ABSTRACT
Ground Support in Mining and Underground Construction-Villaescusa & Potvin (eds.) © 2004 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 90 5809 640 8
ABSTRACT: The local stabilities of the crests of ramps and intermediate berms and batters in open pit slopes are critical for production requirements and the safety of operational personnel and equipment. The writers have been involved at several Australian mine sites where partial ramp and berm crest failures have occurred and effective rehabilitation methods not involving pit wall cut backs have had to be developed. The methods are described and evaluated in terms of their effectiveness. At other mines, losses of crests have occurred during mining of benches formed in rock with adversely oriented geological structures. In these cases, pre-reinforcement has been designed and implemented. Prereinforcement has been found to be an effective and economical method of controlling the rock mass behaviour during blasting, maintaining the stability of the crests and providing the design catching capacity of the berms and width of haul ramps. In other cases, rock fall catch fences and curtain mesh have been used to complement the function of berms.