The Wire Sink dig has been a low intensity effort to open the bottom of this
attractive karst feature in Germany Valley. First noted over two years ago the
dig has received little more than a handful of dig efforts using buckets and
haul lines. Copyright ©
Charles Kahn, 2002
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The original bottom of the sink was only four feet or so above the current dig
level. The headwall behind the digger has a low lead cutting back in and
underneath of it. Note the large boulder (upper right corner) balanced on the
slope above the
digger. Copyright ©
Charles Kahn, 2002
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A somewhat different angle of the dig makes the boulder mentioned above appear
even more precarious. However, the boulder is actually very solidly in place
and in no immediate danger of moving. Before serious efforts to continue the
dig are made, this rock will have to be broken up and removed from the
sinkhole. Copyright ©
Charles Kahn, 2002
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The sinkhole itself is about 20 feet long by 12 feet wide at its top. The caver
in the background uses a haul line to remove buckets of soil from the bottom of
the sink. Certainly not our most high-tech dig effort. Copyright ©
Charles Kahn, 2002
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This shot shows the lead that heads up underneath the exposed headwall. In this
picture the digger is backed into the lead and works to lower the area outside
the entrance. This will give the digger a lower area in which to sit, turn
around and work at the dig "face" inside the lead. Copyright ©
Charles Kahn, 2002
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