An underground personnel carrier is any heavy duty vehicle designed specifically for the safe transport of personnel and their supplies into underground work areas. The most common

underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground (S ...

applications is for the

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

of either

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

Types

Narrow vein applications

; 5- and 7- man personnel carrier Where tight turning in confined spaces is necessary, personnel carriers designed on tractors are common. Heavy duty fenders, bumpers and man baskets (gondolas) are fabricated to mount on the tractor or tractor frames to provide more durability. ; Front loader personnel carrier These personnel carriers use a front loader to perform various loader applications. Also a front basket is typically attached to the front loader arms so that they may be lifted. These carriers are typically built to carry 5 or 7 men. ; Towing personnel carriers Some personnel carriers use a heavy duty hydraulic rear hitch that can two various attachments. Towing PCs can be used in conjunction with a front loader as well. ; Attachments Other narrow vein personnel carriers are designed for a specific job based on their attachments. These attachments include rear and/or front lift baskets for utility and electrical work, mechanic packages, cable reels, heavy duty canes, ANFO loaders, and shotcrete booms.

Specialty built

These personnel carriers are designed and built from the ground up. They are typically 5 man to 15 man carriers. These carriers may also be designed using multiple attachments for job specific applications.

Low profile

In the coal mining industry low profile personnel carriers are the most commonly used. These carriers may only have a height dimension and carry up to 14 men, and are typically built from the ground up and can be designed with job specific attachments.

Mantrip

A mantrip is a shuttle for transporting

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

s down into an

underground mine Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

at the start of their shift, and out again at the end. Mantrips usually take the form of a

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

, running on a

mine railway A mine railway (or mine railroad, U.S.), sometimes pit railway, is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and overburden (also called variously spoils, waste, ...

and operating like a

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...

. Mantrips may also be self-powered, for example by a

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

. Other types of mantrips do not require a track and take the form of a

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

running on rubber tires. Because many mines have low ceilings, mantrips tend to have a reduced height. In the United States, the

Mine Safety and Health Administration The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) () is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safet ...

has published safety regulations governing the operation of mantrips.U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, Washington, D.C. (1988). "Mandatory Safety Standards--Underground Coal Mines; Criteria--Mantrips." ''Code of Federal Regulations,''

References

{{Reflist

External links

* Kentucky Educational Television, Lexington, KY
"Mantrip."
''Electronic Field Trip to a Coal Mine.'' Accessed 2010-06-06. Mining equipment