Analysis of Pillar Design Practices and Techniques for U.S. Limestone Mines

Details

• Personal Author:
  Iannacchione, Anthony T.
• Description:
  Underground stone mining is an emerging sector of the U.S. mining industry. As this expansion takes mines under deeper cover, and as more efficient mining methods are utilized, effective stone pillar design methods will become even more important. Current design practices are examined and a discussion of safe mine layouts is presented as a first approach towards weighing the demands for increased production against increased risk. Risks to underground stone-mine workers include rib instabilities, pillar failures and roof falls. Seventy-two stone-mine pillar designs were examined. Pillars with width to height ratios of less than 1.5 appear more likely to fail when subjected to excessive stress levels. When width to height ratios fall below 1.0, defects in the pillars, such as through-running discontinuities, can have a significant influence on stability. Discontinuity persistence, dip, material properties and orientation are also important determining factors in pillar strength. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Mine-workers Miners Mining-industry Underground-miners Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0371-7844
• Publisher:
  Institution of Mining & Metallurgy
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  PRL - Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  108
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20022108
• Citation:
  Inst Min Metall, Trans, Sect A: Min Ind 1999 Dec; 108:A152-A160
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• NORA Priority Area:
  Research Tools and Approaches: Control Technology and Personal Protective Equipment
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Transactions. Section A, Mining Industry/Institution of Mining & Metallurgy
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:77efe902675be401e95e9b5b3aaab76ace45ffe1b852c1f7b9f07901457648eebf5c2692104074d908509b275f0fd037f8bdf563042016b970f727b9d47b92fb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/220537/cdc_220537_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.28 MB ]