Downward Quest

The team have finally resumed the search down.

We are working on a dome like area. At the bottom we are using plywood box caisson with wooden framing to constraint the excavation area. This way, we can go down faster too.

With this only one man is required to work inside. His buddy would pile up and fill the bag with sand and to be stock piled by the other two men. The team works on a buddy system although there is only one man on the top of the dig who handles the winch and acts as the look out and surface support.

The excavated sand is being filled up in the bags and being stock piled on top of the box for a while. The pile bags filled with sand act as weight that will help sink the wooden box as the bottom is being excavated.

Then the accumulated sand bags are being transferred at the higher stocking area at the back of the retaining bamboo fences. This way, and unlike the previous operation last year, there is no need to bring the excavated sand to the top of the dig. Rather it is being piled up within the working area in the bottom of the dig to augment the retention of sand inside and in return to prevent the chances of further bar down. The most important consolation is lesser work for the members of the digging team.

Another interesting observation, is that once water dries inside the wooden box, there was a sudden surge of water like bubbling that penetrates from the surrounding ground/sand. The previous theory that there is a natural underground water source that is passing through our area of excavation may not be the real situation.

For all we know the Japs always included in their sites man-made water traps which they usually sourced from near-by bodies of water. A small stream in our case.

The team will try to locate the source of the water trap from a upstream side of the stream which was theorized to be within the vicinity of the waterfall.

Indeed, searching for the eluded YTh is never an-easy task.

We, nevertheless, have still our high hopes that this year, will be the year!

Reinforcing the retaining fences

We have further reinforced the bottom of the dig with sand bags. We have lined up the bags at the back of the bamboo retianing fences directly facing the exposed mouth/entry of the tunnel using bamboo and empty polythelense sacks filled with volcanic sand from inside the bamboo fences.

Last Year's Dig

Last year just before we stopped the operation before the rainy days recess, we have sorted out that due to the increased volume of water, what we have reached may be covered with sand silt and erosion once more.

So to minimize the erosion and bar down, we have decided to install bamboo retaining fences to minimize the volume of sand back into our dig.
















Our dig was then approx. 44 ft MOL from the surface and the target concrete slab was then approch. within reach - meaning within 8- 10 ft. But then, the dewatering operation lasted for more than five hours per days which had been a burden to the operational cost and budget. So we have decided to call it off for theseason and be back on the next TH Season.


Directly on the bottom of the dig were to logs arranged west to east. meaning with the bigger diamter running from the west end to the east direction.
























We have to by-passed the said log and proceed downward as instructed by the people who have previously reached the concrete slab but were not give the oppurtunity to break it.

They described to us that the concrete slab was like a white marble with an engraved buddha figure on the upper right corner meaning with its top on the northeast corner of the slab. The "marble slab" according to them was so hard to break that the sledge hammer that they were using just bounced off to the surface of the slab. They were not able to break the slab.

I hope that this is our chance to prove that we are deserving to break and open up the concrete slab.

Tunnel Branch Revealed

The tail of the monsoon signals the start of the TH season in the Philippines. A lot of enthusiasts are waiting for the beginning of summer season which means lesser water to pump out from the digs and TH sites.

Just like anybody else with a site to explore, we have waited for the end of the rainy season which,usually runs from the mnoth of May until the end of January the following year. It varies from region to region.

For TH operations, rainy seasons mean more headache for the water trap since there will be more water to handle, and more dangerous due to a higher chance of bar down and collapse of the tunnels, digs, caves, etc. This affects everyone including the highly-financed operation.

On our site, we were expecting a good battle with the dewatering of our dig since we had experienced the same scenario last year when we started operating our site.

But to our surprise and amazement, the usual five hours daily dewatering had been reduced to two hours only. And bigger is our surprise since when water was cleared on the bottom of our dig, two obvious holes have emerged.





















There was a tunnel revealed on the eastern side of the dig and an air vent on the western side of the wall.




















Both holes are approximately located opposite each other at 36 ft below the surface. At the bottom of the tunnel, is sign of waterpaths. Although the bottom of the tunnel lied below the surface of the water inside the dig during rainy days but surely it lies now above the water level before our dewatering as shown on the water marks on our retaining bamboo fence at the bottom of the dig.

The Water is Gone

During the onset of the rainy days last year, we had to stop the excavation in our dig. This is the usual practice for all TH operations in the Philippines.

Our case was even more imperative to stop since we were using gasoline-driven generator to run our 2-HP submersible pump. The cost of the gas alone of P1000 a day in addition to other operational expenses was a considerable factor in stopping the seasonal TH operation.

Before we resumed this year's operation, we have arranged for a thicker cable. Now, the 5KW AVR to stabilize voltage and current supply for our pump was working well.

Since our site is approx. 400m away from the nearest electrical post, the laying of electrical cable had cost us another P10,000. But then, this is a bargain compared to the cost of gasoline fuel for the generator. Added to the fact that the Honda wgenerator was only loaned to me by a Chinese friend free of charge. And last year, I had to return to him the generator since he was using it as stand-by unit in his house during power outages from the local electric power company.

So after the prepartory works, we have started the pumping of water from our dig. and to our great relief, the level of the water in the pit had substantially decreased. The usual pumping out operation that used to run for five (5) hours took us only two (2) hours this time.



















This is a very considerable plus to our operation since last year when we have to run the pump at 5:00 AM and be able to start the work inside the pit at 10:00 AM only. with the lowered water level, we could set the dewatering at 5:00AM and start the work at 7:00AM.

There were still other surprising revelation under our pit which I shall describe on my next blog entry.

Ciao!

Resumption of Operation

After an almost a year of suspension of operation, we are ready to resume the work on our site.

We have organized for a team of five. The task given them were:
1. to repair the perimeter bamboo fences,
2. repair the working platform,
3. repair the retaining fences on the bottom of the dig,
4. prepare the plywood boxes and
5. to push through for the excavation to reach the concrete flooring at approx 56 ft. below surface.

Actually, we have prepared to work with the same volume of water we have encountered last year. That is pumping out daily a huge volume of water using 2-HP submersible pump working continuously for five hours.

Pumping out of water usually started at 05:00 AM and the actual work could commence only at 10:00 in the morning. This set up had caused disturbance since running the pump on generator caused an alarming noise in the surrounding areas of the farm. The semi-discreet nature of the operation was exposed. Farm folks started to ask question on the on-going activities. This operation cost PhP1000 per day on gasoline expenses on generator fuel.

This considerable cost was finally solved by changing the electrical cable serving the farm into suitable size so as not to create a voltage drop. The pump would now be running on electricity thus eliminating two obstructions: the noise and the cost.

With lots of prayers and hope we have started the operation.