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Engineering Geology

Engineering Geology - geomuseu

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E n g i n e e r i n g G e o l o g y<br />

Figure 8.24<br />

A trough-shaped area of subsidence due to failure of pillars at an abandoned mine, Witbank Coalfield, Mpumalanga Province,<br />

South Africa.<br />

Even if pillars in old shallow workings are relatively stable, the surface can be affected by void<br />

migration. Void migration develops if roof rock falls into the worked-out zones and often represents<br />

the main problem in areas of shallow abandoned mines. It can occur within a few<br />

months or a very long period of years after mining has ceased. The material involved in the<br />

fall bulks, so that migration is eventually arrested, although the bulked material never completely<br />

fills the voids (Fig. 8.25). Nevertheless, the process can, at shallow depth, continue<br />

upwards to the surface, leading to the sudden appearance of a crown hole.<br />

Assessments of mining hazards have usually been on a site basis, regional assessments<br />

being much less common. Nonetheless, regional assessments can offer planners an<br />

overview of the problems involved and can help them avoid imposing unnecessarily rigorous<br />

conditions on developers in areas where they really are not warranted. Hazard maps of areas<br />

of old mine workings frequently recognize safe and unsafe zones. The safe zones are commonly<br />

defined in terms of the thickness of cover rock, this being regarded as thick enough to<br />

preclude subsidence hazards. Unsafe zones are those in which subsidence events may<br />

occur. Development is prohibited in zones designated unsafe. Intermediate zones may be<br />

recognized between the safe and unsafe zones, where buildings are constructed with reinforced<br />

foundations or rafts, as an added precaution against unforeseen problems.<br />

436

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