During the first visit the divers located the engine left by the workers when the mine was abandoned and eventually it flooded. On the 27th of December 2020 the team decided to follow the route to the North which had been partially explored towards the end of the first dive in September of 2020. Underwater it appears this mine is a very large complex of multi level galleries extending to many meters in length. It is interesting to note the water levels had receded by approximately 6 to 7 meters, thus making most of the dive much shallower. According to the mine guides the water levels change during the season. Higher levels are noticed during the Summer whilst lower levels in the Winter.
On the 17th of January 2021 the divers continued the underwater exploration South from the sump in their efforts to locate and connect with the well underwater. Additionally to further explore and map this large complex of underwater galleries. Underwater the tunnels in this direction seem much larger and in better condition than the ones encountered on the route towards North in the previous dive in December. More cave line was added to this section extending the distance which had been mapped underwater since September 2020. The divers believe they are very close to locating and reaching the well underwater, something they will accomplish in their next dive.
On the 27th of February 2021 the divers managed to locate and connect with the well of Sklives underwater. This was the teams fifth visit to the dive site which is situated over 700 meters from the entrance of the mine on the surface, resulting in the team having to navigate through extremely difficult terrain. Transporting the stage tanks and dive equipment is an arduous task whilst gear configuration and dive preparation once the team arrive, is a challenge to say the least. The underwater route has been fully mapped using the Vplotter Tool and is a total distance of 170 meters from the water entrance. To assist the team to locate the well underwater, a red light wrapped in plastic was thrown from the top of the well before the dive, which the divers were able to successfully retrieve underwater. The significance of mapping the arcades and mining works underwater give a new dimension to the way researchers view the Lavrio Mines, adding missing information and images to these important historical sites. In total over 400 meters have been explored underwater at this mine.
The 3D mapping in the field was carried out by Yiannis Psaltakis, Surveyor Engineer and the company Landmark Loutridis.
The illustrations were created with the Cloud Compare software by Erikos Kranidiotis.
(source: addicted2h2o.com)
