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Longwall tailgate support-consideration, design and experience.

Barczak T; Mucho TP; Dolinar D; Bower J; Bryja J

Proceedings of Longwall USA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 21-23, 1999. Prairieville, LA: Coal Age, 1999 Sep; :79-104

20031082

Maintaining ground stability in the gate roads, particularly the tailgate, has always been critical to the success of longwall mining, both in terms of safety and productivity. Several new support technologies have been developed in recent years to replace conventional wood and concrete cribbing for secondary roof support. While the primary goal continues to be better ground control, these new support technologies also help to reduce material handling efforts. As longwall panels increase in length, another important requirement for secondary support is to reduce the restriction of the entry, and again there are advantages to be gained with these new support technologies. This paper examines these new support technologies and provides insights into the requirements for the design and installation of modern longwall tailgate support systems. First, a design methodology is proposed which will optimize the installation of a particular support technology by matching the stiffness and capacity of the support to the tailgate ground reaction behavior. Second, the material handling aspects are analyzed in terms of the terms of the transportation of the support material into the mine and work required to construct a particular support system. Third, the deformation characteristics of the various support structures in addition to the size of the support are evaluated in relation to the restriction imposed by the support on the tailgate travelway. These factors are examined both in a generic sense and through a case study of alternative support technologies at a western Pennsylvania mine site.

Coal-mining; Underground-mining; Longwall-mining; Mine-roof-support; Engineering-controls; Control-technology; Accident-prevention; Injury-prevention; Ground-stability; Ground-control

Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, P.O. Box 18070, Pittsburgh, PA 15236

19990921

Conference/Symposia Proceedings

1999

PRL

Proceedings of Longwall USA, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 21-23, 1999

PA