Kerkrade will commemorate the end of local mining next week. It has been fifty years since the city’s last coal mine closed.
The municipality continues to address the aftermath of mining, such as subsidence and property damage caused by old mine shafts. Over recent years, Kerkrade has filled twelve old shafts with cement and is currently filling a thirteenth.
These shafts, about forty meters deep, were filled with debris after the mine closures and forgotten. Since 2017, the city has been locating and securing these shafts, which can still cause significant issues.
Previous incidents include a 2011 subsidence at a Heerlen shopping center and a sinkhole damaging cables in Kerkrade four years ago. Using 200-year-old maps, Kerkrade has located 25 out of 54 listed shafts, with the rest beneath buildings.
Filling a shaft with cement takes about three months and requires over a hundred tons of cement. The city also monitors shafts from pre-1850 mines and more recent industrial mines, which can pose risks to planned developments, such as a care center in Kerkrade’s center.
Source: NOS