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Rock Mechanics.pdf - Mining and Blasting

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11<strong>Rock</strong> support <strong>and</strong> reinforcement<br />

11.1 Terminology<br />

The term support is widely used to describe the procedures <strong>and</strong> materials used to improve<br />

the stability <strong>and</strong> maintain the load-carrying capability of rock near the boundaries<br />

of underground excavations. As will be shown in this chapter, the primary<br />

objective of support practice is to mobilise <strong>and</strong> conserve the inherent strength of the<br />

rock mass so that it becomes self-supporting.<br />

In accord with modern practice particularly in Australia, a distinction will be made<br />

between the terms support <strong>and</strong> reinforcement, using the definitions introduced by<br />

Windsor <strong>and</strong> Thompson (1993). Support is the application of a reactive force to<br />

the surface of an excavation <strong>and</strong> includes techniques <strong>and</strong> devices such as timber, fill,<br />

shotcrete, mesh <strong>and</strong> steel or concrete sets or liners. Reinforcement, on the other h<strong>and</strong>,<br />

is a means of conserving or improving the overall rock mass properties from within<br />

the rock mass by techniques such as rock bolts, cable bolts <strong>and</strong> ground anchors.<br />

It was once the custom to describe support as being temporary or permanent. Temporary<br />

support was that support or reinforcement installed to ensure safe working<br />

conditions during mining. For centuries, such support consisted of some form of timbering.<br />

If the excavation was required to remain open for an extended period of time,<br />

permanent support was installed subsequently. Quite often, the temporary support<br />

was partly or wholly removed to enable the permanent support to be installed. As<br />

will be demonstrated in section 11.2, this practice negates the advantage that can be<br />

obtained by applying the principles of rock–support interaction mechanics <strong>and</strong> so<br />

should be avoided.<br />

Modern practice is to describe the support or reinforcement of permanent excavations<br />

as being primary or secondary. Primary support or reinforcement is applied<br />

during or immediately after excavation, to ensure safe working conditions during subsequent<br />

excavation, <strong>and</strong> to initiate the process of mobilising <strong>and</strong> conserving rock mass<br />

strength by controlling boundary displacements. The primary support or reinforcement<br />

will form part, <strong>and</strong> may form the whole, of the total support or reinforcement<br />

required. Any additional support or reinforcement applied at a later stage is termed<br />

secondary.<br />

It was once common practice to regard stopes as temporary excavations having<br />

different support requirements from the more permanent mine installations such as<br />

major access ways, haulages, crusher chambers, workshops, pumping stations <strong>and</strong><br />

shafts. Indeed, this distinction may still be made, particularly in the mining of narrow<br />

orebodies where the support techniques used in the vicinity of the face may be quite<br />

different from those used for permanent mine installations. However, many largescale<br />

metalliferous mines now use mechanised stoping methods in which individual<br />

stopes may be very large <strong>and</strong> may have operational lives measured in years rather<br />

than weeks or months. In these cases, the support <strong>and</strong> reinforcement techniques used<br />

may have much in common with those used for permanent mine installations <strong>and</strong> in<br />

civil engineering construction.<br />

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