Digging of Shaft Wells and Qanat Gallery

This chapter encompasses one of the most important issues on qanat construction which is how to shape a qanat in a traditional way. The qanat masters cope with different conditions through which the qanat gallery cuts. They have to figure out how to continue building qanat whether in a hard geological formation or in a soft crumbling one. A qanat system may be as long as 70 km, accordingly the qanat workers may come across a verity of obstacles or problems to which they have invented effective techniques. This chapter starts with leveling techniques and covers such issues as well boring methods, digging of water production and transport sections, sinking shaft wells into aquifer, intersecting qanats, etc.