12-18-2010, 11:08 PM
The same salt company I did the work for had an actual mine over a different salt dome on the outskirts of Houston. For that one, there was a mine shaft going down 1500 feet, then they tunneled through the salt dome by drilling and blasting like if it were rock. By the way, the salt dome isn't made from powdery salt, it is crystaline salt, looks like quartz, but creates square shapes instead of hexagonal. The tunnels did not require any extra support, they just tunneled through the salt and made all manner of huge caverns down there. Anyway, because of the blasting powder involved, the salt could not be used for human consumption. They used it in animal feed and salt blocks, rock salt, they shipped it up north for use on roads in the winter, and it was also used in oil well drilling mud.
Vertical mines typically have a tall hoist house, I don't see that on the Google image. But by all means, I am just guessing that the salt is shipped in to the Morton facility. There certainly may be a big salt dome right underneath the building.
Vertical mines typically have a tall hoist house, I don't see that on the Google image. But by all means, I am just guessing that the salt is shipped in to the Morton facility. There certainly may be a big salt dome right underneath the building.