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By C. L. Schaidle

Computers and communications technology have revolutionized many industries. In earthmoving, this revolution has just begun. The major changes are still to come but are just around the corner. This article presents a vision of this upcoming revolution in the earthmoving industry. This vision includes basic communication, machine monitoring and diagnostics, job and business management, planning and operations, and machine control. For the industry to realize maximum benefits from the information age, it must have a vision of the future that is shared by technologists, machinery producers and miners. History of the information age During the 1970s, the information age revolutionized retailing, starting with the grocery business. By using bar codes and laser scanners, individual items were connected to the information world of computers and communications. Once this connection was made, the data on what an item was and where and when it moved became valuable information for inventory control and marketing. Not only was the information valuable, it was easy and inexpensive to collect and manipulate. The effort required to provide the consumer with the right product at the right time was reduced. Costs went down and customer satisfaction went up. But there were casualties of this revolution. Many inventory counters lost their jobs. There were also equipment casualties. Cash registers that could not interface with the digital world were discarded long before the end of their useful life.

Jan 1, 1994

By Pierre M. Matheron

TRANSMANCHE-LINK is responsible for designing, developing and implementing the project for a fixed link under the English Channel, comprising two running tunnels of diameter 7.6 metres and a service tunnel of diameter 4.8 metres. The three tunnels will all be 50 km long, with 37 km bored through chalk marl at a depth of 40 metres under the sea bed. The tunnels will be driven from both sides of the channel from intermediate addits above the coastline on either side with a 55 m access shaft at Sangatte in France and two "descenderies" or inclined tunnels addits and a shaft at Shakespeare Cliff on the English side. A total of eleven tunnel boring machines will drive the 150 km of tunnels. The major part of the tunnel linings will be built of precast reinforced concrete segments, and two plants have been specially built to produce the necessary 725,000 segments. Seven million cubic metres will be evacuated on wagons along the tunnels and then lifted by belt conveyor on the English side, and by hydraulic mucking from the bottom on the French side. Preliminary work started early in 1987 with manufacture of the first boring machines, construction of five precasting plants, boring of the Sangatte shaft in preparation of the Shakespeare Cliff entrances. The principal project dates are :

Jan 1, 1987

By Yutaka Mochida

OUTLINE Beginning in 1946, a careful geological survey was made of the Tsugaru Straits. In 1964, excavation of the exploratory tunnels were started to observe the characteristics of faults and rock formation directly, and to study construction methods of excavation and sealing water inflow. In March 1971, the investigation stages were over, and in April 1971, the construction project was authorized from the government. The geological features in the straits may be divided into three broad classes. One third consists of andesite on Honshu side. The other two thirds consists of tuff. The middle of the straits consists of tuff, so-called Kuromatsunai-layers. On Hokkaido side, it consists of tuff, called as Kunnui-layers. There are nine noteworthy faults on the route. Prior to the excavation of the main tunnel, the horizontal pilot tunnels and service tunnels are made. Exploratory borings are taken to confirm the geological conditions and the presence of gushing water. Groutings for sealing water inflow are carried out when necessary. In geologically bad conditioned sections such as disintegrated or fractured zones, special methods are applied. In geologically good zones, the tunnels are bored through using the same methods as for a mountain tunnel driving. The pilot tunnel being constructed at the sea bottom is under direct control of the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation. The service tunnel and the main tunnel are being excavated by contractors.

Jan 1, 1981

By H. Dr. Boldt, J. Dr. Henneke

PREFACE In German coal mines the application of tunnel boring machines has become a very effective and economic technique for major development works. After initial trials around 1970 the breakthrough was reached by driving 13 km of road ways on Rheinland and Friedrich Heinrich collieries, using a DEMAG tunnel boring machine of 6 m diameter. INTRODUCTION The coal mines of Rheinland and Friedrich Heinrich are to be found in the West of the Ruhr Area, the largest coal mining area in the Federal Republic of Germany (Table 1). They form part of the Ruhrkohle company. Rheinland coal mines produces 41000 to 43000 t of run-of-mine coal every day, of which 20500 t are usable coal. Friedrich Heinrich has a daily production of 17000 t of run-of-mine coal, 9000 t of which are usable. The coal is worked at depths of 600 to 1100 m in seams 0.6 to 3.0 m thick. The method of mining is longwall, and the machines used are ploughs and shearer loaders. From 1973 to 1980 a programme was put into operation in these two mines to develop and open up the coal field on the 885 m level. A total tunnel length of 20 km was to be driven. After thorough investigations it was decided to employ a full-face tunnel boring machine for

Jan 1, 1981

By Bruce C. Schepens

The Balsam Meadow Hydroelectric Project is currently under construction in central California. TMCI Construction, Inc. was subcontracted to perform the shaft enlargement and lining required for the elevator, surge and power shafts. Involved in the initial work was slashing the elevator and surge shaft into a previously excavated borehole. The elevator shaft then required a reinforced concrete lining and structural steel installation. Throughout the course of construction, numerous design changes occurred, necessitating a lining in both the power and surge shafts. These changes caused TMCI to design two underground hoisting systems to install these additional linings. An analysis of the construction methods used is now given. Introduction The Balsam Meadow Project consists of an underground hydroelectric powerhouse designed to provide additional capacity and energy to the Southern California Edison system during critical peak demand periods, and has the capability for pumped storage operation. The project is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains about 55 miles northeast of Fresno. The project will divert water presently flowing from Huntington Lake to Shaver Lake to power a single 200 megawatt turbine generator. The approach used to the shaft slashing was governed partially by the strict CAL-OSHA requirements, which became more stringent after the recent Helms' Creek accident. A scaled down sinking plant was used to minimize economic risk and to simplify the excavation and lining scheme.

Jan 1, 1987

By H. Hejny

The minerals industry, comprising producers and users of industrial minerals and metals, aggregates and ornamental or dimensional stone, oil, gas and derivates as well as coal and by-products, provides vital inputs to Europe's economy and social well-being. Because of their great diversity, minerals and their derived products are necessary for almost every aspect of life. The European Technology Platform on Sustainable Mineral Resources (ETP SMR) unites hundreds stakeholders from industry, the re-search community, public authorities, the financial community, regulators, consumers and civil society around the major technological challenges to the sector, in order to jointly act towards a common vision. The Platform will contribute to strengthening one of the fundamental pillars of the European economy and society. The Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of the ETP SMR is designed to act as a realistic and inspirational guide to defining a comprehensive research programme that will mobilise stake-holders and ensure that European competences are at the forefront of science & technology worldwide. It will help to stimulate investment in research and provide guidance for policy options. The SRA shows the way the mineral industry has to proceed in forthcoming decades if it is to serve European society in the way necessary. Without a strong European minerals industry, the future development of the EU economy risks to be curbed significantly.

Jan 1, 2006

By Jack Parker

Pillar design ought to be a matter of matching pillar strength against pillar loading conditions to come up with dimensions that will cause the pillar to behave as required - to stand forever, or for a limited time, or to fail in a controlled manner. But something has gone wrong in recent years, seriously wrong. Pillar design practices have departed from reality. The laboratory and computer have taken the place of the mind. If the mind is put to work and such pillar design practices are examined critically, it becomes obvious that they deal with conditions that do not exist in a real mine. Time, effort and money are wasted, and the end results are incorrect and misleading. These questionable pillar design practices have been passed on from generation to generation over the past 30 or 40 years. The hope here is that we can return to reality as soon as the questionable practices are generally recognized. We could then go back into the mines and define how pillars really work, and mining safety, efficiencies and costs should improve. Let us take a close look at current textbook design practices and compare them to real-life conditions. Common sense might then prevail. (At this time, we will consider only mine pillar design, but similar scrutiny should be applied to design criteria for width of openings, floor conditions and roof support systems.)

Jan 1, 1993

By Vincent Castronova, Jane Y. C. Ma, Joseph K. H. Ma, Chang-geng Mo, Carl J. Malanga

A group of bisbenzylisoquinoline (BBIQ) alkaloids has been shown to exhibit various degrees of effectiveness in preventing silicainduced fibrosis in animal models (1, 2). The capability of these drugs to interact with phosphatidycholine vesicles and rat alveolar macrophages was studied using fluorometric and equilibrium dialysis methods. The lipid binding affinity of these alkaloids was found to depend upon several structural factors including hydrophobic substitutions, the chiral configurations, and the double oxygen bridge-restricted conformation of the benzylisoquinoline moieties. Tetrandrine, which is highly effective in preventing fibrosis, showed strong binding to both lipid vesicles and alveolar macrophages. In contrast, curine and tubocurine, which have little or no effect on silicosis, exhibited only weak binding to lipid vesicles and almost no binding to cells. The moderate binding affinity of fangchinoline to vesicles and cells corresponded to a moderate effectiveness of the compound as an antifibrogenic agent. Methoxyadiantifoline, an alkaloid of unknown antifibrogenic potential, also exhibited high binding affinities for lipid and cells. In summary, this study indicates that alveolar macrophages exhibit large binding capacities for certain members of the BBIQ alkaloids. A positive correlation was observed between binding affinity to alveolar macrophages and the reported antifibrotic potency of these compounds, suggesting that the ability of these drugs to interact with alveolar macrophages may be a key step in inhibition of the progression of silica-induced pulmonary disease.

Jan 1, 1991

By J. Peck, M. J. Scoble, C. Hendricks

This paper is based on field studies in North American surface mines. The work involved the adaptation of microprocessor-based instrumentation to monitor various operating parameters on-board rotary blasthole drills and mining shovels. Following a review of instrumentation and monitoring methodology - drawing on experience gained under field conditions-the paper will focus on the application of monitoring technology within the framework of an Integrated Equipment Monitoring System. Such a system will permit real-time performance evaluation of key equipment involved in surface mine production. Drill performance monitoring has been demonstrated through work to date, to provide significant input into blast design, reserve estimation, mine planning and production control processes, through an improved facility for ground characterization. Monitoring excavation equipment has been proven valuable in assessing how effectively the input from drill monitored data has been used in the evolution of blast designs. This specifically refers to assessing blast efficiency through measuring associated levels of excavator performance in relation to muckpile characteristics. The medium-term goal of equipment instrumentation and monitoring has been to assist mines in optimizing the overall rock breakage and handling process. Based on the reported results, this has been accomplished. Long-term efforts now concern using a greater understanding of equipment performance and response to varying operating conditions as a foundation for the implementation of mining automation.

Jan 1, 1993

By Changhong Huang, Y. J. Wang

Proceedings of the 6th US Mine Ventilation Symposium SME, Littleton, CO, 1993, pp. 153-161.

Jan 1, 1995

By Dale R. Ralston, Roy E. Williams, Gerry V. Winter, George L. Bloomsburg

Jan 1, 1986

By N. Parra, M. N. Herrera, T. Vargas, B. Escobar, C. Gonzalez

originally published May 1998, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 15-1 9 Discussion by G. Rossi, University of Cagliari Reply by T. Vargas, University of Chili

Jan 1, 2000

By G. E. Welch

The paper discussed the mechanics of an environmental audit. Commonly encountered problems and situations are discussed and guidelines are given to aid prudent decision makers in evaluating audit results. The merits and benefits of an external view will be given. The paper will highlight the reduction of risk through pre-acquisition and operational audits.

Jan 1, 1992

By Harry Sutcliffe, Francis M. Keville

The paper describes the, impact of the geotechnical exploration program on the line and grade of the tunnels and the shaft configuration on the Red Line Extension N.W. in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts, and comments on several aspects of the implementation of the project.

Jan 1, 1983

By Henrie Henson, Dan Burroughs, Shyi-Shyong Jiang

Jan 1, 1993

By Harry Sutcliffe

The paper discusses the nature of mixed face tunneling and suggests courses of action in planning, exploration, design and contract conditions to minimize problems inherent in this type of excavation.

Jan 1, 1981

By H. M. Wells

It is with great pleasure that I read Mr. Howard M. Wells article in the Decmenber 1978 issue of MINING ENGINNERING entitled: Optimization of Mining Engineering Design in Mineral Valuation."

Dec 1, 1978

By W. C. Labys

This chapter reports on recent modelling effects to analyze the US steam coal market with an econometric as well as a programming approach. The background to coal modelling is examined first. The particular aspects of the steam coal market to be modelled are then presented and the corresponding coal model described. Empirical results are presented and analyzed. Conclusions are then drawn regarding potential modelling applications in the policy area.

Jan 1, 1979

By Thomas M. Garland

During the rest of this century, the United States faces no more complex or challenging problem than that of assuring availability of adequate, secure energy supplies in general, and crude oil and natural gas in particular. This talk will present the bare facts concerning where we have been, where we are, and what we can expect, focusing primarily upon consumption and supply of crude oil and natural gas.

Jan 1, 1978

By C. DeW. Van Siclen

A simple mathematical description of the settling behavior of monosized particle suspensions is derived by consideration of the physical processes involved, and applied to data recently published in this journal.

Jan 1, 1995