Mining Publication: Controlling Roof Beam Failures From High Horizontal Stresses in Underground Stone Mines
Original creation date: August 1998
The U.S., Australian, and United Kingdom coal and the Canadian hard rock mining industries have long recognized the significance of high horizontal stresses as a factor affecting the stability of roof and rib conditions in underground mines. Recently, a growing segment of the U.S. underground stone mining industry has also begun to recognize that horizontal stresses occur in some of its more than 90 mines. Considering the typically high strength and massive nature of limestone, this fact is a revelation in itself. High horizontal stresses produce extensive and sudden rock failures and, in some cases, resulted in injuries to mine workers. Through the years diverse control strategies have been proposed and experimented with. Reorientation of mine entries to reduce stress concentrations have been proven successful and are widely accepted in practice. Other solutions, like rock reinforcement, are poorly understood and are less accepted in practice. It is the purpose of this National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study to develop a better fundamental understanding of these ground control strategies under high horizontal stress conditions through a series of field and laboratory studies. To this end a design technique is presented which provides stone miners with a method for making stability assessments. The consequences of widening rooms, changing geology and horizontal stresses, and different rock bolts on roof beam failures are discussed.
Authors: AT Iannacchione, DR Dolinar, LJ Prosser, TE Marshall, DC Oyler, CS Compton
Conference Paper - August 1998
NIOSHTIC2 Number: 20000096
Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Ground Control in Mining, Peng SS, ed., Morgantown, WV: University of West Virginia, 1998 Aug 4-6, 1998 Aug; :102-112
See Also
- Effect of the Dip and Excavation Orientation on Roof Stability in Moderately Dipping Stone Mine Workings
- Field Observations and Numerical Studies of Horizontal Stress Effects on Roof Stability in U.S. Limestone Mines
- Field Observations and Numerical Studies of Horizontal Stress Effects on Roof Stability in U.S. Limestone Mines
- Horizontal Stress
- Investigation of Pillar-Roof Contact Failure in Northern Appalachian Stone Mine Workings
- Performance of Roof Support Under High Stress in a U.S. Coal Mine
- Pillar and Roof Span Design Guidelines for Underground Stone Mines
- Preventing Injuries Caused by Unrecognized Stone Mine Roof Beam Failures With a Pro-Active Roof Control Plan
- Roof Span Design for Underground Stone Mines
- Roof Stability Issues in Underground Limestone Mines in the United States
- Page last reviewed: 9/21/2012
- Page last updated: 9/21/2012
- Content source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Mining Program