1.Weathering of steel structures and steel members.

Steel was used widely, not only for the main structure for also for such members as window frames, balustrades, staircases, tide doors, fire partitions, overbridges, piers, roof trusses, and roof covering. Because of rust, some of these have lost their original forms while others have completely disintegrated. By comparison with tiled roofs, iron sheet roofing has weathered very badly. Waterproofing and maintenance, as well as the quality of the materials are responsible for this.

2.Weathering of brick construction.

The The industrial buildings around the pithead and the cinema built in 1927 in the residential district are of brick construction and these are badly weathered. The bricks themselves are not damaged at all, unlike reinforced concrete of the apartment buildings, but the buildings are gradually collapsing due to differential settlement of the ground. Along the buttresses the walls have cracked and some of them have begun to lean. The roof truss has also begun to fall out.

3.Weathering of timber buildings and of concrete and timber buildings.

For several years after the closure of the mine, they weathered more slowly than the reinforced concrete buildings, but their rate of decay has accelerated markedly. Because of deterioration of the timbers and wind damage, the roofs of the shrine (building No.1) and the temple (building No.23) have completely collapsed. The principal cause is the interruption of maintenance and defective waterproofing rather than the failure of materials.