Mining Publication: Ground Control Design for Highwall Mining
Original creation date: February 2005
Highwall mining is an important surface coal mining method, and it may account for approximately 4% of total U.S. coal production. Highwall stability is the major ground control related safety concern. Ground control plans for highwall mining should specify hole width, web pillar width, barrier pillar width and number of holes between barriers. This paper offers simple design charts for these parameters aimed at providing "ball park" checks. Web pillars containing pre-existing auger holes are analyzed and a design chart for estimating their minimum width is also presented. Finally, close proximity multiple seam highwall mining, which may have caused several serious highwall failures, is analyzed. Web and barrier pillar recommendations for this special situation are presented.
Authors: RK Zipf
Conference Paper - February 2005
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20026233
2005 SME Annual Meeting, February 28 - March 2, Salt Lake City, Utah, SME preprint 05-82. Littleton, CO, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., 2005; :1-12
See Also
- Analysis of Highwall Mining Stability - The Effect of Multiple Seams and Prior Auger Mining on Design
- Analysis of Multiple Seam Stability
- ARMPS - Analysis of Retreat Mining Pillar Stability - 6.2.02
- ARMPS-HWM - Analysis of Retreat Mining Pillar Stability - Highwall Mining - 1.3.02
- Deep Cover Pillar Recovery in the US
- Pillar Strength and Design Methodology for Stone Mines
- Simplified Pre- and Post-Processing Technique for Performing Finite-Element Analyses of Deep Underground Mines
- Slope Stability
- Technology News 464 - Analysis of Retreat Mining Pillar Stability (ARMPS): Version 4.0 for Windows
- Technology News 516 - ARMPS-HWM: New Software for Sizing Pillars for Highwall Mining
- Using the Coal Mine Roof Rating (CMRR) to Assess Roof Stability in U.S. Coal Mines
- Page last reviewed: 11/3/2015
- Page last updated: 11/3/2015
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program