Indicative assessment of design efficiency of mining roadways

Abstract

The goal of the study was to develop a method for evaluating the design efficiency of roadways in coal mines. For this purpose, the AHP method (Analytic Hierarchic Process) was used to develop the significance of natural, geomechanical, mining and technical factors in the stability of roadways. According to the research, the greatest impact on the design and maintenance of the roadway is exerted by: tectonic disturbances, seismic activity, joints and compressive strengths of rock, exploitation workings nearby and support bearing capacity. Based on the AHP results, each factor was assigned a percentage effect on the design of the roadways’ support and their stability. Furthermore, they were assigned a numerical or descriptive range of variation in the scope of 0.2–1.0, where the value of 1.0 means high impact on the roadway stability. Then, the indicative method was suggested for the estimation of two indicators: the roadway design efficiency index RDE and the roadway functionality maintenance index RFM. Each of the indices was divided into six degrees indicating the roadway design difficulty in the given geological-mining conditions and also the difficulty of its maintenance. The listed indexes allow support scheme with a modified load-bearing capacity to be planned. In the phase of driving or using the excavation, this method will prove useful in calculating the necessary reinforcement. Keywords: Mining, Roadways, Design, Stability