Underground » Strata Control and Windblasts
This report provides a description of the problems associated with mining in geotechnically massive strata. This is backed up with some cases drawn from the literature. The emphasis is then given to outlining the processes to determine what makes strata behave in a massive manner. This includes geology, geophysics and rock property testing. It also includes the interpretation of stress through sedimentary sequences.
Some effort is made to outline appropriate rock testing processes which should be adopted as standard geotechnical practice.
The analysis of the rock behaviour is undertaken using fairly straightforward linearly elastic beam and plate behaviour also taking into account the pre-existing stress distributions. The equations developed are designed to be simple and should be usable by any competent mining engineer, let alone geotechnical specialist. Some detailed mine examples are given including an examination of pre-conditioning options to enable safe mining. Some of these options are less 'pre' and more 'just in time'.