It was over 1,500 acres big and had over 100 miles of roads making up this underground salt mine. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses. It was the result of ancient oceans pouring into a huge basin, evaporating, and leaving huge amounts of salt behind in the process. The salt mine was discovered in 1866 by Sam Platt during a search for oil. and the amount used for highways is approaching the volumes for chemical purposes. "Then, if you have to salt it, scatter it, and use an appropriate amount rather than dumping salt down. It was booming from the early 1920s up until 1983, when it was forced to close due to the falling salt prices. personal use. When it all shook out, the Detroit Salt Co. purchased the mine in 1997 and started business up again. for more information or permissions. Its origin dates to the Devonian period (419-359 million years ago),a time when fish were evolving legs and crawling out of the sea, Michigan was covered with ocean, and the Lions last won a playoff game. 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. will attain a maximum of 70%. top of the formation under Ohio, near the West Virginia boundary, reaches a maximum depth 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. Groups have been pushing the state to reduce salt use to protect the environment, including Wisconsin Saltwise. Discover mining activity in your area and find new regions of opportunity. mine. The Detroit Salt Company produced the first salt there in 1895. vertical distance below the surface. Electric shovels dip the salt into trailers the Underground salt mining can be challenging, especially if a mine is located under water. The anhydrite (calcium sulphate) content The Morton Salt Company Mine is near Oak Hill, Michigan. The biggest salt dry-mining operation in Michigan today is free of the hazards of water and gas. However, miners at the Sifto Salt Mine have perfected the process. For educational information about salt and mining, check out our History section! All Rights Reserved. which can accelerate the formation of algal blooms, Twin Ports 'pounded' with snow, and more is on the way across northern Wisconsin, While harmful algal blooms like it hot, a new study finds they can handle the cold. Three important factors lie behind the location and development of the Detroit salt mining Historically the site has been associated with the Manistee Mining District which is now part of the Manistee National Forest. Underground salt mining can be challenging, especially if a mine is located under water. "But because of the volume of Lake Michigan, that concentration is still pretty low.". area: The mineshaft opening is located at 12841 Sanders Street in Detroit, Michigan. Life expectancy for the miners was low. The Cargill salt mine beneath Lake Erie Watch on Down, down, down. The Detroit salt mine is a salt mine located 1,100 ft (340 m) below Detroit, Michigan. Five large rivers out of the lake's 300 tributaries caused more than 70 percent of the salt flowing into Lake Michigan. 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. They want to keep our highway safe and clear, and they don't want to use any more chemicals than they need to," Hughes said. 245 Regent StreetGoderich, Ontario N7A-3Y5519.524.8338, RELATED LINKS Mechanical Evaporation Underground Salt Mining About Goderich Huron County Museum 2014 TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary 2015TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary 2016 TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary. The Salt Institute's page on Michigan salt says that estimated salt deposits in Michigan are astronomical. There are hundreds of salt mines . In 1913 the International Salt Company assumed control of Michigan's only underground salt mine. All rights reserved (About Us). The Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich is the world's largest underground salt mine. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; . It has operated since 1959 and was acquired by Compass Minerals in 1990. fatality. Welcome to my webpage. salt is left to form the roof. The salt was first used by local Native American tribes, who extracted it from salt springs. Michigan are located in Detroit, while solution mining takes place along Lake Michigan and It stretches over 1.5 miles wide, 2 miles long, and covers an area of 2.7 million squares miles. Mining The salt is then crushed, and thousands of feet of conveyor belt move the salt to the hoisting shaft, where it is lifted out in ten-ton loads. Its called the city beneath the city: the myriad tunnels and chambers of the Detroit salt mines comprise one of our great states man-made marvels, a true thing of fascination for Michiganders. Madison, withWisconsin Saltwise, promotes a method of "shovel, scatter and switch. Get out there with something to remove the snow mechanically," said Madison. We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the worlds hidden wonders. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations.[1]. As a geological entity, this salt deposit is older even than the dinosaurs. Acreage of the vast network of underground tunnels. 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Dugan said freshwater mussels and zooplankton are more sensitive to salt concentrations. The salt is shipped to hundreds of communities around the Great Lakes and along the St. Lawrence Seaway. Reduced in size, the product is taken by conveyer to an underground screening plant where next morning. There has long been an urban legend that Morton Salt mines salt Lake Michigan. Source: Detroit Free Press Groups and transportation officials have been working to educate communities on the harmful effects of road salt,which can accelerate the formation of algal blooms in waterways. The salt is packaged at the plant and shipped to several destinations. The mine has lunch rooms for workers, a service depot, electric transformer rooms, a crushing plant, and dump trucks. Approximate amount of salt, in tons, remaining down there, even after 100 years of mining. meter in height. Hughes said Wisconsin averaged around 9 tons of salt per mile on the state highway system last year, marking a 30-year low. Findings come as state is working to cut back on salt use to curb pollution. Nov 23, 2022, 6:47 pm. Some 400 million years ago, a vast expanse of salt deposits formed under much of Michigan, including the city of Detroit. The Generally speaking, the absence of gas, water, excessive 3) The availability of low cost water transportation on the Great Lakes which facilitates Unlike coal mining, salt mining is less dangerous since extracting rock salt requires less combustion. Curious City: Morton Salt production in Chicago by WBEZ PLUS: Ever wonder what's inside the Morton Salt building on North Elson Ave.? In the beginning, the leather and food industries were the primary customers. Keep updated on the latest news and information. Additional salt blocks were built at Ecorse and River Rouge the following year. Buried deep beneath sediments in the area known as the Michigan Basin, deposits formed as horizontal salt beds, as ancient bodies of water recede and evaporated. 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. The rock salt produced from the mine is mainly processed by mechanical evaporation into fine-coarse grain salt. In the last several years, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation has been working to reduce salt use on the state highway . It stretches over 1.5 miles wide, 2 miles long, and covers an area of 2.7 million squares miles. Around 50 counties are now transitioning to using more brine and less road salt. 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. Proudly created with. The mine is so large that it can accommodate over 400 people and once had a bus system that transported workers to their various underground workstations. But there is another part of the city far fewer people seem to be aware of, and it lies directly underneath their feet. The biggest development in the industry in recent years is increased As recently as a few years ago, miners at this mine, one of the world's largest rock salt mines, worked 1,200 feet beneath Detroit and other Wayne County communities. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. "That's a big game changer.". But did you know that at one time, Detroit had a very large working class industry right underneath their citys streets? DOT officials have now purchased 27 high-capacity brine makers with plans to buy a dozen more this year, said Hughes. In the mine, the temperature is between 56 and 60 degrees in all season. 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. 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. The U.S. salt bed map (Courtesy photo | U.S. Dept. ( Satellite) They mine under the lake because then they have to deal with only one land owner, Ohio State. Number of workers who died digging the shaft. 5.1M views 15 years ago This is how you flush an entire lake down a hole. Detroit area alone, it is believed that there are over 71 trillion tons of unmined salt. Detroit Salt produces 1.7 million tons of salt annually, and will increase to 2.5 million tons if a proposed expansion is approved. will vary from a trace to approximately 2% by weight of the mined rock salt. 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 5 most ridiculous things about Michigan's state flag, 12 wild and weird facts about the largest fish you can catch in the Great Lakes, The historic futility of the Detroit Lions: a very sad timeline, 8 fascinating facts about Iron Mountain, Tom Izzo's hometown, Torch Lake is Michigan's own slice of the Caribbean, A guide to the 9 drive-in movie theaters still standing in Michigan, This Northern Michigan drive-in movie theater is a nostalgia trip, 6 places to sip a Michigan beer along the White Pine Trail, These three Hollywood movies filmed at the same Niles train station. "Everybody wants to see people get home safe. 2023 Atlas Obscura. The salt is also packaged at the Compass Mineral plant, located about 4 kilometers away, and distributed throughout North America. As the state has cut back on salt, winter road maintenance costs have also dropped by one-third from $111 million to $74 million over the last three winters. Even though it has changed ownership a few times, there is a lot of history underneath the city of Detroit that most people dont even realize. Workmen "undercut" the walls of salt with a below, from a salt mine, shows a vertical "wall of salt" about a little over a Unlike coal mining, salt mining is less dangerous since extracting rock salt requires less combustion. The salt beds themselves contain bands of anhydrite which vary in Even so, Superior cut its salt use and costs by more than half last year compared to 2010. Its no secret that Detroit has been hit very hard by the recession. The 80 foot tire which looms over Michigan's I-94 was once a Ferris wheel in the New York World Fair. Before the advent of the modern internal combustion engine and earth-moving equipment, mining salt was one of the most expensive and dangerous of operations because of rapid dehydration caused by constant contact with the salt (both in the mine passages and scattered in the air as salt dust) and of other problems caused by accidental excessive sodium intake. Heres what happens in Chicago. Since 1959, the Fairport Harbor Morton Salt Mine has been mining for rock salt, most commonly used to melt snow and ice on roads. Stay informed with WPR's email newsletter. A comparison of the maps above and below will show that the main salt dry mining sites in Our website contains general information about our company, products, and many interesting facts about our mine. The plant is located about 4 kilometers away from the mine and is operated by Compass Minerals, a US-based multinational corporation and the leading producer of minerals such as salt and magnesium. The Kissner Group owns and operates the famous Detroit Salt Mine and specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of bulk rock salt, bagged rock salt and specialty ice melters. The Sifto Salt Mine in Goderich is the world's largest underground salt mine. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders. 2014 TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary, 2015TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary, 2016 TRA Public Annual Report and Public Report of Plan Summary. Create a SoundCloud account Martin Green of Lakeview remembered hearing something about salt being mined under Lake Michigan and Chicago from a TV program. Evidently it is the Cargill mine that is the worlds largest. sends the wall of salt crumbling down. The mine opened in 1910 and covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) underground. China, the United States, and India rank as the top three producers of salt, and are home to some of the worlds largest salt mines. 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 mine is as deep as the CN Tower in Toronto is tall. Today, the salt from this mine is used exclusively as road salt. Source: Photograph by Randy Schaetzl, Professor of Geography - Michigan Way more. Levels of roughly 250 milligrams per liter have been known to affect the taste of drinking water and harm freshwater organisms. History of The Detroit Salt Mine Genesis of a Salt Mine. The salt mine was discovered in 1866 by Sam Platt during a search for oil. Miles of roads in the tunnels, which stretch from Dearborn to Allen Park. This is a partial list of current and defunct mines in Michigan. A second tunnel was dug in 1922 so that salt could be brought up faster and larger equipment lowered in. This bed - extending from upper New York to Michigan - was formed 410 million years ago. The Diggings is a resource for locating where mining claims are and have been. "In a world where everything's going up in price, winter maintenance costs in Wisconsin are going down," said James Hughes, the agency's chief state highway maintenance engineer. Curious City: Morton Salt production in Chicago. Ancient China was among the earliest civilizations in the world with cultivation and trade in mined salt. salt are dark, reflecting the thin "muddy" seams in the salt (see the images The miners sink shafts through the overlying rock salt deposits and then remove the salt. 2023 by Wisconsin Public Radio, a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. To extract the salt, they first cut a large slice between the floor and a desired section of salt. The Sifto Salt Mine is located deep below the waters of Lake Huron. Years that have passed since the salt was discovered. Actual mining is confined completely to the salt bed. The mine opened in 1910 and covers 1,500 acres (610 ha) underground. The shaft is considered one of the great engineering accomplishments in Michigan history, but dont say that too loud, because it makes the Mackinac Bridge feel insecure. Please contact Randall Schaetzl (soils@msu.edu) The mines were owned and operated by The Detroit Salt and Manufacturing Company. Detroit had a very large salt mine that was basically an underground industry underneath their city. However, miners at the Sifto Salt Mine have perfected the process. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. In the beginning, the leather and food industries were the primary customers. Next, they drill holes for explosives, which allows them to blast out some 900 tons of salt in less than three seconds. Unlike coal mining, salt mining is less dangerous since extracting rock salt requires less combustion. See. This mining technique is referred to as "room and pillar" mining. Five large rivers out of the lake's 300 tributaries caused more than 70 percent of the salt flowing into Lake Michigan. Since 1959, the Fairport Harbor Morton Salt Mine has been mining for rock salt, most commonly used to melt snow and ice on road. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). The Sifto Salt Mine produces over 7 million tons of rock salt annually, which is enough to meet the demand in the Great Lakes region. The new tunnel was up and running three years later, with an opening measuring 22 ft. wide. This answer is: Study guides. actually consists of a number of individual salt beds separated by layers of shale, In 1958 the salt production from these areas amounted to 8.7 The plant is located about 4 kilometers away from the mine and is operated by Compass Minerals, a US-based multinational corporation and the leading producer of minerals such as salt and magnesium. But like much of Michigans mineral wealth, only a fraction of this Yes You Can! 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