Automatic Monitoring System Designed for Controlling the Stability of Underground Excavation

Abstract

Ensuring the stability of mining excavations is a crucial aspect of underground mining. For this
purpose, appropriate shapes, dimensions, and support of workings are designed for the given mining and
geological conditions. However, for the proper assessment of the adequacy of the used technical solutions,
and the calibration of the models used in the support design, it is necessary to monitor the behavior of the
excavation. It should apply to the rock mass and the support. The paper presents the automatic system
designed for underground workings monitoring, and the example of its use in the heading. Electronic
devices that measure the rock mass movements in the roof, the load on the standing support, and on bolts,
the stress in the rock mass, are connected to the datalogger and can collect data for a long of time without
any maintenance, also in hard-to-reach places. This feature enables the system to be widely used, in
particular, in excavations in the vicinity of exploitation, goafs, or in the area of a liquidated exploitation
field.