ABSTRACT
The evolution of geotechnical monitoring technology for assessing slope stability issues in real time has progressed rapidly in the last few decades. The technology has advanced the safety of open pit operations and has the potential to change the planning parameters, particularly for activities adjacent to public infrastructure, based on the additional confidence that operators gain from instantaneous access to information. This paper summarizes the experience of a coal mine operating in the rugged topography of the Alberta foothills, excavating extremely structurally complex coal deposits within thrust and fold belt geology. In the last decade the mine experienced several slope failures on both pit walls and waste rock dumps. Back analysis of these failures from the monitoring data has refined the understanding of the speed failures progress at, and the best metrics and thresholds to define how alarm systems should respond to deformation. Case studies that involved open pit footwall failures are presented.
