ABSTRACT
Ground support in underground mining is an essential aspect of safe mining and ground control. Common rock support systems in use in underground mining operations utilize rock bolts of various designs to bind rock strata together and form a support beam over the excavation. In conjunction with rock bolting, it is common to utilize steel or wire mesh for greater aerial coverage. Although an essential activity, this aspect of the mining cycle is time consuming and expensive. Current practices for mesh and bolting are not conducive to high productivity and continuous mining cycles. As a result of these factors, an alternative to mesh and bolting is required to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Shotcrete has undergone vast technical improvements in recent years and is widely viewed as an alternative to mesh and bolting. In particular, shotcrete is a system capable of supporting rapid application and automation. As a result of advances to date with fibres, Fibre Reinforced Shotcrete (FRS) is a competitive alternative in terms of ground control systems.
In general, shotcrete is extremely effective in controlling spalling or scaling and wedge failure through closure or filling of joints and fractures resulting in transference of the rock load to adjacent stable rock. Shotcrete can be rapidly applied relative to mesh and bolting, and is semi-automated, as such it is far more conducive to efficient inclusion in cyclic operations than mesh and bolting. This paper summarises recent developments in FRS technology and provides a comparison of the practical, economic and productivity aspects of mesh and bolting relative to fibre reinforced shotcrete support methods.
