Widtmann und Blume

Water Management Shafts of Diepenlinchen

Since the water management of the mine posed a problem due to inflows averaging 9,000 liters per minute from the very beginning, a more economical water management system became necessary in 1855. In that year
Engineer Widtmann, after whom the Widtmann shaft is named, designed a water drainage tunnel 2.4 km long to drain the mine water from a depth of 88 m (corresponding to the elevation level of the Vicht valley) into the Vicht River. At that time (1854), the mine had already been sunk to a depth of 159 m, so the water only needed to be lifted 71 m. In 1857, work began on the tunnel advance, and in 1855, the sinking of the Widtmann shaft commenced. The shaft had a relatively large cross-section of 5.65 m x 3 m, as it needed to accommodate two pump rods. This was necessary because the corresponding pumping systems were subjected to high loads, yet water still needed to be pumped out during their maintenance, which is why they were always maintained alternately. Furthermore, with increasing depth, the water drainage shaft had to be driven deeper without interrupting the pumping of the mine waters. Both shafts (Widtmann and Blume) were not sunk in the water-bearing limestone (as they would have been flooded during construction), but in the adjacent slate, which did not carry water and could therefore be driven down relatively easily.

The Widtmann shaft was lined with bricks up to a depth of 150 m to ensure stability. As depth increased, it became necessary to sink a second water management shaft
and in 1866, work on the Blume shaft began. The shaft was named after the then mine director Blume and had a cross-section of only 2.5 m x 3.9 m and was also only developed in bolt cribs. Water from the mine was pumped out via both shafts using two steam engines, which in the year 1900 had a total output of 2,000 horsepower and burned 12,541 tons of coal that year. In 1912, the pump sump of the lowest level reached a depth of 382 m, making both shafts the deepest shafts in the entire Stolberg ore district. After the mine was closed, the shafts were not filled in, as this would have jeopardized drainage through the water management tunnel.

This would have resulted in unforeseeable subsidence damages as a consequence. Instead, both shafts were covered with concrete slabs, and a small building was erected over the Widtmann shaft to facilitate inspection of the water drainage. Both fell more and more into oblivion until both shafts were uncovered during construction work in 2006 and were then professionally sealed with a reinforced concrete slab each. Today, residential buildings stand over the shafts and the water management tunnel continues to drain the mine waters of Diepenlinchen through the tunnel mouth opposite the lead smelter.