Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Constructing Structures on Backfilled Opencast Mine Spoil for Better Sustainability


Affiliations
1 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad 826 004, India
 

In this study we collate existing knowledge and suggest a possible methodology for construction on environmentally challenged backfilled mines to restore the sustainability of human settlement. The possibility of reconstruction on a backfill soil with a sustainable solution has been explored. The study highlights the issue of subsidence in backfilled opencast mines through a meticulous understanding of different case studies of construction on mine spoil. The prime focus of the study apart from structural and construction aspects includes the behaviour of heterogeneous mine spoil. Collapse settlement and hydrocompression are discussed to develop an understanding of failure in backfill. The study also incorporates the proposition of possible effective ground improvement treatment for improving soil behaviour through effective utilization of demolished concrete waste material. Further, ground improvement through demolished waste stone column has also been discussed. Finally, a feasible method for constructing a low-rise building on back-filled soil is proposed with available experimental data on bearing capacity. This study along with a comprehensive list of references may prove useful for conducting further research and a thorough understanding of the issues faced by the mining sector in India and other developing countries.

Keywords

Opencast Mines, Backfill Soil, Collapse Settlement, Hydrocompression, Sustainability.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Zabel, G., Peak people: the Interrelationship between population growth and energy resources 2009; http://www.resilience.org/print/2009-04-20/peak-people-interrelationship-betweenpopulation-growth-and-energy-resources (accessed on 31 December 2016).
  • Kaya, M., Environmental impacts of mineral resource exploitation and use. In 17th International Mining Congress and Exhibition of Turkey – IMCET 2001, Osmangazi University, Technological Research Center, Turkey, 2001.
  • Lei, Y., Cui, N. and Pan, D., Economic and social effects analysis of mineral development in China and policy implications. Resour. Policy, 2013, 38, 448–457.
  • Singh, R. D., Principles and Practices of Modern Coal Mining, New Age International (P) Limited, New Delhi, 1997, 1st edn.
  • Commonwealth of Australia, Leading practice sustainable development program for the mining industry, 2006; https://industry.gov.au/resource/Documents/LPSDP/guideLPSD.pdf (accessed on 22 March 2017).
  • Chamber of Mines of South Africa/Coaltech, Guidelines for the rehabilitation of mined land, November 2007; https://common-datastorage.googleapis.com/comsa/Guidelines%20for%20the%20 rehabilitation%20of%20mined%20land%20Nov07.pdf (accessed on 22 January 2007).
  • SMGB, Report on backfilling of open-pit metallic mines in California. State Mining and Geology Board, Department of Conservation Resources Agency, CA, USA, January 2007.
  • Bowels, J. E., Foundation Analysis and Design, McGraw Hill Education, New Delhi, India, 2014, 5th edn.
  • Charles, J. A., The engineering behaviour of fill materials: the use, misuse and disuse of case histories. Géotechnique, 2008, 58, 541–570.
  • Waddell, P., Design, prediction and monitoring of deep fill settlement. Proc. ICE – Geotech. Eng., 2012, 166, 1–14.
  • Little, L. M., Investigating the effect of stress, wetting, and compaction on settlement potential of mine spoils. Master’s theses, University of Kentucky, USA, 2008, p. 525.
  • Karem, W., Lee, A. and Craig, S., Settlement evaluation of end dumped coal mine spoil. Proc. Am. Soc. Min. Reclam., 2008, 488–509.
  • Cheeks, J. R., Settlement of shallow foundations on uncontrolled mine spoil fill. J. Perform. Construct. Facil., 1996, 10, 143–151.
  • Egretli, I. and Singh, R. N., A laboratory investigation into the effects of air void and water saturation on the collapse settlement of opencast mine backfill. Min. Sci. Technol., 1988, 7, 87–97.
  • Trow, W. A., Richard, L. O. C. and Timothy, G., Case history; monitored settlement of 32 m thick compacted fill. In Third International Conference on Case Histories of Geotechnical Engineering, St Louis, Missouri, 1993, vol. 3, pp. 345–349.
  • Day, R. W., Case study of settlement of gravelly sand backfill. J. Perfor. Construct. Facil., 1995, 9, 184–193.
  • Naderian, A. R. and Williams, D. J., Bearing capacity of open-cut coal-mine backfill materials. Trans. Inst. Min. Metall., Sect. A, 1997, 106, A30–A33.
  • Burford, D., Surcharging a deep opencast backfill for housing development. Ground Eng., 1991, 36–39.
  • Marino, G. G. and Abdel-Maksoud, M. G., Protection measures against mine subsidence taken at a building site. J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 2006, 18, 152–160.
  • Waddell, P. and Wong, P., Settlement characteristics of deep engineered fills. Aust. Geomech. J., 2005, 40, 57–72.
  • Kilkenny, W. M., A low rise hospital development on restored opencast fill. In Second International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering, University of New Castle, England, UK, 1988.
  • Karem, W. A., Kalinski, M. E. and Hancher, D. E., Settlement of mine spoil fill from water infiltration: case study in Eastern Kentucky. J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2007, 21, 345–350.
  • Brandon, T. L., Duncan, J. M. and Gardner, W. S., Hydrocompression settlement of deep fills. J. Geotech. Eng., 1990, 116, 1536–1548.
  • Wade, N. H. and Peterson, T. W. P., Collapse and consolidation settlement in mine spoil due to saturation and preloading. In Proceedings of the 46th Annual Canadian Geotechnical Conference, Saskatoon, Canada, 1993, pp. 185–192.
  • Kalinski, E. M., Karem, A. W. and Little, M. L., Estimating hydrocompression potential of mine spoils from a site in eastern Kentucky using dry unit weight and moisture content. Int. J. Min., Reclam. Environ., 2010, 24, 350–362.
  • Lawton, E. C., Fragaszy, R. J. and Hardcastle, J. H., Collapse of compacted clayey sand. J. Geotech. Eng., 1989, 115, 1252–1267.
  • Charles, J. A., Naismith, W. A. and Burford, D., Settlement of backfill at Horsley restored opencast coal mining site. In Proceeding of the Conference on Large Ground Movements and Structures, Cardiff, UK, 1977, pp. 229–251.
  • Charles, J. A., Hughes, D. B. and Burford, D., The effect of a rise of water table on the settlement of backfill at Horsley restored opencast coal mining site, 1973–1983. In Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Ground Movements and Structures, Cardiff, UK, 1984, pp. 423–442.
  • Charles, J. A., Burford, D. and Hughes, D. B., Settlement of opencast coal mining backfill at Horsley, 1973–1992. In Proceeding of the International Conference on Engineered Fills, Newcastle, UK, 1984, pp. 429–440.
  • Charles, J. A. and Burford, D., Settlement and groundwater in opencast mining backfills. In European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1987, vol. 9, pp. 289–292.
  • Watts, K. S. and Charles, J. A., Investigation of restored opencast mine backfill: long-term settlement. In Proceedings of the 13th European Conference Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, Prague 1, 2003, pp. 273–27.
  • Trenter, N. A. and Charles, J. A., A model specification for engineered fills for building purposes. Proc. Inst. Civil Eng., Geotech. Eng., 1998, 119, 219–230.
  • Charles, J. A. and Burland, J. B., Geotechnical considerations in the design of foundation for building on deep deposit of waste materials. Struct. Eng., 1982, 60A, 8–14.
  • Burford, D. and Charles, J. A., Long-term performance of houses built on opencast ironstone mining backfill at Corby, 1975–1990, In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Ground Movements and Structures, Cardiff, UK, 1991, vol. 4, pp. 54–67.
  • Charles, J. A., Burford, D. and Watts, K. S., Improving the load carrying characteristics of uncompacted fills by preloading. Municipal Eng., 1986, 3, 1–19.
  • Charles, J. A., The depth of influence of loaded areas. Géotechnique, 1996, 46, 51–61.
  • Indraratna, B. and Chu, J., Ground Improvement – Case Histories, Elsevier Science, UK, 2005, p. 3.
  • Charles, J. A., Earle, E. W. and Burford, D., Treatment and subsequent performance of cohesive fill left by opencast iron-stone mining at Snatchill experimental housing site. In Corby, Proceeding of the Conference on Clay Fills, London, UK, 1978, pp. 63–72.
  • Zipper, C. E., Stabilizing reclaimed mines to support buildings and development. Virginia Cooperative Extension Publication, USA, 2009, pp. 460–130.
  • Wang, G. C., Consolidation of soft clay foundations reinforced by stone columns under time-dependent loadings. J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 2009, 135, 1922–1931.
  • Guetif, T., Bouassida, M. and Debats, J. M., Improved soft clay characteristics due to stone column installation. Comput. Geotech., 2007, 34, 104–111.
  • Bouassida, M. and Hazzar, L., Novel tool for optimised design of reinforced soils by columns. Ground Improv., 2012, 165, 31–40.
  • Bouassida, M. and Carter, J., Optimization of design of column reinforced foundations. Int. J. Geomech., 2014, 14, doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)GM.1943-5622.0000384, 04014031.
  • Hall, C. E., Compacting a dam foundation by blasting. J. Soil Mech. Found. Div., 1962, 88, 33–52.
  • Jin, L. and Shi, F., Blasting techniques for underwater soft clay improvement. China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd, Beijing, China, 1999, No. 2, pp. 10–17; No. 3, pp. 16–27.
  • Gohl, W. B., Jefferies, M. G., Howie, J. A. and Diggle, D., Explosive compaction: design, implementation and effectiveness. Geotechnique, 2000, 50, 657–665.
  • Gandhi, S. R., Dey, A. K. and Selvam, S., Densification of pond ash by blasting. J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1998, 125, 889–899.
  • Kisku, N., Joshi, H., Ansari, M., Panda, S. K.., Nayak, S. and Dutta, S. C., A critical review and assessment for usage of recycled aggregate as sustainable construction material. Constr. Build. Mater., 2016; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.11.029.
  • Coduto, D. P., Foundation Design: Principles and Practices, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA, 2001.
  • Budhu, M., Foundations and Earth Retaining Structures, Wiley, London, UK, 2007.
  • IS: 875-1987 (Part II), Code of practice for design loads (other than earthquake) for building and structures. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

Abstract Views: 361

PDF Views: 87




  • Constructing Structures on Backfilled Opencast Mine Spoil for Better Sustainability

Abstract Views: 361  |  PDF Views: 87

Authors

Sumit Kumar
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad 826 004, India
Sekhar Chandra Dutta
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad 826 004, India
Lohitkumar Nainegali
Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad 826 004, India

Abstract


In this study we collate existing knowledge and suggest a possible methodology for construction on environmentally challenged backfilled mines to restore the sustainability of human settlement. The possibility of reconstruction on a backfill soil with a sustainable solution has been explored. The study highlights the issue of subsidence in backfilled opencast mines through a meticulous understanding of different case studies of construction on mine spoil. The prime focus of the study apart from structural and construction aspects includes the behaviour of heterogeneous mine spoil. Collapse settlement and hydrocompression are discussed to develop an understanding of failure in backfill. The study also incorporates the proposition of possible effective ground improvement treatment for improving soil behaviour through effective utilization of demolished concrete waste material. Further, ground improvement through demolished waste stone column has also been discussed. Finally, a feasible method for constructing a low-rise building on back-filled soil is proposed with available experimental data on bearing capacity. This study along with a comprehensive list of references may prove useful for conducting further research and a thorough understanding of the issues faced by the mining sector in India and other developing countries.

Keywords


Opencast Mines, Backfill Soil, Collapse Settlement, Hydrocompression, Sustainability.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv114%2Fi10%2F2053-2062