Recently Fortis sent a crew of Rope Technicians specializing in mineshaft rope up's to the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota. S.U.R.F is an advanced underground research facility performing cutting edge experiments for decades. The S.U.R.F. website describes the facility in the following way, "The Sanford Underground Research Facility supports world-leading research in particle and nuclear physics and other science disciplines. While still a gold mine, the facility hosted Ray Davis's solar neutrino experiment, which shared the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics. His work is a model for other experiments looking to understand the nature of the universe.
The Facility's depth, rock stability and history make it ideal for sensitive experiments that need to escape cosmic rays. The impacts on science can be seen worldwide."
Fortis was contracted by S.U.R.F. to replace the cage and hoist rope in the Ross Shaft. This particular Mine Shaft's role will be to support excavation and construction of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF). The first experiment the facility will participate in will be of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). The world's most advanced neutrino experiment.
Fortis worked with the SURF crews to replace 12,200 feet of 1 5/8-inch diameter hoist ropes. We also supplied any specialized rope changing equipment, like the sheave stand shown in the picture below. The previous hoist ropes were remnants of days past, when the facility was the Homestake Gold Mine. The wire rope and been cut and tested so many times that the rope could no longer reach the bottom of the shaft. With the new ropes now installed work has begun on excavating the 800,000,000 tons of rock to create the space needed to begin construction on the LBNF facility.
To learn more about the SURF and the Ross Shaft Rope up visit the SURF news and events https://www.sanfordlab.org/article/upgrades-ross-shaft-include-new-cage-skips-and-rope-replacement
Phone: (306) 242-4427
Email: info@fortiscorporation.com
Website: https://www.fortiscorporation.com/mine-hoist.aspx
