Movimiento Estratos

International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 45 (2008) 2946
Upshot of strata movement during underground mining of a thick coal

seam below hilly terrain
Rajendra Singh
a,
, P.K. Mandal
a
, A.K. Singh
a
, Rakesh Kumar
a
, J. Maiti
b
, A.K. Ghosh
a
a
Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR, formerly CMRI), Dhanbad 826001, Jharkhand, India
b
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur 721302, West Bengal, India
Received 27 June 2006; received in revised form 25 February 2007; accepted 28 March 2007
Available online 27 June 2007
Abstract
Underpinning-based simultaneous extraction was successfully used to extract more than 90% of thick and contiguous sections of a
coal seam at Chirimiri mine, lying below a hill cap with a rapid change in depth of cover and is placed above the surrounding ground
level. The last few panels of the mine encountered strata control problems during the depillaring. Underground instrumentation and
observations showed that the last phase depillaring of the property near the free surface of the hill slope experienced shearing of overlying
strata along two incompetent layers. Field investigations revealed that large amount of lateral movement due to the hilly nature of the
overlying strata is the main source of the problem. A simple two-dimensional study on a simulated model also demonstrated the
occurrence of the problem during working below an unconned rock mass of hilly nature. Different evidences were collected from the site
to identify the main horizons and the direction of lateral movement and, accordingly, two different strata management plans, one for
each section, were successfully executed to overcome the encountered strata control problems. Field investigations in the rest of the
panels of the site showed favourable impact of the adopted strata management plan.
r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Thick seam; Bord and pillar; Roof stability; Depillaring; Lateral movement; Strata management
1. Introduction
In India, two close coal seams/sections with inter-burden
thickness 9 m or less are called contiguous coal seams/
sections, and a coal seam with thickness of 4.8 m or more is
called a thick seam. Contiguous sections of around 12.5 m
thick, Zero seam at Chirimiri colliery were extracted
simultaneously under hill slope with a rapid change in
depth of cover. The coal seam below the hill cap was nearly
at and is located at a horizon above the surrounding
ground level. The working plan of the Zero seam of the
mine is shown in Fig. 1. This gure consists of topographic
contours of the overlying steep escarpment of the hill,
overlapped over the plan. Dense inaccessible forest and
steep escarpment of the hill restricted the chance of any
ground movement study from the surface during under-
ground mining of the seam.
Most of the panels of the mine were depillared without
any strata control problem by underpinning-based simul-
taneous extraction method of CMRI [1]. Underpinning is
the application of full column-grouted cable bolt of
suitable length in the oor of the top section working.
However, the last few panels of the mine-experienced strata
control problems, mainly in the upper horizon of the
working. Splits and slices experienced failure of overlying
roof strata during extraction of pillars in panels G1 and G2
of the mine. Shearing of overlying strata was observed at a
horizon, 2.9 m above the roof level of the top section and at
a horizon in the parting, 3.6 m above the roof level of the
bottom section. Prematured failure of the roof strata posed
a challenge for safe depillaring of rest part of the property
of the coal seam. Underground instrumentation and
monitoring of strata behaviour indicated development of
considerably large amount of induced horizontal stress,
which might have developed due to lateral movement of
ARTICLE IN PRESS
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijrmms
1365-1609/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrmms.2007.03.006
Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 326 2211608; fax: +91 326 2204362/
2202429.
E-mail address: rsingh1_2@yahoo.com (R. Singh).
the overlying strata. Subsequently, strata management
systems were formulated and successfully adopted to
counter the adverse affect of the lateral movement over
the underground working. This case study of visualisation
and management of the active lateral movement during
underground mining of the thick and contiguous sections
of the Zero seam under fast change in depth of cover is
detailed in this paper.
2. Ground movement in hilly areas
Once the problem of overlying strata failure was
observed in panels G1 and G2, the study was focused on
nding out the reason of failure. In the beginning of the
problem, occurrence of hillseams [2] in hilly overburden
(Fig. 2) was thought to be the reason of the failure.
However, the occurrence of hillseams might have created
problems for working in all the panels and not only in last
few panels of the mine. Later, strata control investigations
revealed that the problem is occurring due to interaction of
the underground mining structures with the resulted
ground movement. General ground movement pattern
and norms for Indian mining conditions are described in
[3], while discussing results of surface subsidence investiga-
tions of different Indian coalelds. Important differences
between the subsidence norms of Indian conditions and
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Adits
Surface to Zero
W3750
W3000
W2750
S
3
0
0
0
S
2
7
5
0
S
2
5
0
0
S
2
2
5
0
S
3
2
5
0
W3250
W3500
W4250
W4000
AIR SHAFT
AIR SHAFT
8
9
0

8
8
0
8
7
0
8
6
0

8
4
5
8
3
5
8
2
5
8
1
5
8
1
0
8
0
5
7
9
5
7
8
5
7
8
0
7
7
5
7
6
5
7
5
5
7
4
5
7
3
5
7
2
5
2
2
L
2
8
L
3
0
L
3
4
L
1
L
1
2
L
1
5
L
4
1
L
3
6
L
MD
CD
1S
1D
31D
18D
10D
9S
50S 48S
41S
33S
Stress meters installed in
vertical and horizontally
drilled hole
LEGEND
S 40 00 00E
FULL DIP I IN 182
Fig. 1. Working plan of Zero seam at Chirimiri colliery showing different panel positions with surface contours to depict fast change in cover.
R. Singh et al. / International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 45 (2008) 2946 30
those given in the Subsidence Engineering Handbook, UK
[4] are outlined in the study. Two empirical equations to
estimate maximum subsidence (S) for single- and multi-
seam cases are given [3] as follows
single seam cases:
S 0:33f1 1:1 tanh1:4x 1:8g, (1)
multi seam cases:
S 0:12f1 5:9 tanh3:8x 1:45g, (2)
where x is the ratio of width-to-depth ratio (w/h) and non-
effective width-to-depth ratio (NEW) [2].
Furthermore, this study proposed a new inuence
function to incorporate subsidence asymmetry and effect
of extraction edges of room and pillar mining in the
prediction model but all these efforts are valid for a nearly
at coal seam below continuous cover. The nature of
ground movement is observed to be different during
mining below high relief areas [5]. Here, considerable
amount of lateral movement of both sides of a valley
induces large amount of compressive surface strains.
However, reported studies on ground movement in high
relief areas are few [68] and are aimed at the assessment of
surface conditions only. The case of Zero seam mining is
different from the reported cases of ground movement in
high relief areas. At Chirimiri colliery, a nearly at coal
seam is located below a hill cap and is placed above the
surrounding ground level, which is approached by a pair of
adits. It was difcult to conduct a surface movement study,
mainly due to frequent toppling of boulders along slope-
favourable directions after experiencing ground movement.
Here, interaction of lateral movement of the unconned
overlying strata along the weak planes with underground
mining structures is realised to be rather more important.
2.1. Inuence of lateral movement
Underground mining disturbs the natural state of stress
equilibrium due to which vertical and/or horizontal move-
ment takes place. The mining of a nearly at coal seam
under conned and continuous cover causes stimulation of
vertical mining-induced stress (Fig. 3) because most of the
overlying rock mass moves downward in the void under the
inuence of gravity. The value and nature of the induced
vertical stress is inuenced by nature of the overlying strata
and depth cover [9]. Here, the value of stimulated
horizontal stress remains very low and, generally, remains
insignicant for the safety of the associated underground
structures. But underground mining of coal under varying
depth of cover exhibit considerable amount of lateral
displacement towards mined-out/slope-favourable area [5]
due to unconned condition of the overlying strata.
Conventionally, nal extraction of pillars (depillaring)
starts from one end of the property and terminates at the
other end of the mine. Under this scheme of pillar
extraction, working in the middle of the property faces a
normal situation of strata movement. While, both,
commencement and end of the depillaring encounter
slope-favourable area for the overburden. However, during
initial depillaring operation in the vicinity of slope,
dimension of the resulted void remains small and is
surrounded by intact rock mass. But when the depillaring
approaches towards exhaustion of the property, the
condition of ground movement becomes more complex as
most of the unconned overlying strata are already in
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Exposed hill
slope
Coal
Weathered joint
(Hillseam)
Fig. 2. Occurrence of Hillseams [2] in hill slope with fast change in cover.
fractured state due to the implemented depillaring activ-
ities. Considerably, large amounts of overlying rock mass
encounter lateral movement: rstly, due to movement of
the fractured strata towards the mined-out area and
secondly, because of movement of the overlying strata
towards natural slope-favourable area of the hilly terrain.
This may also lead to the development of tensile cracks.
Mining-induced vertical movement fractures the over-
burden, which is tackled through proper planning of
natural and applied supports in the interest of coal
production. But a possibility of lateral movement may
pose serious threat for the safety of the strata in and
around the working horizon and the movement is difcult
to be controlled. Occurrence of a lateral movement in the
vicinity of working may fracture/disturb the surrounding
strata, and in turn creates problems for underground
mining of the coal. The mining-induced lateral displace-
ment may also stimulate horizontal stress in the overlying
strata. In fact, the main reason of the lateral movement is
the absence of side connement due to hilly nature of the
overburden. As the movement originates due to excavated
void, its lateral component remains very small in the level
of working horizon. However, the value of lateral move-
ment keeps steadily increasing towards overlying strata
having its largest value at the surface. The development of
lateral movement in the overlying strata is not likely to
adversely affect the working condition of a seam for
normal height of extraction. But the upper horizon of
underground working of a thick seam (complete thickness
in single lift) or simultaneous working of contiguous
sections/seams may encounter a safety threat by the
induced lateral movement. The nature and value of
mining-induced movement is of strategic importance for
the safety of underground mining structures. Design and
performance of natural and applied supports, including
systematic support of roof, depend heavily upon the value
and pattern of the mining-induced stress. Considerably,
large amount of lateral movement of overlying strata
during underground mining below a hill cap (unconned
strata) is likely to produce a difcult condition for the
mining because of the simple fact that the rock masses tend
to be strong in compression but weak in tension and shear
[10]. Therefore, in comparison to compressive nature of
loading by the vertical-induced stress, development of
lateral movement/stress is likely to create a more failure
favourable condition during underground mining of a
thick seam below a hill cap (unconned strata).
3. Details of the site
The Chirimiri colliery of Chirimiri area under South
Eastern Coaleld Limited (SECL) is located in Korea
district of a newly formed Chattishgarh state of India. The
coaleld is a part of the SonhatSohagpur master basin
extending over Chattishgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
3.1. Coalication
The Decan trap in the form of igneous intrusion capped
the coal measure formation from Chirimiri to Sonhat. The
Zero seam is the top most seam, underlain by four more
coal seams. The Zero seam appears in single as well as
double sections in the mine. The thickness of the seam in
single and double sections is 6 and 12.513 m, respectively.
A representative section of the seam where it appears in
double section is shown in Fig. 4. Bartunga hill, 650690 m
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 3. Expected planar movement of conned and un-conned overlying strata under the inunce of mining void.
above mean sea level, had steep escarpment and dense
inaccessible forest over the coal deposits. Around 1.5 km
2
hill cap area in the leasehold contains nearly 10.4 million
tons of coal in Zero seam [11]. Core procurement through a
fresh drilling from hilltop showed very unstable formation
up to the Zero seam coal horizon, and even down below,
and provided limited rock samples for laboratory testing.
Mudstone layers were found to be of resilient nature under
dry condition, but lost competency after coming in contact
of moisture/water. The observed physico-mechanical prop-
erties of the formations are given in Table 1.
3.2. Development
The seam of nearly 12 m thickness was developed in two
sections, leaving a nearly 3 m thick parting of alternate
layers of calcareous shale, coal and mudstone between the
two contiguous sections. The thicknesses of clean coal in
the top and bottom sections are 33.5 and 66.5 m,
respectively. The immediate roof of the top section is shale
and mudstone, which is not competent and had a tendency
to part from roof when exposed. Therefore, a coal band of
at least 0.71.0 m thickness was left along roof of the top
section development. The roof of the bottom section,
excluding coal, is also extremely week and laminated.
However, the development height of the bottom section
galleries was 2.8 m only, which provided a nearly 3 m thick
band of coal as immediate roof of the bottom section.
A pair of adits (Fig. 1) has entered the seam. Both sections
of the seam were standing on pillars and the development
in both the sections was done along respective oors
maintaining coincident verticality of pillars and galleries.
The width and height of the gallery are 4.5 and 2.8 m,
respectively. Table 2 provides dimensional details of pillar
formation in both sections of the seam.
3.3. Mining method
Geophysical properties of inter-burden/parting between
two close seams/sections play important roles in the
selection of a suitable mining method. Competent inter-
burden strata can control adverse effect of pillar load
transfer phenomenon during working of the two close
seams/sections. It is always very difcult to extract pillars
of two developed coal seams/sections with weak and
laminated inter-burden parting of around 3 m thickness.
To achieve an ideal pillar load transfer condition, the pillar
formation in the two contiguous sections is kept super-
imposed. Conventional approach to depillar the developed
top section (with caving) rst and then depillaring of the
bottom section encounters a number of safety problems
and found to be uneconomical. A study on simulated
models was undertaken by CMRI [12] to visualise safety
during contiguous seams/sections working. It was con-
cluded during this study that the simultaneous depillaring
of the superimposed pillars of contiguous seams/sections
provides better safety. Further, on the basis of the study on
simulated models, it was observed that the stability of the
laminated parting of around 3 m thickness could be
ARTICLE IN PRESS
2.8m
3.2m
3.0m
2.5m
Bottom
section(6m)
Laminated
parting
Top
0.7-1m
section
Fig. 4. A typical sectional view of contiguous sections of Zero seam.
Table 1
Physico-mechanical properties of the formation of Zero seam (after [11])
Formations RQD
(%)
Strength (MPa) Bulk density
(t/m
3
)
s
c
s
t
Coal (bottom section) 35 51.3 4.7 1.4
Grey shale 13 13.0 1.1 2.3
Carb. shale 24 25.0 1.5 1.6
Coal (top section) 32 43.4 3.9 1.4
Sandstone 75 35.4 5.7 2.3
Carb. shale 35 21.0 1.5 1.6
Mudstone (medium
grained)
15 NO NO 2.2
Sandstone (loose) 26 18.6 2.6 2.2
Sandstone (coarse
grained)
32 16.0 2.8 2.2
NO, not observed (due to unavailability of required shape and size of the
sample).
Table 2
Dimensional details of pillar formation in the seam
Parameter Description
Size of pillar 22 22 m (center to center)
Gallery width 4.5 m
Seam thickness 12.5 m
Development height 2.5 m (top)
Development height 2.8 m (bottom)
Thickness of coal band over
bottom section development
3.5 m
Depth cover 25170 m
Gradient 1 in 82
Incubation period 6 months
improved by rock mass reinforcing technique [13] during
the simultaneous extraction.
Thick bottom section of the Zero seam experienced pillar
formation in 1990 by conventional board and pillar (B&P)
method. Since then, mine management was looking for a
suitable/feasible mining method for the nal safe extraction
of the seam. A number of agencies were invited to offer an
appropriate mining method. The Blasting Gallery (BG)
method of mining of Cdf International, France, was rst
considered for depillaring of the seam. This idea was
abandoned due to the fragile nature of the top section roof
and similar nature of parting between the two sections.
Joy-Kier joint venture attempted to introduce continuous
miner-based depillaring using oor bolting. However,
extraction of the thick bottom section in presence of the
roof bolt support in overlying coal bed was difcult to
handle by the continuous miner. The idea of underpinning-
based simultaneous extraction [1] of both the sections by
CMRI was nally selected by the industry for depillaring of
the Zero seam. In addition to consolidating the laminated
parting, underpinning worked as cable bolt support for the
thick bottom section of the seam. The idea of under-
pinning, therefore, had sound backup of an excellent
experience of underground extraction of a thick seam in
single lift [14] using cable bolt at NCPH mine of the
Chirimiri area. Use of grouted steel ropes under tension for
supporting a high roof as well as an overlying coal band, and
to improve safe span of overhanging strata near the goaf
edge was successfully applied for depillaring of complete
thickness of a thick coal seam in single lift. This technique
imposed some improvements over existing BG method to
extract full thickness of a thick coal seam in one lift.
3.4. Extraction sequence
The laminated 3.0 m thick parting of alternate layers of
shale, carbonaceous shale, coal and mudstone received
additional thickness of 3.2 m coal band due to formation of
superimposed pillars along oors of both sections of the
seam. At least 0.7 m thick coal band in the roof of top
section galleries was left to protect the working from
adverse effect of shale roof swelling. At the time of pillar
formation, non-retractable roof bolts supported super-
imposed galleries of both the sections. Before commence-
ment of depillaring, the composite parting of 6.2 m between
the top and bottom section galleries was reinforced by
underpinning to sustain the burden load of the top section
caving and to facilitate the extraction of the bottom
section.
Sequence of extraction was kept completely identical to
that of a conventional depillaring by B&P method of
working except simultaneous extraction of both the
sections. The extraction of top and bottom sections was
done simultaneously by caving method. Splitting and
slicing process was adopted for pillar extraction from both
the sections of the seam. During the simultaneous
extraction, generally superimposition of working in both
the sections was maintained with a special attention that, in
any case, the working face of bottom section does not cross
that of the top section. The underpinning worked as cable
bolt support [14] for the bottom section working and the
roof coal band was taken during retreat. Bottom section
working was restricted up to 5 m height in a go; leaving 1 m
stable coal band along the roof of the bottom section.
3.5. Support
Chirimiri colliery was apparently the rst underground
mine in India to adopt only roof bolt support during
development of both the sections on pillars. Installation of
full column-grouted 66.5 m long rope dowels (Fig. 5) at a
grid pattern of 1.2 1.2 m in the oor of the top section in
the development gallery, split and slices consolidated the
composite parting of nearly 6.2 m thickness. During
heightening of the bottom section, the immediate roof
experienced effective support in advance by the full
column-grouted cable bolts in form of underpinning from
the top section. Full column-grouted roof bolt of 1.5 m
length were placed at a grid pattern of 1.2 1.2 m in
development gallery, split and slices of top and bottom
sections. Conventional supports like pit props and steel
chocks were used in addition to roof bolts during the
depillaring.
4. Field observations
Systematic underground instrumentation and monitor-
ing was undertaken in each depillaring panel of the mine
because the mining of contiguous sections of the Zero seam
was experiencing special mining method under fast change
in depth of cover. Four types of instruments, i.e.,
convergence indicators, load cells, stress meters and
multi-point borehole extensometers, were installed at
different selected stations (Fig. 6) of each panel for the
study of strata behaviour. Monitoring of readings of these
instruments with respect to advance of the diagonal line of
extraction was done to facilitate strata behaviour study in
each panel.
Telescopic convergence points were installed in the
development galleries, splits and slices and observations
at these points were taken till the site remained accessible
during the pillar extraction. Remote instruments, i.e., stress
meters and convergence indicators were installed at
selected stations and the connecting cables of these
instruments were taken out of the working to a safe
position to get information even after the instrumented
station became inaccessible. The rib positions in the pillar
were xed in advance for the instrumentation purpose and
grooves (like manholes) up to development height were
made in the proposed ribs. After the installation of the
instruments within the grooves; the place was protected by
chocks; leaving the instruments within the groove. Mag-
netic-type borehole extensometers were installed in the
parting between top and bottom sections. Observations of
ARTICLE IN PRESS
borehole extensometers and load cells were discontinued
after one and two panels of the study, respectively, as they
failed to provide any signicant information. A simple
statistical analysis of the eld observations in different
panels of the mine was done to x a limiting value of strata
control parameters (called threshold limit value) at
different positions of the working for safety of the man
and machines. A sample of the analysis, done for three
different panels of the mine, namely C1, C2 and C3 is given
in Table 3. Further analysis of data of other panels caused
development of a novel process called combined-instru-
ment-approach (CIA) for better assessment of the strata
behaviour. A patent application is under progress for CIA,
and falls out side the scope of this paper.
4.1. Problems encountered
More than 30 pair of panels (top and bottom) of the
mine were successfully simultaneously extracted with
underpinning of the parting as a major support system.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram showing simultaneous depillaring of top and bottom sections with underpinning and roof bolt support.
30 L
31 L
33 L
3 R
32 L
4 R 5R
34 L
9R 10R 11R 12R 6R 7R 8R
*
*
*
* *
* *
*
*
+
+
Not to scale
Top Section
Bottom Section
Remote Monitoring station having: Remote Monitoring station having:
Remote Convergence Indicator Remote Convergence Indicator
Stress Capsule Stress Capsule
Multipoint Borehole Extensometer Multipoint Borehole Extensometer
Remote Indicating Load Cell Remote Indicating Load Cell
Telescopic Convergence Indicator Telescopic Convergence Indicator
* Graphic Convergence Indicator
+ Magnetic Type Borehole Extensometer
LEGEND
Fig. 6. An instrumentation plan of a panel (D) showing a typical instrumentation pattern for eld observations in different panels.
Field monitoring showed that underpinning offered
adequate anchorage to consolidate the parting stability.
Strata behaviour observations conducted in different
panels also showed improvement in competency of the
underpinned parting for safe and efcient working of the
contiguous sections.
However, after exhaustion of nearly 90% of the property
of the seam and when the working came under the
inuence of other side of the hill slope (Fig. 7), the
depillaring of last few panels of the mine started experien-
cing strata control problems. Appearance of tensile cracks
in roof strata followed by collapse in galleries and gallery
junctions made it difcult to continue the depillaring.
Although some local tensile failure of roof strata was
observed during depillaring of few earlier panels also, the
major problem was encountered during depillaring of G1
and G2 panels of the mine. At this juncture, only ve
panels G1, G2, G3, J1 and J2 (Fig. 8) were left for
depillaring at the mine. Roof falls and pillar instability
were observed in G1 and G2 panels just after extraction of
a few initial pillars, which hindered the depillaring process.
Encountered strata control problems in these two panels
are detailed below.
4.2. Panel G1
Panel G1 of the mine was located close to the boundary
of the leasehold area of the Zero seam at Chirimiri colliery.
Only bottom section coal of nearly 6 m thickness was to be
extracted here and the top section of the seam was not
present in this panel. The coal seam in the panel was
developed along the oor of the seam with a height of
2.8 m. Coal band of the roof was supported with cable
bolts (4.5 m long) and was supposed to be extracted by
heightening during retreat of the depillaring operation. An
old air shaft of the seam was also in this panel at the
location 18LW/16R. Brick shaft lining of the air shaft was
quite intact before commencement of extraction of the
panel. Depillaring of the panel G1 started after completion
of successful depillaring of most of the property of the
seam. After complete extraction of one pillar (rst pillar)
and while operation was going on in the second diagonal
row of pillars, a longitudinal crack of about 10 m length
appeared along roof of the 20LW gallery between 15R and
16R. The development of crack did not cause any adverse
affect over the working. This crack was developed in
the northern side of the level gallery, which was the
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Table 3
Maximum rate of observed convergence and mining induced stress at different stages of depillaring in different panels
Panel At the goaf edge (before fall) At the goaf edge (at the time of fall) Inside goaf edge (before fall)
Convergence
(mm/shift)
Stress (kPa/shift) Convergence
(mm/shift)
Stress (kPa/shift) Convergence
(mm/shift)
Stress (kPa/shift)
Top Bottom Top Bottom Top Bottom Top Bottom Top Bottom Top Bottom
Panel C1 2.8 0.8 2.0 3.0 0.8 NO 1.0 NO 5.6 5.6 12.0 31.0
Panel C2 1.6 1.6 4.0 2.0 1.6 2.4 4.0 6.0 2.8 2.4 150 3.0
Panel C3 4.0 2.6 89.0 15.0 3.1 NO 24.0 15.0 4.4 5.2 204.0 103.0
NO, not observed (due to inaccessibility/disturbance of the observation station).
Fig. 7. Nature of movement of hill cap towards goaved out area with respect to approximate position of panel G1 (a sectional view).
ARTICLE IN PRESS
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
Panel G1
Panel G2
Panel J1
Panel G3
Panel J2
Drift
Surface to Zero seam
W3750
W3000
W2750
S
3
0
0
0
S
2
7
5
0
S
2
5
0
0
S
2
2
5
0
S
3
2
5
0
W3250
W3500
W4250
W4000
AIR SHAFT
AIR SHAFT
8
9
0
8
8
0
8
7
0
8
6
0
8
4
5
8
3
5
8
2
5
8
1
5
8
1
0
8
0
5
7
9
5
7
8
5
7
8
0
7
7
5
7
6
5
7
5
5
7
4
5
7
3
5
7
2
5
2
2
L
2
8
L
3
0
L
3
4
L
1
L
1
2
L
1
5
L
4
1
L
3
6
L
MD
CD
1S
1D
31D
18D
10D
9S
50S 48S
41S
33S
N
FULL DIP I IN 182
S 40 00 00 E
Stress meters installed in
vertically and horizontally
drilled holes
LEGEND
O
Last patch of the property to
be extracted encountered
problems
Fig. 8. Location of remaining panels and positional correlation to plot surface prole along the ve panels to be extracted.
slope-favourable direction of the hill. At the same time, a
lateral shearing of brick lining in the old air shaft at a
horizon of 3.6 m above the roof level of the panel was also
noticed. The noticed amount of lateral shift of the brick
lining in that particular horizon due to the shearing varied
between 5 and 10 cm. Direction of the lateral shift was
observed to be in the slope-favourable direction of the hill.
With further progress of the depillaring and judicious
heightening of the roof coal during retreat under cable bolt
support, a fall of cable bolts was observed near location
20LW/15-16R of the panel. In fact, this fall of cable bolts
was an unexpected happening. The cable bolts were
supposed to remain intact and keep hanging in roof after
winning of the overlying coal band. Inspection of the fallen
cables of the cable bolts revealed that the lengths of the
fallen cables at 20LW/15-16R gallery were 3.6 m only. It
was observed that the fallen wire ropes were cut by
shearing along a horizon of nearly 3.6 m above the original
gallery roof. As an immediate action to manage the
longitudinal crack in the original roof, the applied support
was strengthened by chock supports and additional
reinforcement. But all these three events: (i) appearance
of crack in the original roof, (ii) horizontal shifting of brick
lining of air shaft and (iii) shear cut of 4.5 m long installed
cable bolt rope at 3.6 m depth inside roof coal band;
indicated considerable lateral movement in the overlying
strata. All these correlations indicated that the induced
lateral movement was active in roof strata along a horizon,
nearly 3.6 m above roof level of the original gallery of the
panel. Interaction of the resulted lateral movement with the
underground mining structures created an adverse strata
condition for depillaring of the panel G1.
4.2.1. Instrumentation and observations
Under the normal strata movement study programme of
the mine, a number of stress meters were installed in
horizontally drilled holes in pillar to measure vertical-
induced stress. However, to visualise the development of
induced lateral stress due the observed lateral movement,
an additional stress meter was installed at location 20LW/
14-15R of the panel in a vertical drill hole in the overlying
roof strata. This stress meter was placed in a vertical hole,
4 m above the roof level, to intercept the induced lateral
stress. At this location (20LW/14-15R), one stress meter
was already existed in the pillar to measure vertical-
induced stress. Regular monitoring of variation of readings
of both (vertical and horizontal) the stress meters showed,
relatively, large variation in induced horizontal stress at the
station 20LW/14-15R. Here, maximum observed-induced
vertical and horizontal stress were 2.8 and 0.87 MPa,
respectively. A plot of variation of induced stresses
(vertical and horizontal) at the location 20LW/14-15R
with respect to goaf edge distance during depillaring of the
panel G1 is shown in Fig. 9. Earlier attempt [15] to measure
vertical- and horizontal-induced stresses during depillaring
under conned strata showed predominance of vertical-
induced stress only. Even at the time of stook/pillar
crushing, the maximum observed value of ratio of
horizontal to vertical-induced stresses was 0.08, while the
same was observed to be 0.3 (quite high) in the present
case. Further, the additionally installed instrument might
have missed considerable amount-induced horizontal stress
as it was installed in the middle of the process of the
depillaring and induced stress development.
4.2.2. Positional correlation
All ve remaining panels to be depillared were under the
inuence of strata movement due to the goaves of different
exhausted panels of the mine from one side, while the free
surface of hill slope was on the other side. All instrumented
stations of these panels were corelated with surface and
were plotted on the mine plan. Overlapping of the surface
contours on the working plan was used for positional
correlation of the panel with respect to the hill slope.
Assuming the peak of hilltop as centre (maximum depth of
cover), different surface proles (sectional) were drawn
along different lines passing through the remaining ve
panels to be depillared. A surface prole on a vertical plane
along a line OA (Fig. 8), starting from the peak to the
hill slope and passing through the panel G1, is shown in
Fig. 10. From this prole, it is obvious that the affected
panel lies beneath high escarpment zone of the hill and is
under the inuence of the free face of the hill slope.
4.3. Panel G2
G2 was another panel of the mine, which encountered
strata control problem during the depillaring. This panel
was next adjacent panel in succession to G1, to be
extracted. In comparison to the location of panel G1, this
panel was relatively inside from the free face of the hill
slope and consisted, both, top and bottom sections of the
seam. Simultaneous depillaring in both sections of the
panel started in the month of May 2003. During slicing of
rst pillar in both the sections of the panel, longitudinal
cracks were observed in the roof of, both, top and bottom
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 55
Goaf edge distance (m)
I
n
d
u
c
e
d

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
k
g
/
c
m
2
)
Induced vertical stress
Induced horizontal stress
50
Fig. 9. Development of induced stresses (vertical and horizontal) in and
around working horizons at location 20LW/14-15R of panel G1.
section galleries, at 20LW/1112R. Cracks of both the
section were almost vertically superimposed to each other.
As an immediate measure, roof near these cracks were
additionally supported with heavy duty steel chock
supports in bottom section and full column-grouted cable
bolts of 4.5 m length in the top section to continue the
extraction in the panel. Roof coal of bottom section of the
in-bye development headings was blasted down and with-
drawn before the stooks were attacked. During heightening
of the bottom section, a local fall at 20LW/11-12R
gallery was observed. This fall occurred along with ropes
of the applied underpinning (cable bolt) and the observed
length of the fallen ropes was 3.6 m only. Here also, the
fallen ropes of cable bolts were cut by cross-section
along a horizon, nearly 3.6 m above the original gallery
roof. Local fall in the top section also took place along
with the ropes of the cable bolts of 2.9 m length only.
Inspection of these fallen ropes indicated that they
experienced a shear cut by cross-section along a horizon
of nearly 2.9 m above the original gallery roof of the top
section. As per the experience of high-induced horizontal
stress in the previous panel G1, a number of stress meters
were installed at different locations of the panel to study
vertical and horizontal-induced stresses in both the
sections. Observations of these stress meters indicated that
the value of induced horizontal stress was considerably
high during the depillaring. Positional correlation exercise
also indicated that the panel G2 lies beneath high
escarpment zone of the hill and is under inuence of the
free face of the hill slope.
4.4. Properties of overlying strata
On the basis of different observations, it was realised
that strata control problems encountered in panels G1 and
G2 of the mine were mainly due to lateral movement of the
overlying strata under inuence of the hill slope and
presence of large mined-out area. The horizon of lateral
movement could easily be detected through the length of
the fallen wire ropes of the cable bolts in both the sections.
Identied two horizons of considerable lateral movements
were located at 3.6 and 2.9 m above roof level of the
original galleries of bottom and top sections, respectively.
About 72% of the total overlying formation was found to
be sandstone, while the remaining portion was clay to
clayey shale and mudstone, mainly in the upper horizon.
The formation on the whole was laminated and weak,
especially due to presence of intrusions and weathering
along the slope of the hill escarpment. The weathered
formation had low strength, poor core recovery, normally
reduced to powder or sludge. An upward borehole of
nearly 40 m length was drilled from the bottom section to
procure cores for the assessment of rock quality at different
horizons. The stratigrahic column over the seam obtained
through this freshly drilled borehole is shown in Fig. 11. It
is evident from this gure that the identied horizons (as
per the length of the fallen rope of cable bolts) of lateral
movements above top and bottom sections consisted
incompetent strata of mudstone, which allowed the
shearing to happen under the inuence of the induced
lateral movement due to underground mining near the hill
slope.
5. Numerical modelling
Ground movement study by simulation is difcult and
even elasto-plastic analysis by a continuum method of
numerical modelling usually fails [3] to provide a realistic
value of ground movement during an underground mining.
Depillaring is a three-dimensional phenomenon and,
therefore, a three-dimensional simulation of the problem
ARTICLE IN PRESS
175
165
155
145
130
120
110
100
90
85
70
60
50
40
30
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
175
0 40 80 120 200 280 320360 400
Horizontal distance from maximum depth cover (m)
D
e
p
t
h

c
o
v
e
r

(
m
)
440 240 160
Fig. 10. Surface prole along a vertical cross-section above panel G1 of
the mine.
8.5 m
2.5 m
0.70 m
0.58 m
0.77 m
3.09 m
0.39 m
0.27 m
3.0 m
1.24 m
0.96 m
2.5 m
1.65 m
0.95 m
0.45 m
2.45 m
2.8 m
Top section
3.46 m
5.25 m
Gallery
Coarse grained
sandstone
Medium grained
sandstone
Coal
Loose sandstone
Shale
Mudstone
Bottom section
32.8m
LEGEND
Fig. 11. Geo-mechanical properties of Zero seam and immediate over-
lying strata intercepted in an upward drilled bore hole at location 21S/29-
30LW.
would provide better results. However, even in a three-
dimensional model, it is very difcult to simulate the
broken and jig-jag nature of a depillaring face and is being
further constrained by the required computational time.
However, numerical modelling in idealised conditions of
laboratory provides scope of parametric investigation.
Further, up to some extent, the simulation study reduces
the discreteness of eld measurements to assess strata/
ground movement during underground mining. Consider-
ing these facts, a simple two-dimensional simulation study
was taken up to have bit more understanding about the
nature of ground movement at different stages of depillar-
ing below the hilly nature of the overburden.
The condition of the site was simulated to a two-
dimensional problem using plain strain modelling of
FLAC-3D [16], which is based on a nite difference code.
A simplied geometry of the pillar extraction below hill
slope was simulated in an elastic model of the package.
Height and slope of the hill in the simulated model was
kept similar to the eld conditions. A half symmetry model
of 11 pillars, consisting of 30,986 grid points (Fig. 12), was
analysed for the movement study. All dimensional values
and sequence of working were kept similar to those of the
site in the model except gallery width and total number of
pillars across the hill. The gallery width was kept at 4 m
instead of 4.5 m for the convenience of grid generation. To
keep the size of the model small, only 11 pillars (including
one barrier pillar) were formed in the model for the
analysis. Thickness of the strata was taken as per the
borehole information given in Fig. 11 and their properties
are given in Table 4. Freshly procured core samples of
different stratum were subjected to laboratory tests for
their properties. All the tests for physico-mechanical
properties were conducted at Central Institute of Mining
and Fuel Research (CIMFR), Dhanbad. For most of the
testing, the adopted testing procedures and sample
preparation were in accordance with the International
Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM) norms [17]. Values of
material properties obtained by laboratory tests of rock
specimens were converted to their respective rock mass
values using Sheoreys [18] approach, which were later used
for the simulation.
The available numbers of in situ stress measurement data
for Indian coalelds are only a few [19]. Among these, the
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Fig. 12. Finite difference mesh used for modelling of the half of the hilly terrain (geometrical symmetry) above contiguous sections of the coal seam.
Table 4
Material properties used in numerical modelling
Material Youngs
modulus
(GPa)
Bulk
modulus
(GPa)
Shear
modulus
(GPa)
Density
(g/cm
3
)
Sandstone
(oor)
7.00 4.67 2.80 2.50
Coal 2.19 1.46 0.88 1.48
Shale 2.16 1.44 0.86 1.52
Mudstone 2.30 1.53 0.92 2.10
Sandstone
(medium)
3.15 2.10 1.26 2.02
Sandstone
(loose)
0.50 0.33 0.20 1.88
Sandstone
(coarse)
1.47 0.98 0.59 1.95
Poissons ratio for all formations is taken as 0.25.
recent three measurements [20] are of considerable
importance and observed that the horizontal stress eld is
not highly anisotropic. On the basis of this measurement,
the equations for mean vertical and horizontal stresses are
S
v
0:025H MPa and S
H
S
h
2:4 0:01H MPa;
(3)
where H is the depth cover (m), S
v
the vertical in situ stress
(MPa), S
H
the major horizontal in situ stress (MPa) and S
h
is the minor horizontal in situ stress (MPa).
To simulate the weak plane of mudstone in the
formation, interface facility of FLAC-3D was used. An
interface contact in the package is dened by the normal
and shear stiffness that exist at a point in space that is in
contact with a nite plane. FLAC-3D represents interfaces
as collections of triangular planes (interface elements) and
points in space (interface nodes). The interfaces are
characterised by Coulomb sliding and/or tensile separa-
tion. The Coulomb shear-strength criterion limits the shear
force (F
s max
) by the following relation:
F
s max
cA F
n
tan f, (4)
where c is the cohesion along the interface, A the
representative area associated with the interface node, F
n
the normal force and f is the friction angle (degrees) of the
interface surface.
If the criterion is satised (i.e., if |F
s
|XF
s max
), then
F
s
F
s max
, with the direction of shear preserved. If
the shear force exceeds the shear-force limit, then any
further shear displacement causes an increase in
the effective normal stress (s
n
) on the joint according to
the relation
s
n
s
n

jF
s
j F
s max
Ak
s
tan ck
n
; (5)
where s
n
is the normal stress, F
s
the shear force, k
n
the
normal stiffness, k
s
the shear stiffness, c the dilation angle
(degrees) of the interface surface and |F
s
| is the magnitude
before the above correction is made.
If tension exists across the interface and exceeds the
tensile strength of the interface, then the interface breaks
and the shear and normal forces are set to zero. Estimation
of properties for the interface simulation is described in [1].
In model study, it is observed that the depillaring in the
central part of the seam experienced normal nature of
strata movement while the extraction of a pillar near the
periphery of the property (under the inuence of hill slope)
encountered lateral movement towards slope-favourable
direction. Extraction of the rst pillar (leaving one barrier
pillar) towards the hill slope initiated shearing along the
weak planes. The observed grid deformation in the model
for this working is shown in Fig. 13. The lateral movement
of the strata towards free face of the hill inuenced the
stability of galleries ahead of the resulted void. Fig. 14
shows a close view of lateral movement along the weak
plane of the parting between the superimposed galleries of
the two sections ahead of the void. Further, when the rst
pillar (leaving one barrier pillar) towards the hill slope was
extracted, the velocity vectors of different grid points were
observed to be in slope-favourable direction of the hill.
Here, the observed nature of velocity vectors of different
grid points is shown in Fig. 15. Velocity vectors of grid
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Job Title: Working under Bartunga Hill
V
o
i
d

d
u
e

t
o

o
n
e

p
i
l
l
a
r
e
x
t
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
Lateral movement along
weak plane
1
1
.
5
m
H
i
l
l

s
l
o
p
e
Fig. 13. Deformation of grid due to lateral movement along weak planes after extraction of the rst pillar (leaving one barrier pillar) towards the hill
slope.
points close the excavation have orientation towards the
void, while that of the overlying points were observed to be
in the slope-favourable direction, which demonstrates the
phenomenon of shearing. When a pillar nearest to the
centre of the hill was extracted, the grid points experienced
normal movement towards the void. The observed trend of
ARTICLE IN PRESS
V
o
i
d

d
u
e

t
o

o
n
e

p
i
l
l
a
r

e
x
t
r
a
c
t
i
o
n
1
1
.
5
m
Top
Bottom
4m 3
m
2
.
5
m
Horizon of lateral movement along weak plane
Fig. 14. Lateral movement of strata (ahead of working) along weak plane of the parting after extraction of the rst pillar (leaving one barrier pillar)
towards the hill slope.
Void due to depillaring at the edge of the property
H
i
l
l

s
l
o
p
e
Fig. 15. Nature of velocity vectors of different grid points around an excavation in the vicinity of the hill slope.
the velocity vectors by the model for this position of pillar
extraction is shown in Fig. 16. Nature of velocity vectors of
the overlying strata was observed to be different for
different positions of the pillar extraction. The compared
velocity vectors shown in Figs. 15 and 16 are taken at the
time of convergence of the respective models.
Models were also run to investigate the nature of shear
stress development for different positions of pillar extrac-
tion. Here, properties of the strata were kept same but
interfaces were not added in the model to simulate weak
planes of mudstone strata. In fact, simulation of interfaces
for the weak planes hindered development of shear stress in
the model. Zone contour of shear stress development in
and around the parting between the two sections were
obtained for different positions of pillar extraction in the
model (Figs. 17 and 18). When rst pillar (leaving one
barrier pillar) towards the hill slope was extracted, the
shear stress experienced by the parting between the two
sections (just one pillar ahead) was observed to be
signicantly higher than that experienced by the corre-
sponding parting for the fth (from the barrier) pillar
extraction. Value of the developed shear stress became
insignicant during pillar extraction in the central part of
the model. Although the nature of the shear stress
redistribution was more or less similar for the two positions
(Figs. 17 and 18) of the pillar extraction, the observed
substantial change in the magnitude of the developed shear
stress was, probably, the reason of the experiential cable
cut and roof fall in the eld. This model study revealed that
the horizon of strata in the parting, from where instability
occurred in the eld, experienced high concentration of the
developed shear stress.
6. Strata management
Both, eld and laboratory studies showed that the
experienced strata control problems in G1 and G2 panels
are due to the lateral movement of strata along a weak
bedding plane in the overlying rock mass. To manage the
mining-induced lateral movement, it is required either to
increase the competence of the weak bedding plane by any
physical means or to create an effective collapse/fracture in
the strata, which are pulling the mass towards the slope/
void favourable side. The rst solution was not found
suitable in the top section due to operational and techno-
economical constraints. It was difcult to provide an
effective reinforcement to the laterally moving overlying
strata because the applied additional cable bolts in the
top section got cut by the shearing. After a detailed
consideration of the situation of the site, it was realised that
unless the laterally moving overlying strata of the top
section is stabilised by induced fracturing, the efcacy of
ARTICLE IN PRESS
Void due to depillaring in the central part of the property
Bed separation
Fig. 16. Normal nature of the velocity vectors of different grid points around an excavation in the central part of the property below the hill.
reinforcement is difcult to be achieved even in the bottom
section for the strata management. Accordingly, blasting-
induced fracturing/caving of overlying strata was at-
tempted successfully for the top section. However, applica-
tion of the blasting-induced fracturing was also not very
straight forward and, therefore, the experience of induced
caving [21] through long hole drilling and blasting was
utilised for the purpose. Drilling and blasting of roof strata
was done after identication of the appropriate strata and
direction of the lateral movement. Induced blasting was
practiced in roof strata of the top section near goaf edge up
to a height of 57 m from the original roof level at the time
of withdrawal of supports.
For the roof of the bottom section (i.e., parting), it was
difcult to practice long hole drilling and blasting due to
simultaneous working in the top section. However, up to
some extent, the adoption of induced caving through
blasting in the roof strata of the top section alleviated the
shearing problem of the bottom section roof strata also.
Further, entire parting including the proved weak bedding
plane was strengthened by enhanced reinforcement of the
parting, i.e., increasing the density of underpinning to
arrest the chance of lateral movement. Normally, three
rows of underpinning, in a grid pattern of 1.2 1.2 m, were
practiced in different panels. But the last ve panels,
affected by the strata control problems, adopted ve rows
of underpinning to consolidate multi-layered formation of
the parting and prevent the shearing in the parting above
the bottom section.
6.1. Efcacy of strata management
The results of the adopted preventive actions were
encouraging and no longitudinal cracks appeared in the
roof during working in rest of the panels. A practice of
induced caving of roof strata in top section and increased
density of underpinning for the bottom section to counter
the induced lateral movement was observed to be effective
and the depillaring in these last panels remained almost
free from any strata control problem. To have a cross-
check of the efcacy of the adopted system of strata
management against the induced lateral movement, few
ARTICLE IN PRESS
FLAC3D 2.10
CMRI, DHANBAD, INDIA
Step 149756 Model Perspective
Center:
X: 1.304e+002
Y: 1.000e-001
Z: 5.604e+001
Rotation:
X: 0.000
Y: 0.000
Z: 0.000
Dist: 7.884e+002 Mag.: 35.5
Ang.:22.500
Contour of SXZ
Magfac =0.000e+000
Gradient Calculation
-2.0919e+006 to -2.0000e+006
-2.0000e+006 to -1.9000e+006
-1.9000e+006 to -1.8000e+006
-1.8000e+006 to -1.7000e+006
-1.7000e+006 to -1.6000e+006
-1.6000e+006 to -1.5000e+006
-1.5000e+006 to -1.4000e+006
-1.4000e+006 to -1.3000e+006
-1.3000e+006 to -1.2000e+006
-1.2000e+006 to -1.1000e+006
-1.1000e+006 to -1.0000e+006
-1.0000e+006 to -9.0000e+005
-9.0000e+005 to -8.0000e+005
-8.0000e+005 to -7.0000e+005
-7.0000e+005 to -6.0948e+005
Interval =1.0e+005
Top section
Bottom section
13:01:18 Fri Jun 02 2006
Fig. 17. Zone contour of shear stress in and around the parting ahead of the rst pillar extraction from the barrier side (in the vicinity of the slope).
more pair of stress meters were installed in both vertical
and horizontal holes at different selected stations in these
panels of the mine. Readings of these instruments were
monitored during pillar extraction from the panels. The
monitoring showed no signicant development of induced
lateral stress. A simple analysis of readings of the
instruments installed in three panels; G3, J1 and J2 are
given in Table 5. This analysis shows least signicant
change in values of the induced lateral stress in comparison
to their counterparts of panels G1 and G2, where the
problem was rst encountered.
7. Conclusions
Although void formed due to underground mining is
the origin of the strata movement, side connement of the
strata played important role for the direction of the
movement. Generally, underground coal mining starts
from one side (dip most) and ends at the other side of
the property. Underground coal mining with caving below
hilly terrain provides poor side connement for both initial
and nal workings, as they are located at the periphery of
the property near hill slope with poor side connement.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
FLAC3D 2.10
Step 96584 Model Perspective
13:05:16 Fri Jun 02 2006
Center:
X: 1.304e+002
Y: 1.000e-001
Z: 5.550e+001
Rotation:
X: 0.000
Y: 0.000
Z: 0.000
Dist: 7.884e+002 Mag.: 35.5
Ang.: 22.500
Contour of SXZ
Magfac = 0.000e+000
-1.5000e+006 to -1.4000e+006
-1.4000e+006 to -1.3000e+006
-1.3000e+006 to -1.2000e+006
-1.2000e+006 to -1.1000e+006
-1.1000e+006 to -1.0000e+006
-1.0000e+006 to -9.0000e+005
-9.0000e+005 to -8.0000e+005
-8.0000e+005 to -7.0000e+005
-7.0000e+005 to -6.0000e+005
-6.0000e+005 to -5.0000e+005
-5.0000e+005 to -4.0000e+005
-4.0000e+005 to -3.4879e+005
Interval = 1.0e+005
Top section
Bottom section
Gradient Calculation
-1.5884e+006 to -1.5000e+006
CMRI, DHANBAD, INDIA
Fig. 18. Zone contour of shear stress in and around the parting ahead of the fth pillar extraction from the barrier side (nearly 100 m inside from edge of
the slope).
Table 5
Result of strata monitoring after adoption of the strata management plan
in panels G3, J1 and J2
Panel
name
Maximum observed value of the strata control parameter before
roof fall
Convergence
(mm)
Vertical stress
(MPa)
Horizontal
stress (MPa)
Remarks
G3 55.07 7.95 0.07 Top section
46.20 7.55 0.06 Bottom section
J1 40.02 11.04 0.05 Top section
J2 61.50 7.24 0.06 Top section
However, the initial working at this mine did not
experience strata control problem because the void
remained, relatively, small resulting less disturbance in
the intact overlying strata. The working in the middle of
the property below hilly terrain experienced normal ground
movement due to presence of considerable side conne-
ment. But on the verge of exhaustion of the reserve the
working reached other side of the property, where it
experienced difcult ground movement. Here, the working
encountered large mined-out area at one side and free
surface of hill slope at the other side. Under the condition,
the resulted strata/ground movement became threat for the
stability of underground structures because a thick seam
(complete thickness in single lift) with another contiguous
section was extracted simultaneously. Presence of an
incompetent/weak bed in the overlying strata provided a
chance of slope-favourable lateral displacement. It was
observed to be a difcult task to defend an underground
mining structure against the induced lateral displacement.
Based on the geo-mining conditions of the site, a local
strategy was formulated to counter the menace of the
encountered lateral movement. The reported case study
successfully adopted-induced caving of roof strata and
consolidation of bedded layers in top and bottom sections,
respectively, to overcome the problems related with the
induced lateral movement during simultaneous working of
thick and contiguous sections below a hilly terrain.
Acknowledgements
The authors are obliged to the Director, CMRI, for his
permission to publish this paper. The valuable support
during the eld investigations by Sahendra Ram and Amit
Kumar Singh, Senior Scientic Assistants, CMRI is
sincerely acknowledged. Thanks are due to the manage-
ment of the Chirimiri colliery for their valuable co-
operation during the eld observation. A part of study
reported in this paper is based on a project funded by the
South Eastern Coaleld Limited (SECL) of Coal India
Limited (CIL). The views expressed in this paper are that
of the authors and not necessarily of the organisation to
which they belong.
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International Journal of Rock Mechanics & Mining Sciences 45 (2008) 2946

Upshot of strata movement during underground mining of a thick coal

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