Assessment of Stable and Failed Pillars in Underground Limestone Mines

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dolinar, Dennis R. ; Ellenberger, John L. ; Esterhuizen, Gabriel S.
• Description:
  Pillars in underground limestone mines are required to support the overburden and provide a safe, stable working environment for mining personnel and equipment. Pillar stability was assessed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in underground limestone mines in the Eastern and Midwestern United States. It was found that current mine layouts have been successful in providing support to the overburden, while a small number of isolated pillar failures were observed. The stable pillar layouts and failed pillars were plotted on a chart that demonstrates the relationship between pillar width-to-height ratio and pillar stress. The results show that pillar failures occurred at the lower range of width-to-height ratios and can occur at relatively low stress levels. Zones indicating the potential risk of pillar instability are shown on the chart, based on hazards associated with the onset of rib spalling, large angular discontinuities and unconfined pillars. The chart can assist limestone mine planners to evaluate potential instability in current or new pillar layouts that are similar to those included on the stability chart. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Mining Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Ground-control Ground-stability Injury-prevention Mine-shafts Mining-industry Room-and-pillar-mining Underground-mining
• Series:
  Mining Publications
• ISSN:
  0026-5187
• 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
• Pages in Document:
  43-48
• Volume:
  60
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034903
• Citation:
  Min Eng 2008 Nov; 60(11):43-48
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• NORA Priority Area:
  Mining
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Mining Engineering
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6cff2a95d0fac063a711ed07d052ccd4e163412be842c85abe6cb25efe3618e9cb8b3cb99d384d908399156c50611361a33d1226822f0d5c83ced02d151b9dee
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/227042/cdc_227042_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.13 MB ]