Search Documents

By Holger Witthaus

There is more than a century of experience in multiple seam mining in Germany. In several mines up to 20 seams had been excavated within the last decades. Due to the nature of the deposit and the history of technical development the older panels cause a complex stress distribution for the lower seams and the current longwalls in descending order of mining. The depth of the longwalls reaches up to 4000 ft. This causes a maximum vertical stress that reaches between 30 and appr. 60 MPa. To handle these conditions several support systems are applied for roadway heading. A central knowledge management system for ground control is used for design and dimensioning of support within the DSK. This paper gives an overview to the nature of German multiple seam mining and the solutions in matters of panel layout and support design. It describes the full lifecycle for roadways in the seam starting with the geological and geotechnical evaluation, the basics of roadway deformation in great depth, the development of planning tools and standards for German coal mines, the range of alternative of support systems and roadheading techniques, as well as the reinforcement measures and the processing of support at the T-junction of the face entry. This paper uses exemplary descriptions that are consolidated in a specialized reference book ?Gebirgsbeherrschung von Flözstrecken? ? ?Ground Control in Roadways? which summarizes the standards of ground control based on the development of the past 25 years in German coal mines.

Jan 1, 2007

By Michael Murphy, Mark Van Dyke, VASU GANGRADE, Brent Slaker

Room-and-pillar mining in multi-level underground stone mines come with unique pillar stability issues. The pillar stability in these mines primarily depends on the thickness of interburden between mining levels and the staggering of pillars. NIOSH has previously established pillar design guidelines for shallow, flat-lying mines and single-level operations, but there is little guidance for ground control design in multiple-level stone mines. Therefore, to improve the overall understanding of ground control in these mines, a microseismic monitoring system has been installed at a multi-level underground stone mine in Tennessee with up to a 243-m overburden and a 7-m interburden thickness between levels. The microseismic system is comprised of nine uniaxial accelerometers and one triaxial accelerometer installed in the interburden. The seismic array is locally focused with all sensors installed within a 625 m2 area and is setup to monitor the seismicity around the formation of the pillar in the lower mining level. Data is collected over 11 months and comprises of over 1,000 high-confidence events that have been located in the study area comprised of post-blast activity. The event locations were identified using a 3D-velocity model, with an average 4-m location accuracy for this array calculated using the system data. Most observed seismicity was on the excavation boundary, both in the interburden and in the roof of the top level. At this stage of analysis, there are no significant rock failures with which to correlate seismicity, but event locations correlate well with presumed damage in the vicinity of blasts.

Apr 26, 2022

By Christopher Mark, Anthony T. Iannacchione

Falls of ground continue to be one of the most serious causes of injury to U.S. miners. Of the 256 fatal injuries that occurred in mining between 1996 and 1998, 59 (23%) were caused by falls of ground (Table 23.1). Falls of ground affect some sectors of the mining industry more severely than others. For instance, nearly 40% of the 98 coal mine fatalities between 1996 and 1998 were caused by falls of ground. Underground miners are at much greater risk than surface miners. Nearly half (45 out of 101) of underground mine fatalities were attributed to roof, rib, and face falls, while only 6% of the 155 surface fatalities were caused by falls of highwalls or slopes. The goal of this chapter is to provide guidance to safety professionals tasked with preventing ground fall injuries. This chapter combines an analysis of the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MS HA) accident and injury data with a survey of industry "best practices" to safeguard miners from ground falls. Ultimately, this approach can help to form the basis of a sound, proactive ground control program for the mining industry. SOURCES OF DATA All the injury data examined in this study were derived from MSHA's fatal investigation reports and the MSHA accident database. Because falls of ground often result in serious injury, MSHA "Fatalgrams" and fatal investigation reports provide a useful snapshot of ground control issues in the mining industry. These reports are available to the public (on the M FHA Web site at www.msha.gov). Fatalgrams, are one-page summaries that are usually published within a month of an accident. They contain very basic information about the accident with a graphic and a short section on relevant best practices. Fatal investigation reports are the official accident investigation reports filed by MSHA personnel. These reports contain general information about the mine, a, description of the accident, physical factors involved in the accident, a conclusion, and enforcement actions, Enforcement actions typically identify citations and discuss violations to the Federal Mining Law. MSHA also maintains comprehensive statistical data on the mining industry's accident and injury record. The law requires that mines file a report on every reportable accident that occurs, containing information on the accident's location, severity, classification, activity, and nature of injury A short narrative is generally included as well. Accident reports can be searched by many of the above fields.

By C. Sun

The Leeville underground mine has been in operation since 2006 and currently produces 2,903 t (3,200 st) of ore per day, with an average gold grade of 0.4 opt. The mine’s horizontal extent is large, 762 by 152 m (2,500 by 500 ft), while its vertical extent is 6 to 61 m (20 to 200 ft). A high density of joints occurs within the host rock. Based on rock mass rating and field observation, the ground conditions at Leeville can be characterized as poor to very poor. As such, heavy ground support is required for its mining operation. Ore zones with a height in excess of 10 m (35 ft) are considered for longhole stoping. A typical stope measures 6 m (20 ft) wide, 30 to 55 m (100 to 180 ft) long, depending on the ground conditions, and 10 to 30 m (35 to 100 ft) high, depending the thickness of the ore body, yielding 9,100 to 18,000 t (10,000 to 20,000 st) when completed. Narrow ore zones, less than 10 m (35 ft), are mined using cut and fill. Drifts at the Leeville Mine are 4.6 m (15 ft) wide by 4.6 m (15 ft) high. Because of poor ground conditions at this mine, the establishment of a ground control monitoring system is key to operating both safely and successfully. This monitoring system is composed of comprehensive instrument design and installation. Instruments include multi-point borehole extensometers (MPBX) and “stretch measurement to assess reinforcement tension” (SMART) cables. The monitoring system covers the mining zones and infrastructure openings. After about two years’ application and measurement, useful data has been collected and continues to be collected; this information will be used to design future stopes and infrastructure. The system makes engineering and operation teams able to do their job with more confidence and efficiency.

Jan 1, 2009

By Todd Minoski, Matthew McElhinney, Mark Mazzella, Morgan Sears, Craig Compton

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is staffed with Engineers, Geologists, and Field Technicians conducting a variety of ground control research. The mission of the ground control teams within the Mine Systems Safety Branch (MSSB) is to eliminate ground failures leading to mineworker injuries and fatalities. Advancing the science behind ground control relies heavily on conducting mutually beneficial research at participating mines which is detailed in specific references throughout the paper. The ground control teams have several types of field instruments at their disposal to measure the ground response in underground mines. These include borehole pressure cells (BPCs), vibrating wire stress meters (VWs), hollow inclusion cells (Hi-Cells), roof and rib extensometers, load cells, and convergence meters. These instruments are used to measure changes in pressure, strain, and displacement within the underground environment. Instrumentation data is collected automatically using intrinsically safe or MSHA permissible dataloggers if required. Information is transmitted to the dataloggers using approved cable to distances of 200–1,000 ft. depending on the type of datalogger being used. Once mining is completed, the dataloggers are retrieved and brought to the surface, providing in-mine data to mine management and engineers for the conditions currently being encountered in a particular mine. This data, in conjunction with geologic data and stress mapping, can be used to validate numerical models. The practical application of these models is extremely important for mine management and engineers, particularly when faced with more challenging mine environments. Insight gained from applying these models can be used to make better engineering-based judgments for areas that will be mined in the future. The impact of such applications can result in a reduction of ground-fall accidents and injuries as well as generally safer working conditions.

Feb 1, 2024

By Changshou Sun

The geotechnical properties of mining zones at Leeville Underground mine (or simply called Leeville mine through this paper) are different from one zone to another. The typical ground condition is poor to very poor. Therefore, an appropriate ground control practice is the key for the successful and smooth ore production at Leeville mine. Based on the available geotechnical data, the empirical and numerical methods are used to design the right ground support systems. The main ground control practice at Leeville mine includes geotechnical data collection, evaluation of the stiffness of the support system, selection of rock bolt types, design bolt length and bolting patterns, development of the ground support standards, and performance of quality controls on bolt installation to ensure proper rock anchorage, and strength of shotcrete and backfill. Through all these activities, an appropriate ground support system has been established and applied at Leeville mine for the past four years. So far, a good result related to successful ground control and smooth ore production has been achieved, although the system is still being improved. The authors of this paper will summarize the ground control practice conducted in the last four years and will discuss the procedures and standards of establishing the appropriate ground support systems for Leeville mine.

Jan 1, 2013

By H. D. Dahl

In January, 1969, the Central Research Division of Continental Oil Company initiated a research program on roof control. The purpose of the research was to improve roof stability. Toward this end, it was necessary to determine which of the many geological and geometrical variables have a significant effect on roof stability. The isolation of these significant variables would allow research effort to be concentrated where it would be most effective in improving roof control. The research effort was directed toward two major objectives. One was to de-fine the geological and/or geometrical parameters that affect the severity of roof conditions in any particular area of the mine. This study was concerned with roof fall intensity. The second was to define why roof falls in Humphrey No. mine (and in northern West Virginia-south-western Pennsylvania coal mining areas) are oriented so that they occur primarily in north-south rooms or entries. This study was concerned with roof fall orientation. To provide a reference framework for further discussion, a geological description of the area is presented in Part II. In Parts III and IV, the procedures, methods, and 'results of the research applied toward the afore-mentioned major objectives are presented. Part V contains the conclusions and recommendations for-warded by this study.

Jan 1, 1971

By Xiaocen Lu, Guowei Li, Jiantao Wu, Thang N. Nguyen, Andrew C. Amenuvor

"This paper investigates the effect of driving a group of 52 open-ended Prestressed High Strength Concrete (PHC) piles on an existing highway embankment based on field measurements of excess pore pressure and lateral soil displacement. Excess pore pressure due to pile driving increased with depth and decreased with increasing distance from the pile, influencing a distance of 43 pile diameters. For pile groups, the rate of dissipation of excess pore pressure decreased with increasing depth and averaged 79% in 20 days, during which maximum ultimate bearing capacity was not yet attained. Lateral soil displacement continued to increase for a period of time after the end of pile driving and this could have resulted in significant inclination of piles if pile installation was too quick and pile spacing was too small. Lateral soil displacement due to pile group decreased with decreasing distance to the existing embankment as a result of high soil density produced by the embankment loading. The results also indicate that the effect of pile group installation on the existing embankment is negligible.INTRODUCTIONPile driving can cause excessive lateral displacement of soil and heaving of the ground surface, which may adversely affect nearby structures. In addition, lateral deformation and excess pore water pressure resulting from pile driving can exert lateral pressures and vertical forces on the piles, and impact negatively on the project and its surroundings. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the influence of pile driving on the nearby structures as well as the project itself when expansion works are carried out.Recent years have seen some development in the application of field tests for studying soil disturbance due to piles, and these tests usually involves pore water pressure and lateral soil displacement monitoring during pile driving. Results of field experiments performed by Reese and Seed (1957) in San Francisco Bay Mud with instrumented piles showed that pile installation generated large pore water pressures at the pile surface, with only slight increase at a distance of 15 pile diameters away. The measurements indicated that the increase in pore water pressures can exceed the initial total overburden pressure. Holtz and Lowitz (1965) reported a decrease in undrained shear strength immediately after pile installation, which was largely recovered after full pore pressure dissipation for field measurements within 1.5–2 pile diameters from the pile surface. Hwang et al. (2001) presented results of large scale pile driving tests where maximum excess pore water pressure generated decreased rapidly with increasing distance from pile. The excess pore water pressure became negligible at 15 pile diameters from the pile. Their results also showed that lateral displacement of the ground decreased with increasing distance from the pile. Pestana et al. (2002) carried out full-scale closed ended pile tests in the Young Bay Mud deposit. Higher excess pore pressures were observed for points closer to the pile, which decreased with increasing distance from the pile wall. Exponential decay of excess pore pressure with time was also noted. An 80% dissipation of excess pore pressure was achieved for soils more than one pile diameter away from the pile wall between 50 to 80 days. Lateral deformation generally decreased with increasing distance from pile wall, whilst varying erratically with depth. Bozozuk et al. (1978) reported on soil disturbance due to driving of 116 concrete piles in sensitive marine clays in a construction project. Maximum pore water pressures after pile driving within the group, and 6m (20 pile diameters) from the group were over 35-40% of the total overburden pressures, and the influence of pile driving on pore water pressure at 20m away from the group was very small. Cooke and Price (1973) studied a 168-mm-diameter instrumented pile jacked into over consolidated London clay. Outward lateral displacements ranging"

Jan 1, 2016

By Ryan Law

Ground energy systems are being installed in increasing numbers in the United Kingdom. This is particularly true in London where planning regulations require larger scale developments to provide at least 10% of their entire energy demands from renewable sources. A common approach has been to use the groundwater from the Chalk aquifer as a source of energy. This paper explains the potential long and short term sustainability problems with groundwater based systems sited in central London (or any other urbanized area). It also outlines an approach to site testing and numerical modelling to ensure that the system functions well throughout its lifetime. This approach is then applied to a project located in central London.

Jan 1, 2008

By John A. Shuster, Joseph A. Sopko

Construction of two shafts, as well as associated deep concrete structures, for a major storm sewer project in Milwaukee, Wisconsin required ground water control and temporary ground support to depths ranging from 19.2m to 55.0m. Lowering of the site ground water table eras not possible because of potential consequences for existing nearby structures. Construction entailed completion of two shaft collars into bedrock. In addition to the shafts, several adjacent connected. structures were completed. Ground freezing was selected to provide temporary ground support and ground water control for all excavations. The first application of using reinforced frozen earth was successfully incorporated on the project. The procedure enabled the contractor to create openings in excess of 9.1m in height, without bracing, through highly stressed frozen earth walls. Design features and construction procedures for completion of ground freezing and related excavation are reported.

Jan 1, 1989

By John E. Feddcck

New York City's $360 million North River Water Pollution Control Project is part of New York State's plan to clean up the Hudson River. The project is to provide a sewage treatment facility capable of accomodating a peak waste water flow of 330 MGD which will in great measure eliminate the 192 MGD of raw sewage that N. Y. C. discharges into its surrounding waters. Eleven miles of intercepting sewer lines must be constructed along the west side of Manhattan Island to service approximately one-half of the island. The first contract award was for a 4134 ft. sewer tunnel with a finished inside dimension of 16' x 16'. This main intercepting sewer will feed a sewage treatment plant located on and adjacent to the Hudson River. The tunnel is parallel to the river and is located under 12th Avenue between 125th Street and 143rd Street. The Penn- Central Railroad tracks are above and just to one side of the tunnel location. The working tunnel diameter is 21 ft. and numerous problems of support, mining method, and ground control have been encountered. (see Dwg. 1)

Jan 1, 1970

By Filippo Mira-Cattò, Andrea M. R. Pettinaroli, Elena Rovetto

"The construction of Powisle station of Metro Warsaw Line 2, in Poland, required the execution of two shafts next to an urban road tunnel adjacent to the Vistula River. The shafts were linked by three conventionally mined tunnels to be excavated 10 m below the water table level, into an upper sandy and sandy silty layer and a lower stiff clayey stratum. After a failed dig attempt under the protection of jet grouting and forepoling, it was decided to deal with the tunnels excavation problem by using the ground freezing technique as a temporary, non-polluting geotechnical treatment, keeping in service the upper road tunnel. The planning of the activities and the executive phases had a significant importance for the success of the work. For work scheduling reasons the mixed system was adopted, i.e. using both the liquid nitrogen system and the brine freezing method. The freezing process management, with a real time evaluation of the soil temperature measured by thermometric strings and an accurate monitoring of the overlying road tunnel structure, allowed the tunnel excavation and lining stages to be performed under difficult conditions, without water leaking from the frozen ground shell, within the expected times and saving extra costs.INTRODUCTIONThe new Underground Line 2 in Warsaw connects the eastern and western part of the town. One of the most critical interferences was the under passing of the Vistula river and of the Wislostrada motorway tunnel, a very congested motorway along the western bank of the river, with the construction of the new station Powisle. The construction of the station required the excavation of two shafts, using the top-down system with the creation of intermediate slabs while deepening the excavation.The shafts were used for the extraction of four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), two approaching from the Vistula river side (east-side) and two approaching from downtown (west-side); in order to connect the two shafts was foreseen the realization of three tunnels, two for the underground lines and the central one for the exchanging passenger platform. These tunnels were underpassing the “Wislostrada Road Tunnel” and interfered with this tunnel foundation, which consisted of diaphragm walls (DW), the “barrettes” (Figure 1).Due to the variable geological conditions at the site, the first excavation stage, with a temporary underground support constructed of horizontal jet grouting columns and forepoling, caused the North tunnel face failure, that required an immediate filling of the empty cavities with lean mix concrete under the Wislostrada tunnel slabs. Thereafter, the recovering attempt with the grout injections could not be completed because of the development of heaves induced on the tunnel structures (Bringiotti et al. 2016). In those conditions the tunnel excavation with traditional technologies appeared to be very problematic, with high risk for the structural safety of the Wislostrada tunnel. This would have meant longer duration for the works and higher costs for the General Contractor as well as for the city Council."

Jan 1, 2015

By Andrew Chegwidden, Tara Wilk

Construction of Shaft 17B-1, a part of The New York City water supply system, required an excavation of approximately 38 m (123 ft) through water-bearing overburden soil and more than 152 m (500 ft) of gneiss bedrock to make a connection to Water Tunnel No. 3. Ground freezing was the specified method to provide temporary earth support and ground water control for the overburden material. The ground freezing process relied on a supplemental geotechnical investigation and comprehensive laboratory testing of the frozen soil to evaluate the potential long-term creep behavior of the soil and the elimination of a temporary lining system. This paper describes that process as well as the drilling and installation methods of the ground freezing system. Additionally, the methodical system of excavation and insulation is discussed that permitted a safe and timely excavation followed by the installation of the permanent concrete liner.

Jun 13, 2023

By Roger Storry, Arnaud Hochart, David Harris, Olivier Martin

"INTRODUCTIONThe Port of Miami Tunnel (POMT), designed and constructed by Bouygues Civil Works Florida between 2009 and 2014, was a Public Private Partnership between the Miami Access Tunnel Concessionaire, Florida Department of Transport, Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami. The project comprises dual 11.3m internal diameter, 1.27km long, twin lane road tunnels running between Watson and Dodge islands under the main shipping channel in Biscayne Bay. Five cross passages (CPs), spaced at 200m centre to centre, provide emergency access between the two tunnels, as shown in Figure 1.The CPs were constructed by open-face excavation methods but the particular geological conditions at the project site (loose and variable carbonate sedimentary strata with very high permeability) required specific ground treatment solutions to provide safe excavation conditions and to ensure the long term serviceability of the permanent works construction. Where access allowed, ground treatment was performed from the ground surface using deep-mixing techniques; however, at two locations (CP2 and CP3) surface access was restricted and ground treatment by freezing, performed from the tunnels, was required. The CPs are 12.3m long with an excavation diameter of 5.8m and are located up to 30m below the water table partly or wholly within the Key Largo limestone (termed Layer S7 in the ground model). Layer S7 is a coralline limestone having a metastable honeycomb structure and high variable porosity. At CP2 the upper portion of the excavation was within the overlying Anastasia Formation limestone (Layer S6), comprising a highly permeable coquina. The geological profile along the project is shown in Figure 2.This paper presents aspects of the freeze design and the risk mitigation necessary to successfully achieve the construction of the CPs in the unique geological conditions."

Jan 1, 2016

By Andrew Chegwidden, Tara Wilk

Shaft 18B-1 is the second shaft to be constructed as a part of contract C547A along the New York City water supply system Tunnel No. 3. More complex than Shaft 17B-1, this site has an additional 30 m (100 ft) of overburden for a total excavation depth of approximately 78 m (256 ft) through water-bearing overburden soil and 145 m (475 feet) of gneiss bedrock to connect to the underlying Water Tunnel No. 3. round freeing was specied as the method to provide temporary earth support and ground water control for the overburden material. An extensive supplemental geotechnical investigation (SGI) and frozen soil testing program was performed to develop the design of a temporary ground freezing system, consisting of over 7,315 m (24,000 ft or 4.5 miles) of drilling for the installation of 95 freeze pipes. At the start of shaft excavation, the upper sandy silts strata was found to have an unprecedented low thermal conductivity, leaving the frozen soil face approximately 0.6 to 1 m (2–3 ft) behind the cutline. The ground freezing earth support needed to be augmented with ring beams and liner plates to support this soil face and allow for the excavation to proceed and be completed safely.

Jun 23, 2024

By Brenton Cook, Daniel Mageau, Larry Applegate, Aaron McCain

"Ground freezing was successfully used to create an impermeable barrier wall along 3,000 feet of the downtown Seattle waterfront as part of the Seattle Seawall Replacement Project. This $360 million re-development involved removing the original 1930-era seawall and replacing it with a new, seismically resistant concrete wall supported on fill soil improved by jet-grout. The replacement wall was one of the largest construction projects in the state of Washington at the time. Ground freezing is typically used as both a structural shoring wall and groundwater cutoff. However, at this project it was used primarily as a cutoff wall to stop groundwater seepage into the 16-foot deep excavation from the landside areas.The project was divided into ten boxes (sections), each typically 200 to 600 feet in length. Only a few boxes were under construction at one time to reduce the impact on tourist-dependent local businesses. Soil conditions in the freeze zone consisted of sand, gravel and silt fill with abundant wood and debris. Tidally influenced groundwater, much of it contaminated, was difficult and expensive to control using wells during initial stages of construction. For all subsequent stages, a frozen soil wall extending to about 35 feet in depth was used to stop groundwater seepage into the excavation. An additional benefit of ground freezing included elimination of potential settlement beneath nearby buildings, utilities, and the Alaskan Way Viaduct that would likely have occurred with the use of conventional dewatering wells. The frozen soil wall crossed more than 130 buried utility locations (including water, sewer, storm, electrical, fiber optic, phone, gas, steam) with no damage. The frozen soil wall was very successful and limited groundwater influx from the landside to the seawall excavation to a negligible amount so that pumping, storage and treatment of contaminated groundwater was essentially eliminated."

Jan 1, 2016

By P. C. Schmall

Ground freezing has been used for the sinking of deep mine shafts for more than 140 years. While advances in refrigeration technology have refined the overall freezing operation, the basic ground freezing concept remains the same. This paper presents an overview of the ground freezing process and the unique advantages that ground freezing brings to shaft construction. Design and construction considerations, including instrumentation and monitoring, are discussed. Case studies are presented to illustrate ground freezing applications for mine shaft installation.

Jan 1, 2010

By Daniel Mageau

Ground freezing has been used for over 100 years to provide shoring and ground water cutoffs for hundreds of projects worldwide, including drilled shafts, tunnels and cofferdams. Typically, these cases involved difficult soil/water problems where ground freezing was likely the only solution. This paper discusses a recent ground freezing project where a frozen soil wall was used for a more conventional problem. A 4-foot-thick frozen soil wall was used to provide shoring and groundwater cutoff for a 20-foot-deep excavation during construction of a cast-in-place concrete storm water detention vault. The site is located along the northbound on-ramp to I405 from westbound SR522 in Woodinville, Washington. The frozen soil wall was successfully formed in soils consisting of till fill over soft organic silt and loose saturated sand in about 3 weeks. The depth to ground water varied from about 4 to 8 feet over the site. The unfrozen soil inside the frozen soil wall was excavated vertically to the frozen soil boundary. The vertical excavation remained open for approximately 2 months with no dewatering required. On one side, fully-loaded dump trucks and other construction equipment operated within 6 feet of the wall face with zero wall movement. This paper addresses the construction issues related to installation and operation of ground freezing shoring. The overall wall performance of the frozen soil wall as well as basic geotechnical design issues are also discussed.

Jan 1, 1998

By John A. Shuster

Case histories are reported for several soft ground shafts ranging from 6' to 40' in diameter and 50' to 230' in overburden depth for which ground freezing was employed to provide temporary ground support and groundwater control during shaft sinking through the overburden. Cases reported emphasize dealing with difficult site and ground conditions such as working within existing buildings, through very soft, running and bouldery soils, in the presence of substantial lateral groundwater flows, and into salt dome deposits requiring special considerations. Construction procedures, schedule, and relative costs are discussed for each case.

Jan 1, 1985

By Paul C. Schmall, Arthur B. Corwin, Hugh S. Lacy, Derek Maishman

For reasons of hydraulic design and constructability, water supply tunnel systems are often located relatively deep, in competent rock. Where the rock lies below a thick cover of water bearing soils, artificial ground freezing offers a low risk, cost-effective method of constructing access shafts. Several examples, in Kansas City, MO and in Brooklyn and Queens, NY, illustrate the use of freezing to provide structural support and ground water exclusion. In the case histories presented, the shafts range from 6m to 12m (20 to 40 ft) in diameter and soils vary from clays to boulder beds with depths in excess of 73m (240 ft) to competent bedrock. Where tunnels for infrastructure are designed to be driven in rock, vertical access may encounter a considerable thickness of overburden soils with groundwater. In such cases, shaft sinking problems are analogous to those confronted by mining engineers over 100 years ago. At that time, newly developed refrigeration machines were set to freeze the ground water and stabilize running sands. Although modern technology has refined our efforts, the basic features of the ground freezing to be described here are the same as those used in the last century. Vertical holes drilled on a circle surrounding the shaft site are equipped with leak-free steelpipes through which a refrigerated brine is circulated. In this manner, a frozen cylinder, seated in rock, is formed when the earth freezes between adjacent pipes. Shaft excavations take place inside a self-supporting, ground-water excluding structure. For mines, no better method of sinking production shafts through deepwater-bearing ground has yet been established. Indeed, major deposits of coal, potash, and salt would have remained inaccessible to this day were it not for the continued use of artificial ground freezing. If mine shaft freezing became relatively commonplace, early applications to civil engineering were few. Mussche and Waddington (1946) mention only five projects between 1892 and 1935; three of these relate to subway or vehicular tunnels in Paris, Antwerp, and (the most extensive) at five locations of the Moscow Metropolitan Railway development. In the United States, the method was used to spectacular effect in 1936, freezing about 3,000 cubic yards of silt to stop a slide

Jan 1, 1999