Idea is on shaky ground
APPLIED geologist Eric Heidecker believes a proposed submission to preserve and transform the collapsed horizontal “tunnel” mine at Towers Hill into a tourist attraction would not be feasible.
It has been suggested the tunnel, which housed the Charters Towers Seismograph Station for the past 60 years until recently, could be strengthened, stabilised and eventually used to exhibit and tell the story of the region’s underground mining.
“I can say with certainty it’s not a place to take people,” Dr Heidecker said, explaining the location would not be safe because of the potential for further rockfalls.
Dr Heidecker said he contacted Geoscience Australia about the issue as he had worked collaboratively on seismic records while with the University of Queensland.
Geoscience Australia operates a network of two types of seismograph that are used to detect and evaluate underground nuclear explosions – the system in Charters Towers is very sensitive and susceptible to nearby disturbances.
After a tunnel collapse last November, the seismic station was relocated to a block house in the area where it is able to continue to monitor activity across the region.
“It’s uneconomic, unsafe and Geoscience Australia would have every reason to object to tunnel development next to sensitive instruments which are inside the block house,” Dr Heidecker said.
“The point is, the tunnel follows a shear zone. The rock is ‘sheared’ and becomes soft and quite flaky.
“Shearing has weakened the rock. This ease of enlargement favoured development of the tunnel during the war.”
Dr Heidecker also said it was “untenable” to develop the site because a safety program would be needed including safety officers, equipment and a mine manager “and I think it’s too small an operation to have all of that”.
He said to preserve the region’s scientific heritage, the recordings from the station and historical seismic events could be kept and displayed – with a focus on the connection between the physical surrounds and historical documents of seismic activity.
The amphitheatre and lookout could be used for viewing towards the Coral Sea, with information telling people about major earthquakes between Charters Towers and Ravenswood in 1913, the Burdekin River and Bowen in 2011, and offshore from Bowen in 2016 and earlier this year.
“People can go up to the top of the hill and look across, and we can point out how much activity there has been across the Coral Sea Coast,” he said.
Articles contributed by Louise Shannon were supported by the Judith Neilson Institute of Journalism and Ideas.