Subsidence Monitoring To Verify Analytical Models

Introduction Most subsidence monitoring to date has been surface monitoring to develop empirical relationships of the magnitude and extent of subsidence effects. Federal regulations are forcing a better understanding of subsidence. Empirical methods of subsidence prediction may not be adequate, since the empirical relationships may not be valid between or even within coal fields. A better understanding of the mechanics of subsidence is required in order to develop and verify analytical models. This paper presents some of the results of surface and underground monitoring in longwall faces of a coal mine. The seam thickness in these mines ranges from 5 feet to 6 feet at depths of 600 to 1100 feet.