DISCO DAVE'S TUNNEL GUIDE
Bagging and Bucketing
That soil has got to get to the surface somehow. You may be the fastest digger in the west. But without a team of baggers or bucketers to remove the evidence of your labour you ain't going nowhere buddy. While two or three small buckets can be used nearer the surface, they will soon become redundant as your tunnel goes ever deeper. Hessian sacks are cheap (or free if you ask a coal merchant nicely) and pliable. However their use in damp or wet spoil will mean that the material will soon become clogged with mud thus making the bag heavier to move. Thick polythene sacks that builders merchants use to deliver sand are a good alternative and though not as strong or pliable as the Hessian sacks they're just as effective in wet or dry soil.
To "rope" a Hessian or plastic sack. Place a bag on the ground making sure the edges of the bag are level . Then with a sharp knife or screwdriver puncture the bag through both sides with 3 holes at equal distances apart and not under 2 inches from the bags edge. Then cut a 6 foot piece of 5 or 10 mm poly prop, open the bag, then thread the rope through the holes.
Digging alone in the depths for hours with only the light of a headtorch for company can sometimes sap morale. Having someone waiting nearby patiently waiting for you to fill a bag of spoil then pass it to them encourages the digger to work faster. Not to mention the time in between bags when the bagger can provide the digger with gossip and roll him or her cigarettes. If there isn't many people on site or they're busy, accumulate as much spoil as possible ie 5 to 7 bags worth. Then shout "BAG" to the people on the surface . After shouting then screaming this inane word 5 or 6 times hopefully someone will crawl down and pull out a bag of spoil. On a long tunnel cut a piece of polyprop twice the length of the tunnel. Make a small hook then tie it in the middle of the rope. Then at each end of the tunnel tie the rope to a piece of shoring. The bagger at the top end of the tunnel will then be able to pull the rope and bag to the surface.
The digger at the bottom can then pull the rope back until he or she sees the hook and attaches another bag. Police with video cameras or plain clothes bailiffs masquerading as locals will observe the ever growing pile of spoil on the surface which can give some indication as to how long the the tunnel system is. There's little that can be done to avoid this unless you gain inspiration from the film "the great escape " and sprinkle the earth around from the bottom of your trousers!. Its sensible to use the spoil to gradually cover a bunker on the entrance to the tunnel (See Bunker).
Starting such a bunker after the tunnel is finished will invariably mean there's a large pile of spoil in the way of where you want to put the bunker. Meaning you'll then have to shovel the spoil away then shovel it back to cover the structure.
( Hard digging = Easy bagging) Easy digging = Hard bagging
Generally speaking when the digging is hard the bagging is easy. This is because so little soil is being removed. However once a tunneller can sit upright the opposite is true. Pulling bags of spoil out in rapid succession is exhausting. A radio is thus a good morale booster. If your tunnel has a lot of corners be aware that the movement of the rope may erode them. Concreting such corners is a good idea.
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