Charbonnage du Hasard

July 2013

Belgium had countless coal mines. Today, there remains a handful. And yet, the few survivors have often seen their distinctive sign disappear (like headframe) or simply their soul being restored a too effectively.
Here, none of that. Even though the place was outrageously vandalized by time and assholes, you can almost relive the lives of miners as the remains are numerous, and almost miraculously present given the state of disrepair of the premises.

The actual exploitation starts in 1907. Before that, the extraction of anthracite (ore very near coal) began in the 16th century and a steam engine installed in 1827. Unfortunately, the galleries are regularly flooded and an accident will be fatal for several miners in 1877. The extraction immediately cease and the site was abandoned.
Surveys are carried out yet in the early 20th century and new anthracite veins are detected at a very great depth.
Despite the narrowness of the site (wedged between the river and a hill), an extraction tower was built in 1907 (mine shaft No. 1). Revolutionary at the time, it is 30 meters high and is equipped with two motors for the movement of cages. She served until 1954 and will then be converted into a ventilation shaft.

A second mine shaft (No. 2) was dug in 1927. Soon became unusable, it will be replaced between 1938 and 1947 in the same place by the mine shaft No. 3, deeper and surmounted by a large concrete tower. Its exploitation will begin only in 1953.
Finally, a fourth mine shaft (Puits Belle Fleur, No. 4) is dug in the cliff and only serves to clear out the sterile (extraction residues with a very low or no coal content).
In addition to extraction site, a coal preparation plant, a river harbor and a goods railway station are constructed in 1920 on the other side of the street (all demolished). Finally, a working-class neighborhood is high in 1930.
At its peak, the Hasard company employed 1,500 workers. At the closure of the site in 1977, there remained only 600.

The particularity of this coal mine is the attention that has been given to the "comfort" of miners and the aesthetics of the buildings (at least for those of 1907). Thus, all miners had their own locker and changing rooms and showers were built in large numbers. As for the buildings, they look more like a neo-Gothic castle as a mining operation.
Tower of mine shaft No. 1 protected since 1980, but the threat of demolition of mine shaft No. 3 and other unprotected buildings still exists.

Pictures

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