MEDIA SERVICES
IBT Media Chosen by History Channel to Video Flooded Underground Mines
Apr 1, 2010 - 11:52:50 AM

IBT Media was selected by the History Channel to shoot all the High Definition (HD) underwater video footage that will be featured in the upcoming season of Life After People in Episode 9, Depths of Destruction, on the History Channel. The video shoot was Tuesday, December 1, 2009 at the Bonne Terre Mine, located south of St. Louis.

IBT Media Group sent an underwater production crew from Kansas City to video the underwater structures and miscellaneous items left behind after the mine’s closure in the early 1960’s.

Image courtesy of Douglas Goergens, West End Diving

This underwater shoot was captured in full High Definition at depths up to 100 feet. The water remained a constant 58 degrees with visibility up to 100 feet. Footage from the underwater shoot reveals a locomotive, mine carts, tools, elevator shaft, rail tracks, and a miner’s house.

The History Channel’s Life After People series examines how “man’s majesty over nature has always been an illusion” and what will it be like when man no longer exists on earth. One place this phenomenon has already occurred is in the depths of Bonne Terre Mine, making it an ideal location for the series to feature.

Once the largest lead mine and man-made caverns in the world, it now lies dormant as a time capsule into history. When the pumps were shut off in the 500 plus feet mine, it began to fill with natural spring water.

Now when you enter the mine, you get an eerie feeling as the only noises you hear are the occasional tour guides taking you back into history and the quiet air bubbles from scuba divers from around the globe.

Life After People, Episode 9 Depths of Destruction, featuring the Bonne Terre footage premiered on the History Channel on March 9, 2010.