Securing Friedrich Thyssen 4 shaft
In January 2024, THYSSEN SCHACHTBAU GMBH was commissioned by RAG Aktiengesellschaft to subsequently secure the Friedrich Thyssen 4 shaft, which had already been backfilled.
The Friedrich Thyssen 4 shaft originally belonged to the Friedrich Thyssen colliery (formerly Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser) and is located in Duisburg Meiderich/Beeck directly south of a large furniture department store.
Sunk between 1899 and 1903, the Friedrich Thyssen 4 shaft, with a depth of 867 m, was part of the Friedrich Thyssen 4/8 double shaft system. In 1959, it was one of the first shafts to be abandoned during the onset of the German coal mining crisis. It was then filled in. In 2015, the filling column in the shaft collapsed by several meters and had to be subsequently repaired. In order to prevent any future risk to the surface, RAG has now decided to permanently secure the shaft once again using the latest methods.
For this purpose, the filling material, which is already in the shaft, will be subsequently reinforced with a cement suspension over the top 150 m via a large number of injection boreholes.
THYSSEN SCHACHTBAU will be carrying out this work over the next two years or so and can thus contribute its extensive expertise in the field of drilling and injection technology.
THYSSEN SCHACHTBAU is also returning to its beginnings with this contract: August Thyssen, who founded the company Thyssen & Co. GmbH in the Styrum district of Mülheim an der Ruhr in 1871, thus laying the foundations for THYSSEN SCHACHTBAU, acquired a majority stake in the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser in Duisburg Hamborn by 1891. The Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser, which soon consisted of several pits, developed into an industrial group that united everything under one roof, from coal mining in the pits to coking plants, rolling mills and smelting works to steel production. In addition to THYSSEN SCHACHTBAU, part of the Essen-based company now operating under the name thyssenkrupp AG can also be traced back to this industrial group.
From 1919, the mines of the Gewerkschaft Deutscher Kaiser were run under the name Zeche Friedrich Thyssen within the Gewerkschaft Friedrich Thyssen and comprised eight larger shafts as well as several secondary shafts in Duisburg and Walsum.
Today, only the headframe above Friedrich Thyssen 6 shaft in Duisburg Hamborn is still visible, which is part of the Route of Industrial Heritage as an industrial monument.
After more than 120 years, the capping work at Friedrich Thyssen 4 shaft brings us back full circle.
