Office of Surface Mining’s 2004 Western Regional Award

The Cerrillos South Mine Safeguard Project area is three-quarters to two miles north of the village of Cerrillos, in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. The project sites consisted of 67 shafts, 17 pits, one adit, two trenches and two highwalls all of which were dangerous to the public at large.

This project involved the following work:

• Backfilling of 35 shafts, 16 pits and one adit using mine waste, other nearby material, or imported granular fill as specified.
• Construction of a welded wire fences with barbed wire around two trenches and one pit adjacent to each other, around two shafts, and along two highwalls.
• Partial backfill and construction of metal picket fences at three shafts.
• Construction of polyurethane foam (PUF) plugs with drainage pipe and cast-iron grate at 16 shafts.
• Construction of mesh closures with high-tensile steel wire mesh coverings anchored with rock anchors at eight shafts. One of these shafts includes construction of a prefabricated steel bridge and abutments, one shaft a concrete footing to bedrock, and five shafts viewing platforms with handrail and grating. All but one have low barriers around the shaft opening.
• Construction of steel bat cupolas, with steel structural tubes and concrete foundations, at three shafts.
• Construction of a temporary construction access road, converted to a hiking trail at completion of construction.
• Closing of other temporary construction access roads, by removal of longitudinal berms and cross sloping as required, ripping or auguring for decompaction and constructing specified cross-ditches.
• Seeding of areas disturbed by construction.

Pioneer Industries of Albuquerque, NM was the contractor for this project.

The area is now the Cerrillos Hill Historic Park.

Year Completed: 2004
Cost: $670,688.78
Project Engineer: John Kretzmann, P.E.
Project Manager: Raymond Rodarte

Historic Preservation in the Cerrillos Hills Mining District (2MB pdf)