Dogfights episode question

[Jerry W. Loper]

I just saw the Dogfights episode "Death of the Luftwaffe" on The History Channel yesterday, and was wondering, what are those "slag heaps" that were seen several times throughout the episode? They were shaped like pyramids and were hundreds of feet high.

 

[fly boy]

those are like garbage or something

 

[timshatz]

They're the result of mining. Some of the guys who are from mining towns on this board probably know a lot more about it than I but it is the byproduct of sinking shafts into the ground.

They're pretty common in places like West Virginia and in some places in Scottland.

 

[fly boy]

oh yea and they also used them for keeping really big planes from comeing in low or something right

 

[Krabat42]

In Germany we call it "Abraum". It's the soil which must be removed before you can get to the "Flöz".

Overburden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Krabat