One Hundred Years of Federal Mining Safety and Health Research

Seven hundred twenty miners were given medical exams as part of this first Bureau study. Of
these, 330 or 45.7 percent were found to have miners’ consumption alone, and an additional 14.7
percent had miners’ consumption along with tuberculosis infection [Higgins et al. 1917].
2.5 The USBM Opens an Experimental Mine near Pittsburgh
In its first year, the USBM planned an experimental mine for testing of coal dust explosions. A
suitable location for this mine was found on the property of the Pittsburgh Coal Company, near
Bruceton, PA, about 13 miles south of Pittsburgh (see Figure 13). The Bureau began to lease the
mine property annually from its owner. In December 1910, drift openings were begun into the
outcrop of the Pittsburgh coal seam. By October 1911, two parallel entries were driven more
than 700 feet into the seam. The entries were 9 feet wide with a 41-foot pillar between them, and
crosscuts were made at 200-foot intervals.
Figure 13. Early view of the USBM’s Bruceton, PA, facility.
The first public test of a coal dust explosion in air containing no inflammable gas was made in
the Bruceton experimental mine on October 30, 1911. This demonstration in a full-scale
underground mine helped prove that coal dust could explode in mines without the presence of
methane gas [Rice et al. 1913]. The Bruceton mine was expanded in 1912 with two main entries
980 feet into the outcrop in the Pittsburgh coal seam. The primary use for the mine was to study
full coal dust explosions, which was not possible under smaller laboratory conditions or in a
scale model of a mine. Early use of the mine also included testing of gasoline locomotives,
mining machinery, explosives, electrical equipment, and ventilation methods.
The Bureau organized a national mine safety demonstration at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh on
October 30, 1911. The demonstration included exhibits of the Bureau’s research on mine safety,
mine rescue, and first aid, with coal dust explosions at the experimental mine at Bruceton.
About 15,000 people attended, including the President of the United States, William H. Taft (see
Figure 14). More than 1,200 people toured the Bruceton mine and witnessed the live coal dust
explosion demonstration (see Figure 15).
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