Chain Valley Colliery Road Stabilisation
Chain Valley Coal Mine is located in the Newcastle coalfield on the southern shore of Lake Macquarie, approximately 48km south of Newcastle. The mine is operated by Lake Coal Pty Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Peabody Pacific.
Although the floor of underground mines are almost always rock or coal, there are often soft lenses of clay or unstable material formed by groundwater seepage transporting fines into low areas of the floor.
Drift pavements are often constructed with loose ballast however due to the frequency of passes by shuttle cars weighing 25-35 tonnes, the ballast regularly became dislodged laterally in the wheel paths, creating deep ruts that required costly maintenance and down time.
"A combination of Geoweb® and Tensar® Geogrids solves this problem by increasing the shear strength and constraining the aggregate from moving laterally therefore maintaining the shape and integrity of the pavement. Pavement stiffness is increased and differential settlements are significantly reduced."
Since the initial trial in 2006 bidim®, Geoweb®and Tensar® geogrids have been installed in other high maintenance areas, including intersections and curves. A number of other coal mines including Mannering Colliery, Mandalong and Beltana Coal Mine have incorporated these solutions. Geofabrics has presented these mines with an economical alternative paving methods such as concrete floors, ballast and precast concrete slabs that are expensive and expensive to construct in underground applications.
