ELDON HOLE - Update 2/4/15
I popped up to Eldon Hole today and had a look at the ground anchors. Once I?d kicked a bit of soil out the way to expose the base of the posts I gave them all a visual and ?kick? inspection. The following were my observations based on no qualifications but the view of "would I take clients here":

North route ? Both anchors appear in good condition. Removed old rusty maillon that was occupying one hole.
South route ? Single anchor looked in okay condition.
East route ? Both bollards showed signs of corrosion. The base of bollard marked ?C? was particularly bad. Recommend DO NOT USE. Treat bollard ?D? as suspect too.
West route ? Both bollards showed signs of corrosion. The base of bollard marked ?A? was showing large amounts of corrosion. Recommend DO NOT USE. Bollard ?B? should be thought of as suspect too.

The DCA is not the cave police or the HSE. Cavers using any anchor do so at the own risk and should first check that the anchor is suitable for their intended use. Ground anchors especially should be thoroughly scrutinised before use. If someone is happy to take on the job of organising a replacement set of anchors then great, I will happily help as much as I can. If not, I'm in busy work season now and they will be addressed in the autumn.

Pete Knight
DCA Projects

Pete, will two 3 foot lengths of scaffold pole knocked in with a sledgehammer do the job?

These bollards are thirty one years old so I'm not surprised that they show signs of corrosion. It was I that made them ! and it was also a damp day that I and fellow members of a club installed them. Some of them are no longer with us.

T

Well they are still in surprising nick for 31 years old! Particularly good foresight to paint identifying letters on them.
Are they concrete filled bollards? I'd like to grind them off before installing new ones as we don't want t graveyard of old posts.

ah147 I think that would be fine however, it would be good to get a set of bomber stainless anchors in like the ones on North route. Scaff bars would be good as a temporary measure to get through the summer. One on each route to back up the remaining 'okay' post.

If anyone can put me in touch with the team who installed the North route anchors (CCPC?) I'd be grateful. I think we'd like to source similar big angle posts in alloy or stainless.

Pete
Yes they are concrete filledand if I remember correctly there should be a drilled breather hole just above the ground level. Also I seem to remember that they are over a metre long and one is higher above the ground than the others because we hit hard bed rock and we didn't have the equipment to dig down further. What we could have achieved then with the tackle we have today.


T

It's the area around the breather hole on the back of them that's seen the worst corrosion. The soil hid the worst until I dug it up today and exposed the concrete. I might need a bigger grinder then to get them off when they are replaced!
I had assumed that's why the 'C' post was really tall.
I shall endeavour to organise a replacement that is at the very least as long lived as your ones T Pot.

Pete K said:

If anyone can put me in touch with the team who installed the North route anchors (CCPC?) I'd be grateful. I think we'd like to source similar big angle posts in alloy or stainless.

Click to expand...

Yes, it was us.
I'll ask the guy who provided the ss angle, if he can remember where it came from - though it was 15 years ago!

Pete

If you require further bollards fabricated to the same design it should be possible to have them made free gratis 

T

The BMC had a good supplier of stainless belay stakes last time I was  mucking about with that lot. Worth an ask before re-inventing the wheel so to speak

Thanks Antwan, I'll look into that. T Pot, I shall let you know. Would like to go stainless this time.

forgive my ignorance.... but if they are concrete filled... and sunk about 75cm in.. surly they are still sound as your sling is in effect wrapped around a concrete bollard?

In my non qualified opinion... Once the steel looses it structure, i.e, rusts away, the concrete has no reinforcement and worst case might shear? As I stated, it's up to people to check their own anchors. The steel is far from totally rusted through but I'm not expert enough to say at exactly what point it becomes dangerous. A scaff bar hammered in behind the concrete would tide things over.

Back in the late 70s rumours went round in my profession (housing) of potential structural problems in Airey houses (these were a system-built type of house constructed by local authorities in the early postwar years; the envelope was formed from concrete overlapping panels fixed to vertical concrete posts reinforced by steel tubes). A neighbouring local authority in Leicestershire where I worked at the time had one come empty so they stripped out all the plasterboard to expose the structural parts of the house. I was invited to go and have a look - it was scary! Despite being enclosed in concrete the steel reinforcing had rusted in many places and this in turn had caused the concrete to spall away from the reinforcing. I think that Pete, who is doing a great job as DCA's Projects Officer, is quite right to highlight the condition of these ground anchors and hopefully they will be replaced - I personally wouldn't trust them in their present condition.

shotlighter said:

Pete K said:

If anyone can put me in touch with the team who installed the North route anchors (CCPC?) I'd be grateful. I think we'd like to source similar big angle posts in alloy or stainless.

Click to expand...

Yes, it was us.
I'll ask the guy who provided the ss angle, if he can remember where it came from - though it was 15 years ago!

Click to expand...

Well, Paul Nixon who supplied the anchors for the North route confirms that they are made from austenitic stainless steel.
He can even remember where the steel came from. They were 2 legs cut from a scrap industrial table, the other two legs are the belays for Whalf Engine Shaft & Lathkill Upper Entrance.
So no more steel from that source, as it was a normal 4 legged table 

There's generally a good assortment of metal offcuts for sale on Fleabay, might be worth having an occasional browse for stainless steel angle?

Perhaps T Pot 2's offer of some direct replacement bollards would be the simplest solution. The last ones did work fine for almost 30 years. These really do need to be bomber anchors as you're hanging over the drop from them before you get to the first bolts.

Another idea... I have some 6ft lengths of galvanised angle in DCA stores. They are about 50mm x 50mm x 5ishmm IIRC.
I can grind a point on one end and drill holes potentially for krabs or just leave to be slung round. Galvanised would possibly be a good halfway between the expense of SS and free but rust prone normal steal?
Rip out old fixings, hammer in new angle, set in postcrete, job done.

Might be worth checking out Gardeners scrappers at Dove Holes station, they often have industrial stainless in.

We have 4 bollards being made up for us free of charge by T-Pot. I'll be able to collect them early next week and it would be good to get them in while the weather is good.
Ideally we need some volunteers to dig out the old ones. This can happen whenever now so fill your boots and leave the old stuff by the fence.
Next up I'll be organising a small crew to mix concrete and set the new posts. Anyone have a Landrover spare?