Eldon Hole - East / West ground anchors

[T pot 2]

Pete
Bollards are fabricated and are ready for picking up. No costs have been incurred in the manufacture of them. Please contact me for details.


T pot

 

[Goydenman]

Pete
Bollards are fabricated and are ready for picking up. No costs have been incurred in the manufacture of them. Please contact me for details.


T pot

Well done T pot 

 

[Pete K]

Pete
Bollards are fabricated and are ready for picking up. No costs have been incurred in the manufacture of them. Please contact me for details.


T pot

Thanks T, I'm away in Wales now but will be doing a job at Waterfall Hole near Foolow on the 22nd. Is it okay to collect then?

 

[T pot 2]

I have no problem with that.

T

 

[Pete K]

With great thanks to T Pot, the DCA are in possession of 4 replacement bollards. It is unlikely I shall have any time to get these installed until the Autumn but I am more than happy to help any volunteers who would like to take this on sooner.

 

[Pete K]

Still looking for a club or group to install the new steaks. Get in touch if you can help.

 

[AR]

Can we not barbecue them instead?

Sorry, couldn't resist that one....

 

[zomjon]

AR!!!!!!  What's bad is I hadn't even noticed!

 

[Pete K]

An update on this for any diggers or sport cavers heading to Eldon Hole in the next month.
I hope to have the rotten ground anchors dug out from the East and West routes in the next week.
Don't expect any anchors on these routes for the time being.
Once they are out, I'll get the new ones in as soon as humanly possible.
Offers of help are gratefully received!

Pete Knight
DCA Projects

 

[andrewmcleod]

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.

Standard practice for belay/abseil stakes in climbing (normally good lengths of galvanised/stainless steel pipe or angle iron) is to clove hitch the rope/a sling to the stake (and reverse so that the hitch is at the back); generally won't slide off even if the stake bends into the load. Clipping directly to the stake is probably not as good (more stress on a weaker part of the stake, more wear on the stake, issues with loading of the carabiner at funny angles etc?).

Also I don't think anybody sets climbing anchors in concrete, they just hammer them into the ground with a sledgehammer. 31 years is pretty old though!

Some good information and testing from a reliable source here (scroll down to the stake tests section)...
http://www.bolt-products.com/Glue-inBoltDesign.htm

 

[Pete K]

We have 4 big new bollards to go in, almost exact duplicates of the originals. In 31 years time it is someone else's job to put new ones in!
These need concreting in really as the ground has not got a huge soil cover and the anchors are limited in how far they can be from the edge by the farmer's fence. A like for like replacement will be fine.

 

[Pete K]

With permission from the landowner, the rusty bollards will be dug out next week, Thursday the 4th Feb.
Meeting at 10am at the parking area, volunteers welcome. Bring a digging tool or JCB and a belt or harness if working near the edge.
Some of us are planning on meeting for breakfast at 9am first. Details to be confirmed.

The new anchors will be installed at a later date.

 

[Rob]

Pete, excellent work getting this going.

However, wouldn't it make sense putting the new ones in before removing the old ones? It's not like they need to be in exactly the same place....

 

[Pete K]

The thinking behind it is that the new anchors will require deep holes and I've no idea what the ground is like beneath the grass. If the old ones come out, the new ones could go in the same holes as they have been made to almost identical specs.
However, taking on board what you say, if it is appropriate to dig some new holes for the new bollards before the old ones are removed then we will consider that option.
If anyone can join us Thursday with a 4x4 and is happy to run concrete, mixing gear and water up to the hole we can do the whole job in one go. DCA can supply the materials, just need to get them up there.

 

[bograt]

Have to bear in mind cracking the existing concrete beds when taking out the old bollards.

 

[Pete K]

I've had an offer of a 4x4 for the Saturday after (6th). Could get all the concrete, water and new bollards up there in the morning and a team could finish installing in the holes made on the 4th.
I'm away with work every weekend until the end of the month but would anyone be willing to finish the job off on that date?

Failing that, logistically, it is still easier to find a friendly Landrover owner for the 4th when I am around and can get the job finished.

 

[Pete K]

We have a 4x4 for the 4th now.

 

[Pete K]

Before I go spend some of DCA's money, does anybody have access to (and can bring on the 4th) any of the following:
Concrete mixing spot
Jerry Cans of water
Pick axe
Lump hammer

 

[Pete K]

Sourced almost everything. We could do with one more big water container and any more offers of help.

 

[pwhole]

I think there's still an empty 25L container in the garage at the Chapel that I recently picked up. It did have a cleaner in it, but I gave it a good rinse out. Sadly I can't get back out there until the weekend, but there's often someone around Weds morning...