Construction of hydro power projects in the Himalayan region poses various problems which can have direct implication on the cost and time schedule of the projects. Varying geological conditions necessitate use of modern methodologies for ensuring stability and overall time bound completion of the project...

Numerical modeling is a potent tool to evaluate stability and to assist in long term planning of a mine along with predictive modeling of planned mining situations. However, selection of proper input properties regarding the rock mass still intrigues the Rock Mechanics community. A well-documented case...

The concept of evolving a block tectonic model for a high concrete gravity dam located in a dynamically evolving Himalayan terrain has been attempted for the first time in the Indian context. Precise delineation of the lithounits, demarcation and ordering of discontinuities and mega shear zones at the...

Drilling and blasting has been a preferred method of rock excavation world-wide. Blasting inevitably causes damage to the peripheral rock mass, which culminates in the form of overbreak and damaged zone. Damage or overbreak not only endangers the safety of structure and cost escalation but also delayed...

Underground construction of tunnels and caverns is an ever challenging project by virtue of the likelihood of encountering uncertain ground conditions. This is true despite all advancement in the field of prediction tools, equipment and instrumentation. One major factor leading to such uncertainties...

In order to validate the design of retaining systems in deep excavation, measurements of site deformations become necessary. Usually, horizontal displacements are measured using inclinometers and vertical 6x6 cm steel gains. These gains are often installed in the rigid or flexible vertical concrete element....

This paper discusses results of analysis from geotechnical database collected during field mapping of shafts in weak/soft rocks of Abu Hamour tunnel project area of South Doha, Qatar. Shafts are connected to the main tunnel by short tunnels – adits, excavated using sequential excavation method. Shaft...

In Bord & Pillar (B&P) depillaring, there are redistributions of mining-induced stresses on acontinual basis, primarily with apronounced effect on the natural supports - ribs and stooks. A rib need to be stable on temporary time-frame such that (a) it should provide adequate safety to men and machines...

In India, lot of coal reserves exist up to 300m depth, are more amenable for extraction by opencast mining. Bulk production is possible with Opencast mining, with low gestation period, more safety and high percentage of extraction compared to underground methods. Hence coal operators are inclined towards...

Due to the fact that the German Railroad reduced the maintenance work on the important railway line Nuremberg – Regensburg, section Deining - Batzhausen they had several cases with blocks laying at the tracks. Therefore they decided to stabilize the 70° steep weathering prone sandstone slope. As a protective...

Roof bolting technology is widely used for support design in an underground coal mine. This paper focused on the numerical simulation considered the behaviour of roof and rock – grout – bolt interaction.Simulation of three dimensional model of depillaring panel with roof bolt support is difficult to...

In the literature, mostly, pre-failure behaviour of the intact rock in static and rarely in cyclic loading is reported. In various earlier publications on the subject by the authors, pre-failure fatigue behaviour of intact rock is discussed. The post-failure behaviour of the intact rock in the laboratory...

A canal was proposed to be excavated by blasting nearby a village with hutments and an overhead water tank in very close proximity. The structures mentioned were as near as 18 m from the proposed excavation. Trial blasts were conducted by CSIR-CIMFR to ascertain the vibration attenuation parameters and...

In recent times, many old underground coal mines are being converted into opencast workings. In the process, removal of waste rock over the old galleries and maintaining a stable slope is a very difficult task. In such cases, continuous slope monitoring may be required. Though there are many methods...

Rock mass are naturally occurring construction materials which are subjected to in-situ stresses. In-situ stresses occur due to the weight of overburden and tectonic stresses. Prior knowledge of in-situ stresses is important before aligning the longitudinal structures in rock mass such as tunnels and...

In the present study, slope stability analysis has been carried out for Pakhi landslide, atPipalkoti, Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. The site is situated alongside Chamoli-Badrinath National Highway (NH-58) in the Higher Himalayas. This route has immense importance due to its functional service for both...

Processes such as Underground Coal Gasification (UCG), Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) and underground disposal of nuclear waste involve the exposure of the surrounding rocks to extreme temperatures. At such high temperatures, the rock suffers substantial structural damage due to the anisotropy in the geotechnical...

Stability of structures in any mining excavation is critical and roof rock stability has long been the primary concern in all underground excavations. There are plenty of supports systems that has evolved over the years, among them rock bolts are widely used support system in mining and various civil...

Stability of rock masses at shallow depth is often controlled by shear behavior of discontinuities. This is an important issue in an engineering environment as well as from societal point of view. With regard to shear behavior assessment through laboratory investigation, direct shear test under constant...

Recent advances in data acquisition technologies, have led to a growing interest in capturing high resolution rock surface images, Digital geologic maps that use a virtual globe interface, like google earth are a relatively new medium for presenting geologic data and interpretations. Models viewed in...

Mining of coal deposits in excess of half a billion tons has resulted in a massive volume of coarse overburden (OB) material that is posing challenges in sustainable practice of waste handling and management. Ever increasing land demand for industrial or domestic purposes, mostly in urban or densely...

All the surface as well as underground hydropower stations has Electrical Overhead Travelling (EOT) cranes to facilitate erection and maintenance of the generating equipment. In the powerhouses built over ground, such cranes run on column and beam frames, provided for supporting the roof structure. However,...

The case pertains to a hydroelectric project (520MW) located in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. During the feasibility stage, surface powerhouse was proposed with an option of an underground alternative as well. In the detailed project report stage, when extensive investigations were undertaken for...

In order to maintain the economic and safety demand in underground projects for hydropower there is a vital necessity of advance geological prediction by using the seismic reflection prediction technique. Tunnelling in many projects suffered due to uncertain or even unknown geological problems such as...

Rampura Agucha mine is exploiting the world's largest Pb-Zn deposit and is currently in progress of transitioning from open cast to underground mining. Underground ore access development is primarily developed through foliated strata of a moderate strength which pose many challenges.Rock mass response...

The challenging nature of strata dynamics in and around goaf edge of a depillaring operation warrants continuous vigilance over the dynamics for a safe and efficient working. Depending upon the nature of the working and surrounding rock mass, a variety of geo-technical instruments are, generally, deployed...

Mining is a hazardous activity and capital intensive in nature too.  The cost of stoppage of mines, for any reason, for few hours is enormous. The mines need to minimise the stoppage times to improve productivity and to reduce costs. Mining companies should have to go for large size blasts to achieve...

Theory about the interaction of TBM disc cutters and rock mass is critical for the design of the TBM machine. The numerical model of the interaction between cutters and rock, has important theoretical and practical meaning for developing a complete forecasting model of TBM performance. In this paper,...

Surge shaft serves to absorb the hammering effect of water from pressure tunnel generated due to the sudden stoppage of turbines, by accommodating surges/mass oscillations during load rejection/acceptance until the conduit velocity attains a steady state in water conductor system of a hydel Project....

Presence of different openings along the extraction line (goaf edge) in a mechanised depillaring (MD) panel provides an easy path for the goaf to encroach the working area during caving. A number of continuous miner based MD operations are adopted in Indian coalfields in last thirteen years, where roof...

In this paper a new methodology for evaluation and classification of support system that can be applied to rock tunneling is discussed. It is of great importance to consider long-term stability of rock mass around the openings of underground structure, during design, construction and operation. Varying...

Disposal of coal ash generated by thermal power plants is a challenge now days under rigid environmental norms. The conventional method of disposing in ash ponds leads to requirement of huge amount of valuable land and it have adverse effect on air, ground water and soil. Hence, the need of the hour...

With the decrease in the over ground utilizable space and increase in growth of metro structures, cut and cover structures are becoming rather impossible to conceptualize and construct. Hence they are slowly replaced by underground openings made by NATM methods. These tunnels could be using rock bolts...

Drilling is a very dominant operation in all rock cutting industries, namely, mining, petroleum, natural gas and civil engineering. The objective of this study is to understand the behaviour of rock drillability by mean of penetration rate of bit, with concentration of 10 ppm of carboxymethyl cellulose,...

Stability of rock slopes in many civil engineering projects involves installation of rock bolts for stabilization. Uncertainty in input parameters that determine the stability of rock slopes may lead to uncertainty in evaluating the factor of safety. Design of installed rock bolts must be optimized for...

The proposed 6x 660 MW Super Thermal Power Project is located near village Sandni and Barethi in Rajnagar Tehsil of Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh. The terrain belongs to Bundelkhand Granite Massif (BGM) comprising a variety of medium to coarse grained granites. The Project site is mainly covered...

This paper presents numerical analyses for the stability of a pillar between two caverns in an underground oil storage project. The geological condition of this pillar reveals two major lineaments (intrusive bodies) intersecting each other between two caverns, which results in dislocation of dykes and...

Fault zones, shear bands, underground water channels and other features in the Himalayan geology have made tunneling a very complex activity in the region. The major hydropower projects present construction problems but also render the project economically tough to handle. A case study is presented in...

Rock re-inforcement in Underground Coal mining is generally being done by roof bolting. Roof bolting is a pre-requisite and important activity for safety and high percentage of productive extraction of the Coal from Underground Coal mining. Nanotechnology and Nanoscience is the latest development in...

Geological mapping of deep foundation floor is essential to provide permanent data set for geological interpretation. A deep pump house (94 m long x 20 m width x 78 m deep) of Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthi Lift Irrigation Scheme-II (MGKLIS-II) wasconstructed at Mahaboobnagar District in TelanganaState for...

Generally it is pre mind setup that granitic terrain is always suitable for tunneling media and requirement of detail feasibility studies are minimize accordingly. To facilitated irrigation and other utility en-route of seven draught prone Districts of Telangana State, Dr B R Ambedkar lift irrigation...

Amajor concern in deep hole blasting in open cast mining operation is the excessive generation of ground vibration and their effect on nearby industrial infrastructures and residential dwellings of local community. A poor blast output results in lower productivity of excavators which has a paramount...

There has been a rapid advancement of shotcrete technology in international sector since the first Indian shotcrete code was published. Recommended practice for shotcreting (IS 9012) was first published in 1978 and reaffirmed in 2002. The provisions in certain clauses of this code are inadequate. Hence,...

For the assessment of natural stability of rock slopes, Kinematic analysis technique is extensively used. This technique makes use of dominant discontinuity planes within slope mass to forecast the probability of sliding, wedging and falling. This probability is given in the context of the attitude of...

This paper highlights the role of stress measurements and wedge analysis for optimisation of orientation for underground desilting chambers and power house complex of hydropower development in the Himalayas. In-situ stress measurement tests were conducted using hydraulic fracturing technique in vertical...

Understanding the failure mode and crack propagation in rock can provide useful information for safe and economic design of various structures in rock. Many researchers have developed theoretical criteria for rock failure with crack growth based on experimental observations. Numerically using cohesive...

Shearing resistance of rock joints is considered as one of the key aspects of rock masses as it is related to the stability of rock mass particularly at shallow surface condition. The shear behaviour of rock joints depends upon a number of influencing parameters and weathering state of discontinuity...

From the observations of caving of the overlying roof rock in longwall panels it can be inferred that the caving is dominated by the weak parting layers, laminated nature and massiveness of the roof rock formation. This caving process is controlled by the presence and geo-technical properties of strong...

The acoustic emissions are the high frequency waves caused by the sudden release of energy from local points within a loaded rock specimen. In common terms these emissions can be related to the formation of microcracks within the rock structure. As the failure propagation in a brittle rock is very much...

A free flow diversion tunnel is designed as a part of Sengulam Augmentation Scheme envisaged to increase the storage in an already existing reservoir at Sengulam, in turn power generation by transferring water available at Kallar River Basin. The tunnel is driven through gneissic bedrock with granite,...

Analysis of tunnels and underground excavations requires a realistic prediction of strength and deformation characteristics of rockmass. The strength characteristics of rockmass must be determined by laboratory testing such as triaxial test but generally, classification approach is used to predict the...

The Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC) is contemplating for construction of different run of the river schemes on Dras – Suru Rivers to harness the power potential of these rivers. The Pre-feasibility Stage geotechnical and geological investigation of three hydroelectric projects...

Subsidence is a universal process that occurs in response to the voids created by extracting solids or liquids from beneath the Earth surface. The void created by the underground extraction causes significant changes in the magnitude and orientation of the insitu stress field and results in deformations...

Generally, during earthquake events, underground structures have experienced a lower rate of damage than surface structures. Nevertheless,some underground structures registered significant damages in large earthquakes (the 1995 Kobe, Japan, the 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan, the 1999 Turkey, the 2008 China)....

Most of the underground coal mines in the Indian Geo-mining conditions are developed and depillared by Bord and Pillar method. Caving behaviour and strata control are the major concerns to be considered while extraction of coal seams in such workings. This paper describes the results of a scientific...

Several examples of leakage through abutments and foundation of dams have been witnessed world over, but with the advent of modern technology and innovative approach, such problems are being tackled successfully. The piping and internal erosion within thick overburden in river valley was a major geotechnical...

Rock breaking, rock excavation, concrete breaking, foundation rock breaking, trenching, tunnel widening in sensitive environments such as close to high rise buildings, schools, hospitals, roads, electrical installations, existing and operative dam foundations, piers, pipeline laying below ground, indoors...

Right from the outset of the experimental determination of rock stress-strain response, researchers are performing uniaxial and tri-axial compression testing on the cylindrical specimens. In the last two-three decades researchers have made an attempt to develop constitutive model considering anisotropy,...

Stratified rock cut slopes for e.g. shale-sandstone-siltstone layers are a common occurrence in some part of the Himalayas. These rocks are highly jointed and bears low strength to sustain significant engineering load. A similar geological condition exists in the north eastern Himalayas (Aizawl, Mizoram)...

A decade ago, in September 2006, the European Commission sanctioned Amrita University, Kerala, to design, develop, and deploy a wireless sensor network-based landslide monitoring system. The deployment was completed in June 2009, at the Anthoniar Colony Landslide in Munnar, Kerala, and the system has...

Drilling and blasting is still the most prolific way to extract minerals and associated waste from the earth, more so in case of hard rocks with uniaxial compressive strength greater than 50 MPa. Considering the growing demand for these minerals reducing ground vibrations, air vibrations, fly rocks,...

Current underground mining scenario is inclining towards mechanized drilling and blasting since it proves advantageous in many ways like controlled excavation profile, limited ground vibrations and better ground control, higher rates of advance, enhanced mine development rates besides maintaining a balance...

In-situ stress parameters of the rock mass are one of the vital inputs for the design of any large underground openings. In general, the in-situ stress magnitude and orientation are influenced by topography, and major geological structures like folds, faults and intrusions. These structures bring about...

To verify whether insitu conditions have been realistically estimated during investigation and to furnish the permanent data set for the interpretation of geological conditions, foundation floor mapping of important structure like control building of nuclear power plant is essential. At Rawatbhata, adjacent...

Carrying out civil works related to development of infrastructure towards Public Transport System is a challenging task in the present day urbanization condition. Such worksin City like Bangalore where there is acute shortage of space and Geology controls the progress of construction of metro rail corridor....

The state-of-art technical developments in the engineering construction technology has made it now possible to implement any hydro power project, irrespective of its magnitude, wherein even geological setup of project is unfavorable & adverse. However, this poses immense challenge for the rightful selection...

Since the invention of Gunpowder in 1860 by Alfred Nobel mining industry was in need of initiating devices which helps in increasing blast size, improve safety during charging & blasting operation, as well as explosive performance. From Plain detonators & Safety fuse system to Shock-tube initiation system,...

Current methods of geotechnical data collection require the engineers and technicians to cover large areas of surface and underground excavations to take measurements and assess field conditions and ground support response. The analysis of this information is most often done in the office and correlations...

MOIL Ltd. (formerly Manganese ore India limited) operates 10 mines. Out of this 7 mines are underground. Chikla mine is one of the underground mines. The mining method employed here is horizontal cut & Fill. The present paper describes the studies conducted to optimize the stoping parameters for better...

Large seismic events sometimes occur in underground coal mines - usually as the roof sandstone strata violently fail. Passive microseismic monitoring is a useful tool for monitoring the stability of these strata as mining progresses.  The layered medium results in refracted seismic waves, and thus ray-tracing...

Mining companies the world over are seriously looking at the 'total cost concept' having fully realized the benefits of good fragmentation and muckpile looseness achieved in the primary blasts itself. Good blast planning and accurate monitoring of the various operations holds the key to reaping and realizing...

A methodology was formulated for grading the quarries. To grade the quarry in terms of quality, the geological-cum-geotechnical characteristics of the rock mass and physico-mechanical properties were mainly considered. The point load test and rebound hardness using Schmidt hammer were used to estimate...

The powerhouse of Tapovan Vishnugad Hydropower project (TVHPP) of NTPC is located in the tail of the Great Himalaya range in the Chamoli district, Uttrakhand and is located at +300m depth having adverse geological conditions. The project area is situated near the northern side of MCT around 2.0 Km and...

In this paper the stability analysis of an open pit slope of chromite mine in Odisha state, India has been evaluated with a present working depth of 147 m with 280 overall slope angle to deepening the pit to 182 m under critical geometrical conditions like limitation of area, and having two active internal...

This paper presents the results of laboratory investigation, field geotechnical investigations and numerical analysis for understanding the stability of overburden Material including Fly ash in Jindal power opencast coal Mine, India. Numerical models were used for estimation of stability of the back...

The earthquake catalogue of the Kerala State indicates that the central part of the state (Wadakkancheri-Trissur and Idukki –Kottayam- Pala) is witnessing repeated seismicity. Though lineaments of all directions are identified in Kerala, some NW-SE trending structures are identified as neotectonically...

S' factor is very important for operational existence of underground mines i.e. Stability, Stress, Shaft, Stoping and Safety. These factors depend on geology and in situconditions around the excavatedzone. Major geological discontinuities and uncertainties in geology, sometimes have a deleterious effect...

This paper highlights a simple procedure to simulate stresses in a Tunnel when the excavation is being progressed. The paper is based on use of PHASE2 software which is a simple 2D software and needs no special training. This remains to be an important aspect for predicting displacement while using NATM...

The term active tectonics refers to those processes that produce deformation of earth's crust on a time scale of significance to human society. Earthquakes are the resultants of such deformations at the earth crust. The devastating events occurred in the past three decades (e. g 1993 Killari, 1997 Jabalpur...

This paper presents all the rock mechanics studies carried out at UCIL-Tummalapalle mine, Andhra Pradesh. The rock mechanics investigations in this mine includes, optimization of pillar dimensions by numerical modeling, feasibility of hangwall lode mining at shallow depth, support design for deeper levels,...

Final extraction in underground coal mining is associated with hazards and risks of accidents relating to fall of roof and sides due to in equal strata movement in active mining zone. Strata movement exhibits dynamism on loading effect during Bord and Pillar extraction in proportion to increase in goaf...

Conventional GPR reflection surveys in base metal sulphide mines are sometimes marred by scattering due to heterogeneity or presence of disseminated sulphide minerals. Surface scanning in such areas have its own limitations as the depth of investigation is adversely influenced by the highly lossy medium....

Ground vibration resulting from blasting, has become a critical environmental issue with the increasing mining activities in areas close to human settlements and many a times the locals resist the blasting even though it is not causing damage to their structures. In general, apprehensions or perceptions...

This paper deals with the excavation of 19500 m2 area in granitic hard rock to a depth of 10 m by controlled blasting to accommodate foundation for 75 m tall, 16 floor commercial building in the city of Bengaluru, India. The major task was to excavate granitic hard rock close to constructed residential...

This paper presents an experimental study on the static indentation tests on six types of rocks namely marble, limestone, basalt, steel gray granite, moon white granite and black galaxy granite using commercial drill bits (indenters) of spherical button type of 35mm, 38mm, 45mm and 48mm diameter to determine...

Seismic refraction has long been adapted for various types site characterization studies. The method has evolved from the classical theory based on Huygens's principle involving straight propagation paths representing spherical wave front heading direction into many novel considerations involving curved-ray-path...

One of the challenging job in irrigation and surface dam construction projects is excavation of large quantity of rock in short period of time and achieving the final stable walls. Indira Sagar Polavarm Irrigation Project in India is one such project required about 36.5 million cubic meter of hard rock...

Minerals extraction from underground mine may lead to the disturbance in equilibrium of the overlying strata and these disturbances reflect in the form of subsidence on the surface. Subsidence is of two types, trough and sinkhole subsidence.Sinkhole subsidence is an abrupt local depression at the surface...

Blasting is considered to be one of the significant unit operations in the open pit mines for achieving higher production and productivity. As the blasting operation has been carried out frequently in deep open pit mines, the disturbance in the form of structural damages or psychological issues are also...

During mining activity, the natural equilibrium of the rock mass gets altered resulting in increase in stress causing sudden, violent failure of rock mass. The stress increases with increase in the depth of mining. The dynamic stress changes caused due to release of strain energy from within the rock...

Geophysical investigationsprior to constructions stage are often met with difficult site conditions particularly over shallow water bodies. Due to site constraints, standard data acquisition procedures, either onshore or offshore may not be suitable in such cases. In this situation designing of site...

Sustainable development requirements made it necessary that underground space shall be used with larger size openings. This is to ensure a greater transportation demand and for preserving environment quality. The need for underground space technology has increased significantly during the past few decades...

Rock mechanics is an engineering discipline which is as old as 1770s. Coulomb of Mohr-Coulomb failure criteria fame carried out tests on rocks and presented the results in a paper to the French Academy. After about 150 years, Griffith proposed his theory of brittle material failure in 1921. At about...

Blasting in the mining industry is being transformed, and can no longer be treated as an art or a practice purely dependent upon experiences of individuals. Examples of key drivers that have demanded consistent and more accurate blast results are initiatives to control pit-wall damage to help mine operators...

The beauty of science & technology is that as in a while there comes an invention that calmly replaces on existing paradigm and brings about profound changes in the every sphere of life including day-by-day innovations during implementation of engineering projects with continuous improvements toward...

Main objectives of rock blasting are to fragment the strata for achieving required yield with desirable fragmentation and minimum side effects. Though the side effects like ground vibrations, noise, fly rock, etc. cannot be avoided completely, these can be minimized by selecting suitable explosives,...