Image source: Ricky Rhodes Much of the salt is moved from underground to above after it is broken up. Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. Additional salt blocks were built at Ecorse and River Rouge the following year. Megan Hoegfeldt, a water resources specialist in Superior, said brine can be used to pretreat roads at temperatures below 15 degrees Fahrenheit unlike salt, which loses its ability to melt in colder weather. Where Is The World's Largest Underground Lake. million tons or 35% of the combined total produced in the U. S. and Canada. Reduced in size, the product is taken by conveyer to an underground screening plant where Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The top of the Salina Group of the Eastern Salt Basin varies in its The mines were owned and operated by The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company. In the last several years, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been working to reduce salt use on the state highway . But did you know that at one time, Detroit had a very large working class industry right underneath their citys streets? Other cities followed. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. See, we live in the Michigan Basin, an area once covered with salt water, now covered with 1,000 feet of dirt layered atop a vein of rock salt just waiting to be unearthed at great effort and expense so we can walk to the mailbox without falling down. In operation since 1959, the mine is located approximately 1,800 feet under Lake Huron in the Canadian province of Ontario. The gigantic salt mine is located 1,200 feet beneath Detroit's surface, spreads out more than 1,500 acres and has over 100 miles of underground roads. In 1940, Detroit became the first major city to use rock salt for snow and ice control. Yes! A comparison of the maps above and below will show that the main salt dry mining sites in Curious City 10 years ago 2,728 1 1 1,474 965 Follow Curious City and others on SoundCloud. Some of the images and text on this page were taken from various issues Officials drive about is in Wayne County. to 75 F, permit working conditions in a salt mine to be excellent. Lake Erie is a geological newcomer compared to the salt buried below it. A second tunnel was dug in 1922 so that salt could be brought up faster and larger equipment lowered in. 2023 by Going Places. History of The Detroit Salt Mine Genesis of a Salt Mine. Acreage of the vast network of underground tunnels. Beneath our very feet is more salt than we can imagine even more than youll get atop your quadruple-double-XL order of McDonalds fries. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. "There's a tremendous amount of salt going into the lake each year," said Dugan. Historically the site has been associated with the Manistee Mining District which is now part of the Manistee National Forest. or less to several inches. Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. Detroit Salt produces 1.7 million tons of salt annually, and will increase to 2.5 million tons if a proposed expansion is approved. Which means the salt mines are in Detroit just like Kid Rock and Insane Clown Posse are from Detroit.. There are hundreds of salt mines around the world in operation today, and most are privately owned or operated by large multinational corporations such as Compass Minerals and Cargill. Winner will be selected at random on 04/01/2023. higher up in this page). The Chinese writer, poet, and politician Zhang Hua of the Jin dynasty wrote in his book Bowuzhi how people in Zigong, Sichuan, excavated natural gas and used it to boil a rock salt solution. Country Site(s) Austria: Hallstatt and Salzkammergut. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Years that have passed since the salt was discovered. There has long been an urban legend that Morton Salt mines salt Lake Michigan. How big is the salt mine under Lake Michigan? Length, in feet, of the original mineshaft. machine that bites out a channel at the floor. Read further to see exactly what they are delivering. The economy of salt mining dried up like a 400 million-year-old ocean, prompting the company at the time, International Salt, to say,. Manufacturers of plastics and other products also buy salt in bulk from the Compass Minerals Plant. width are left for roof support. The sea would eventually recede and evaporate, leaving behind vast amounts of salt, which would be bulldozed over with rock and dirt by glaciers. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; . Once you enter the mine, you go through a series of airlocks that regulate the air pressure. Create a SoundCloud account Martin Green of Lakeview remembered hearing something about salt being mined under Lake Michigan and Chicago from a TV program. According to the Detroit Salt Company, 400 million years ago, ocean water flooded into a large basin, an area known as the Michigan Basin. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. By State. Detroit area alone, it is believed that there are over 71 trillion tons of unmined salt. rock salt Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; . "It's this nice liquid layer that soaks into the clear driveway or sidewalk or roadway, and then it prevents that buildup of ice and snow on the road," Hogfeldt said. What is mined under the Detroit area? Prior to that, American Indian tribes extracted the salt from springs, and sold it as Authentic Michigan Sea Salt in upscale urban shops, where hipsters paid top-dollar for it, using it for their hand-built artisanal caramel fountains. The economy of salt mining dried up like a 400 million-year-old ocean, prompting the company at the time, International Salt, to say, Na. Another company bought the mine to use as a storage space, but the project never crystallized. Years the salt mine was abandoned, from 1983-1998. Oil drillers accidentally discovered the deposit in the 1860's. meter in height. is free of the hazards of water and gas. The Detroit Salt Company is a part of the history and fabric of Detroit with nearly 100 years of operations. 1 of 2. the salt. Salt was extracted mainly from the sea, and salt works in the coastal areas in late imperial China equated to more than 80 percent of national production. Levels of roughly 250 milligrams per liter have been known to affect the taste of drinking water and harm freshwater organisms. The answer is NO! The Detroit Salt Company is a part of the history and fabric of Detroit with nearly 100 years of operations. deposits of shale, limestone, sandstone, dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, and rock salt It stretches over 1.5 miles wide, 2 miles long, and covers an area of 2.7 million squares miles. The mine opened in 1910 and covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) underground. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The Resources and Search Tips blog is intended to highlight resources and communicate helpful pieces of information about conducting research. The mine has lunch rooms for workers, a service depot, electric transformer rooms, a crushing plant, and dump trucks. I'll be sharing thoughts, photos and videos along the way - as I search for answers to questions that bother me so. water softening snow and ice removal from roads and highways. The salt is packaged at the plant and shipped to several destinations. Once part of an ancient international harbor, it's now an all-you-can-eat shrimp buffet for flamingos and other water birds. Name County Years Material Coordinates Adventure mine: . ( Satellite) They mine under the lake because then they have to deal with only one land owner, Ohio State. The Morton Salt Company Mine is near Oak Hill, Michigan. The Detroit Salt Company produced the first salt there in 1895. the various sizes are separated. salt is left to form the roof. Rock salt, which is used to melt snow and ice on roads, is often dyed blue so that it stands out when it's dispensed on the street. The U.S. salt bed map (Courtesy photo | U.S. Dept. A large square cavern alternating with pillars of salt is left behind. It was over 1,500 acres big and had over 100 miles of roads making up this underground salt mine. A sealed test tube said to hold Thomas Edison's dying breath was given to the inventor's friend and mentee, Henry Ford. where it is lifted in nine-ton buckets. Nov 23, 2022, 6:47 pm. 2023 Atlas Obscura. As recently as a few years ago, miners at this mine, one of the worlds largest will vary from a trace to approximately 2% by weight of the mined rock salt. miners here have mined out an area 22 feet high for about 300 acres. Where is the World's Largest Underground Salt Mine? In the beginning, the leather and food industries were the primary customers. [15][16], This article is about mining for salt. About 2,000 feet under Lake Erie, 30 miles east of Cleveland in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, you'll find a vast site called the Morton Salt Mine. dust, and the presence of sound roof and ribs as well as comfortable temperatures of 55 The room and pillar method of mining is employed in all salt mines At night, the holes are loaded with dynamite and the blasting operation Hughes said brine doesn't work for every winter storm, but it can cut the amount of costs and labor necessary to clear highways without compromising safety. top of the formation under Ohio, near the West Virginia boundary, reaches a maximum depth You can still see the entrance at 12841 Sanders Street, but its only open for delivery trucks. the International Salt Company assumed control of Michigans only underground salt The rock salt produced from the mine is mainly processed by mechanical evaporation into fine-coarse grain salt. To extract the salt, they first cut a large slice between the floor and a desired section of salt. Layer by Layer: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Sacred Granaries, Kasbahs and Feasts in Morocco, Monster of the Month: The Hopkinsville Goblins, Get Real: Defining Reality With Ashley Christine, How to Grow a Dye Garden With Aaron Sanders Head, Paper Botanicals With Kate Croghan Alarcn, Writing the Food Memoir: A Workshop With Gina Rae La Cerva, Reading the Urban Landscape With Annie Novak, Secret Nun Cookies at Monasterio del Corpus Christi, Wonder Is Everywhere: Civil War Gold, a New Moai, and More From Around the Web, The Woman Preserving the Endangered Cuisine of Indian Jews, How a Lone Researcher Faced Down Millions of Army Ants on the March in Ecuador, Can I Lick It? Tawas, Michigan May 28, 2022 I am still shaking my head that the world's largest underground salt mine is UNDER Lake Huron. Last year, the state cut its overall salt use to less than 325,000 tons the least amount of salt used since the early 2000s. 2) Abundant salt at a reasonable depth and of sufficiently high quality to permit mine, which consists of 100 miles of tunnels, has never experienced a collapse or mine This bed - extending from upper New York to Michigan - was formed 410 million years ago. That meant heavy machinery had to go down in pieces, be assembled, and never come out. Getting to the salt would prove to be the costliest and deadliest part of the operation. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. About 2,000 feet About 2,000 feet under Lake Erie, 30 miles east of Cleveland in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, you'll find a vast site called the Morton Salt Mine. The new tunnel was up and running three years later, with an opening measuring 22 ft. wide. [2] They first discovered natural gas when they excavated rock salt. 2023 Compass Minerals. from C.M. Here are the Detroit salt mines, by the (really, really big)numbers. No purchase necessary. area: One Curious City question prompted us to find out. Today, road deicing salt is the primary product. salt are dark, reflecting the thin "muddy" seams in the salt (see the images Heres an article about it: Salt mines are mines from which salt is extracted, typically in the form of rock salt, known as halite. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. The 80 foot tire which looms over Michigan's I-94 was once a Ferris wheel in the New York World Fair. A large square cavern alternating with pillars of salt is left behind. Once down there, they extract the salt in the room and pillar method, where only 50% of the salt is removed, with the other half left behind as enormous pillars used for structural support to keep the mine from collapsing. A young boy tosses a chunk of snow into Lake Michigan Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019 in Milwaukee. . Some 400 million years ago, a vast expanse of salt deposits formed under much of Michigan, including the city of Detroit. http://www.flickr.com/photos/carrieburnett http://michpics.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/m http://apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=17, http://www.metafilter.com/26378/Salt-Mine-Under-Detroit. Some of the salt is trucked to the Compass Minerals plant less than 4 kilometers away, to be packaged for distribution and sale at retailers in North America. However, miners at the Sifto Salt Mine have perfected the process. How deep are the salt mines in Michigan? The Detroit mine now supplies Michigan and several other states, Is there salt mined underneath Chicago and Lake Michigan? Again by conveyer, the salt is taken to the larger shaft All rights reserved (About Us). : Canada: Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich, Ontario, which, at 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide and 2 miles (3.2 km) long, is one of . Morton Salt Mine runs about 3 miles (4.8 km) under Lake Erie. The massive salt deposit would then be covered up by dirt pushed by glaciers. "But because of the volume of Lake Michigan, that concentration is still pretty low.". The. It has operated since 1959 and was acquired by Compass Minerals in 1990. However, the largest underground salt mine in the world, the Sifto Salt Mine, is located in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. [2] In 1041, during the Song dynasty, a well with a diameter about the size of a bowl and several dozen feet deep was drilled for salt production. The mines were owned and operated by The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company. Although the leather and food industries were once large customers to the Detroit mine, road deicing salt is the only product the mine currently provides. An exploratory drilling exercise miscalculates the location of a salt mine while drilling through a lake bed. Why is there a long line of railcars parked on the tracks near Spooner? This phrase originates from c.1800 in reference to the Russian practice of sending prisoners to forced labor in Siberian salt mines. Sign up for our newsletter and enter to win the second edition of our book. Source: Photograph by Randy Schaetzl, Professor of Geography - Michigan used on roads in winter. Answer (1 of 3): Cargill Deicing Technology bought the Cleveland mine in 1997. Salt is now plentiful, but until the Industrial Revolution, it was difficult to come by, and salt was often mined by slaves or prisoners. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses. Note that parts of the road Five large rivers out of the lake's 300 tributaries caused more than 70 percent of the salt flowing into Lake Michigan. The 1,060-foot shaft was finally completed in 1910. fatality. However, there are currently more than 30 routes that lead to the workstations, making the mine easily accessible. The estimates of salt deposits in Michigan are astronomical. tons of salt. More than 1 million metric tons of salt is flowing into Lake Michigan each year, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Last year, the state used a record 11.5 million gallons of brine on state highways covering more than 35,000 miles. Today it is closed. This video addresses this myth. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Proudly created with. It stretches over 1.5 miles wide, 2 miles long, and covers an area of 2.7 million squares miles. Age of the salt deposit, in years. [3] The ancient Chinese gradually mastered and advanced the techniques of producing salt. 3) The availability of low cost water transportation on the Great Lakes which facilitates Findings come as state is working to cut back on salt use to curb pollution. The state began purchasing high-capacity brine makers three years ago and piloted using only liquid application in Jefferson and Shawano counties, which cut their salt use in half that year. 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