About Ely | New bat gate in place at Soudan mine |
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Soudan's own bat cave has a fancy new entrance, at a price tag that could make even Bruce Wayne blush. The new entryway, located at the Soudan mine's Alaska shaft, was built to provide a permanent and bat-friendly method of capping the 800-plus foot shaft, that terminates at the mine's 12th level. State park officials had originally assumed that capping the shaft with a so-called bat gate would cost around $25,000. But engineering of the project nearly topped that amount all by itself- the total project cost is now expected to near $100,000, according to Park Director Paul Wannarka. Money for the project, however, is coming almost entirely from the proceeds of state park gift shops, rather than from tax dollars. Those dollars are earmarked for resource protection projects, said Wannarka. Many of the mine's bats use the main shaft to enter and exit the mine and park officials have been increasingly concerned that all of the activity from research construction and mine tours could be harming the bats. Recent bat surveys at the park have demonstrated that a large percentage of the mine's bat population use the long-abandoned Alaska shaft to enter and exit the mine, despite the fact that the shaft has been capped since the 1970s by metal sheeting. Park officials are hoping the installation of a bat gate will encourage even more bats to use the Alaska shaft and reduce the potential for bat/human conflicts at the mine's main shaft. "Bats will usually try to avoid potential conflict," said Wannarka. The park received assistance from the group Bat Conservation International, which provided design and direction for the bat gate. Engineering work was done in-house with help from Barr Engineering, of Hibbing. Wannarka said some kind of solution was necessary to ensure public safety around the Alaska shaft. He said the metal sheeting and timbers that had capped the shaft in recent years had begun to subside and was in need of replacement. Under the new capping plan, the contractors used a spray-able, expanding structural foam to suspend a giant culvert in place over the shaft, at a 78 degree angle. The culvert will be capped with a specially-designed set of bars that will prevent humans from entering the shaft, while still allowing bats to pass in and out at will. Source: Timberjay - www.timberjay.com |