Lambton Coking Plant	Index	Lambton Coking Plant

Location:	Fencehouses 6 miles [9 km] NNE of Durham
Map Ref:	(Sheet 88) NZ318507, 54° 51' 0" N, 1° 30' 17" W
Opened:
Closed:
Output:	1961 - Coke. (270,000 tons)
	1964 - Coke. (194,000 tons)
	1965 - Coke.
	1972 - Coke.
	1979 - Coke.
	1980 - Coke.
	1981 - Coke.
	1982 - Coke.
	1983 - Coke.
Employment:	1961 - 244
	1964 - 240

Description

The plant, built in 1955 to replace old works at Lambton and Tudhoe, consists of 52 Coppee underjet compound silica ovens, but the mains etc., for lean gas fixing are not installed.

The plant has a capacity of 380,000 tons of coal per annum (1,040 tons per day) when operating at a coking time of 20 hours. It formerly carbonised washed smalls from Herrington and Lambton Collieries, plus 5% low volatile coal from Harraton Colliery, coal being delivered over the Board’s private railway, and wagon vibrators used to facilitate teeming. There are twenty blending bunkers, each of 200 tons capacity, and crushed coke breeze is added to improve coke quality.

Since April, 1964, the coking time has been extended to 28 hours and the plant now produces foundry coke from coal supplied from Handen Hold Washery. Foundry coke can be loaded into both road and rail vehicles and there are good landsale facilities for coke nuts with stocking room for 500,000 tons of coke. The screening plant at the old ovens has been adapted for re-screening coke from stock.

Ammonia is recovered as sulphate, crude tar is distilled by Thomas Ness Ltd., and the crude benzole is processed at the Board’s benzole refineries.

When producing foundry coke, 6 million cubic feet of purified gas per day (including 1 million cubic feet released by the use of methane from Herrington Colliery for oven heating) at a standard calorific value of 500 B.Th.U. per cubic foot are compressed and supplied to the Northern Gas Board’s gas grid.

Part of the works effluent is treated in an activated sludge plant.

Coking Plants, 1964

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None found.

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Bell, George Thompson, 28 Apr 1910, aged 37, Fitter, he was found electrocuted and lying on the coal stamping machine, having neglected to switch off the current before commencing to oil and clean the machine [Sunderland Echo reports: accident - 28 Apr 1910 pg 3 col 5], Buried: St. Barnabas Churchyard, Bournmoor on 30 Apr 1910 {NBI} [More information ...]
						1 name found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Lambton Coking Plant

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to Lambton Coking Plant

Credits

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