Ground support methods for vertical development

Authors: Scott, CG; Sidea, D; Masters, SJ

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DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2325_23

Cite As:
Scott, CG, Sidea, D & Masters, SJ 2023, 'Ground support methods for vertical development', in J Wesseloo (ed.), Ground Support 2023: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Ground Support in Mining, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 345-358, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/2325_23

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Abstract:
Vertical development is an integral part of underground mining. At a minimum, underground operations require vertical development for ventilation and secondary means of egress; many deep mines also require haulage shafts for material extraction. Vertical development can be excavated by various methods with raiseboring becoming one of the most common methods in Australian underground operations due to its speed, efficiency and safety. Other excavation methods for vertical development include blind boring, blind sinking, strip-and-line and vertical shaft sinking machine (VSM). Access for the installation of ground support varies depending on the excavation method. Vertical development is often required to be functional over many years (20+). Once commissioned, it is often difficult or impossible to re-access shafts for rehabilitation support. The decision to support and the type of support, if required, can be critical to the shaft’s operational success. The decision to support may be based on the performance requirement of the shaft, availability of access and anticipated stability issues. Stability issues ranging from near-surface weathered material, isolated poorer zones in more favourable rock masses and competent rock/high stress to base of shaft geometry are considered in this paper. An individual shaft may have several areas that require support and may require different assessment approaches. In this paper, three main zones of vertical development are considered for stability and support design; the collar (near-surface poorer quality weathered zone/soils if excavated from surface), broken zones/poor ground conditions and the base of the shaft development. Many methods of assessing shaft behaviour and support requirements exist. This paper discusses typical shaft ground support types and selected methods of stability and support assessment, types of support, loading conditions and examples for various excavation methods/ground conditions.

Keywords: ground support, vertical development, shafts

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