photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Jakob Ehrensvärd | profile | all galleries >> Abandoned mines >> Ramhäll tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Ramhäll

The current facilities at Ramhäll were built in a rush during WWII and were completed in 1946 as a major upgrade of the older mines in the vicinity. It comprises a collection of raw, all-concrete shapes with no decorations whatsoever, all raised in the middle of nowhere out in a very dense and vast forest. I think it is a fair assumption that the overall "look of brutality" is a direct consequence of the ongoing war. The architect simple turned on the radio and listened to what was going on in central Europe and the result was Ramhäll. As simple as that... Well, at least a guess.

Another aspect was that Ramhäll was a template for a new generation of mines with higher capacity and productivity. Apart from being entirely made of reinforced concrete, the head frame was a pioneer in that it had its complete hoist machinery in the very top of the building. At the time, the hoist machinery was typically located in a building at ground level. The massive gearbox and wheel gives a clue that the entire building must have shaken considerably when the hoist was started and gained speed.

The mine was closed in 1975, and the loss of the mine's annual ore output of some 150,000 metric tons was probably easily taken by the neighbouring and considerably larger mine, Dannemora, which survived some seventeen more years before it was closed too.

Today, all low level windows have been sealed and a vast quantity of equipment and material was simply left inside. A fair guess is that a considerable amount of equipment was left to drown down in the mine as well at the time when the water pumps were switched off. The water level in the mine is now at some 10 meters below the ground level.
.
previous pagepages 1 2 3 ALL next page
BF5T9208.jpg BF5T9227.jpg BF5T9225.jpg Pictures in the darkness
gallery: Pictures in the darkness
BF5T9190.jpg LC4S0017.jpg LC4S0023.jpg LC4S9396.jpg
LC4S9160.jpg LC4S9314.jpg LC4S0066.jpg LC4S9185.jpg
LC4S0020.jpg LC4S9186.jpg LC4S0031.jpg BF5T9251.jpg
LC4S0016.jpg BF5T9276.jpg LC4S0043.jpg BF5T9305.jpg
LC4S0081.jpg LC4S0057.jpg BF5T9256.jpg LC4S9404.jpg
LC4S9144.jpg BF5T9242.jpg BF5T9302.jpg BF5T9254.jpg
previous pagepages 1 2 3 ALL next page