explosives - the results! Standard method of measurement - a packet of B and H gives the scale of the drainage trench - meant to be 900mm deep and 450 wide.


Left hand photo - More damage. And showcasing the latest lines in construction safety wear 1982 style. Right hand photo - Near Random Stack farm (Roseworthy Arsenic stack).


Left hand photo - Plant backfilling the area. Right hand photo - Concreting over the stoned up adit - view from Mellanear Bridge looking north east.


Left hand photo - Dug area under the A30 road - looking towards Mellanear Bridge site, the last part of stope showing in the far face and concreting in progress forming a linear cap over the stopes and adit. Right hand photo - After free draining stone was run into the adit to above water level a layer of Terram and then fill was placed before shaping up a trapezoid channel to fill with concrete along the lenght of the stopes and adit.


Left hand photo - Clearing out the stopes and adit of stulls and other timber to ensure free drain of the mine water. Middle photo - looking along the stope/adit level - in places the water depth was deeper than equipment to hand at the time (ie more than about 8m deep). Right hand photo - Cutting down to top of stopes and adit - water level.


Left hand photo - dig area just north east of the present day Mellanear Bridge over the modern A30. At the far end is a shaft with stopes off and in the foreground another shaft to the adit. Right hand photo - Stripping down on the stopes to adit level.


Left hand photo - Stopes visible from stripped out shaft. Right hand photo - View down the only open shaft/raise that we could access showing stulls.