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Planning of Strata Control Study Programme During Depillaring

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Int. Conf. on Deep Excavation, Energy Resources and Production  DEEP16 
24‐26 January 2017, IIT Kharagpur, India 

Paper No. 155

Planning of Strata Control Study Programme
During Depillaring
Prabhat Kumar Mandal1, Arka Jyoti Das2 and Angad Kushwaha3
1
Senior Principal Scientist, 2Scientist, 3Chief Scientist
CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research
Barwa Road, Dhanbad - 826 015, India

Abstract

Strata control is a major concern during underground coal mining and needs special attention. Strata control
related incidents like fall of roof and sides continued to remain the single largest cause of fatal accidents in
underground coal mines. Between two stages of underground coal mining, viz. development and
depillaring; major threat comes during depillaring operation when pillars are extracted i.e., removing of the
natural support. Proper addressing of safety issues and its management during depillaring is a great
challenge for coal mining industry. This situation during depillaring obviously demands more and more
sophisticated and advanced instrumental checking and monitoring of the strata control parameters. Strata
control study during depillaring provides data regarding impending abnormal or dangerous
conditions/situations in mine workings such as roof fall, development of mining induced stress, bed
separation, pillar/stook/rib failure, support performance/failure etc. that action can be taken for safety of the
workers and workings. Proper planning, installation of reliable ground movement sensors with continuous
data acquisition system, generation of adequate data, proper and timely analysis of data are the factors for
success of strata control study programme during depillaring. This paper describes the need for strata
control study especially, during depillaring; the most hazardous operation during underground extraction of
coal, along with different issues of strata control study like parameters to be measured, sensors to be used,
nature of instrumentation and monitoring, etc. including installation of instruments in bord and pillar as
well as longwall panels.

1.0 Introduction

Worldwide coal production data reveals that in between the two coal mining methods, i.e.
opencast and underground, presently, underground mining accounts for a bigger share of coal
production than opencast mining. However, coal production from the opencast mining is more in
some important coal producing countries like Australia, India and USA. But, Indian coal mining
industry has to resort to underground mining methods with suitable high productive technologies
to meet the increasing demand of coal in future due to limitations of open cast mining on account
of reserve inventory, socio-economic issues, environmental imperatives and technological
constraints.
In India, underground mining of coal mainly started with the formation of bords or galleries
when pillars were left as natural support during development stage. In general, during
development, not much strata control problem is faced. In fact, the large scale development of
pillars has been undertaken mainly due to easy availability of coal because of stable strata
conditions for safety of the workers and workings, requirement of trivial expertise, surface and
sub-surface constraints. It is assumed that for every ton of coal production during development,
on an average 3 ton of coal is locked underground in pillars in seams up to 3m thickness. The
amount increased with the thickness of the seam. It is estimated that over 3000 million tons of
coal is locked in pillars in different coal fields of India due to various reasons. But, it is fact that
the actual threat comes during depillaring operation when these locked-up pillars are extracted.
The withdrawal of natural support i.e., extraction of pillar during depillaring operation or creation

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of large void during longwall working destabilised nether roof, burden and ultimately surface
endangering the workers and workings as well as surface features. Monitoring of strata
deformation, stress field and load over the supports gives fair idea of active movement, resultant
fall and chances of overriding. As the danger is invariably from the goaf side, strata control study
using remote instrumentation is very much essential to get indications of instability/ground
behaviour as the accessibility is very poor in this region.
Underground coal mining demands more attention from safety engineering and management
point of view due to its inherent special characteristics. Moreover, underground coal mining
operations are becoming more difficult day by day due to encountering of adverse geo-mining
conditions; like winning of thick as well as complex deposits, winning of seams under
surface/sub-surface constraints, increase in depth of mining, etc. Strata control is always an issue
for application of any underground coal mining method. In fact, strata control plays a major role
for success of a mining method during underground extraction of a coal seam. The situation
demands close observation of strata in and around the working round the clock, especially, in
dynamic operations like depillaring in coal mines. The proper study of rock mass along with
close monitoring of strata behaviour during depillaring makes the strata control easier. Safety is
the prime concern in underground coal mines since ages where accidents occur mainly due to
falls of roof and sides. Proper identification of rock formations, proper calculation of physico-
mechanical properties of host rock, proper calculation of required support resistance and
subsequent support design, identification of strata anomalies and application of appropriate
support technology may eliminate strata control related problems. However, it is not always
possible to ensure all of these due to a variety of reasons. Therefore, there is a need of a proper
instrumentation and monitoring scheme and its implementation for measurement of different
strata control parameters for strata control and management during depillaring. In this paper,
different aspect of strata control study during depillaring is briefly discussed.

2.0 Issues of Strata Control Study

Generally, efforts are made to project likely rock behaviour in advance by theoretical analysis
and modeling by designing of different underground structures like size of panel, dimensions of
pillars/galleries/ribs, caving of roof etc. for depillaring of a coal seam. But, the exercises may not
yield reliable results due to the difficulties of incorporating the actual characteristics of the rock
mass in a real structure during theoretical assumptions. The depositional conditions of the site
also play a major role in estimating the performance of mining structures. In fact, the behaviour
of underground structures during depillaring are generally considered to be site specific due to
wide variation of different geomining parameters of different mine sites. This is the reason we
find that most of the strata control norms are based on empirical formulations developed by
measurement/testing of different parameters at different mines. But, for development of
empirical formulations require quite dense field measurements of different strata control
parameters. However, the field measurements of the strata control parameters during depillaring
are extremely challenging. Hazardous nature of the instrumented site during final extraction of
coal makes the job even more difficult. Under the conditions, specialized sensors / instruments /
equipments and skilled manpower along with a proper instrumentation and monitoring plan
should be the integral part of the study. In fact, strata control study is going to emerge as the most
powerful and reliable method for understanding and prediction of the ground behaviour
parameters that governs the stability of the workings during hazardaus operations like
depillaring. Implementation of any new concept, the monitoring of the ground behaviour
becomes more important to ascertain unknown parameters during the experimental trial for
implementation of a new concept or methodology.
2.1 Instrumentation and Monitoring
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For the survival of underground mining and due to economical, environmental and safety
considerations, it is obvious that underground coal mining needs large scale mechanisation and
automation. Therefore, more and more underground mines are likely to adopt increasingly
modern equipment to compete with the arriving global challenges of production, productivity and
safety. The mechanisation and automation of the underground mining require matching
technology for measurement and monitoring of the strata control parameters. Optimisation of
safety and recovery during depillaring involves extensive and well planned programme for
measurements and control of a number of strata control parameters through instrumentation and
monitoring (Altounyan et al., 1997). Today not only scientists and researchers but also industry
people should realize the importance of underground instrumentation and monitoring for safety
of the men and machinery, improvement in production, productivity and profitability. According
to Brady and Brown (1985) and other reserchers, in broader perspective monitoring may be
carried out for the following four main reasons:

i) To record the natural values of, and variations in, geotechnical parameters before the
initiation of an engineering project.
ii) To ensure safety during construction and operation by giving warning for development of
threshold values or any impending danger.
iii) To check the validity of the assumptions, conceptual models and the values of properties
used in design calculations.
iv) To control the implementation of ground treatment and remedial works.

For mining, monitoring is generally carried out for the last two reasons and also as a preventive
measure for ensuring safety. Monitoring for the safety of the mine structure is a responsibility of
the engineers who are involved in mining. Engineers should monitor the rock mass response
during mining and, as a consequence, adjust the overall mine design or take remedial measures. It
is fact that rock masses are extremely complex media and it is difficult to predetermine rock mass
properties accurately ahead of excavation. Generally, the models used to predict the various
aspects of rock mass response to different types of mining systems are based on idealisations,
assumptions and some case simplifications.

2.2 Critical Parameters for Strata Control Study

For assessing the stability of an underground working the parameters may be distinctly
categorised as follows (Ghosh et al., 1994):
(i) Constant Parameters: These parameters are site specific and in most of the cases are required
during planning for a given geo-mining condition e.g., virgin in situ stresses, rock mass
classification parameters, physico-mechanical properties, etc. and
(ii) Variable Parameters: Parameters which change with the mining operations are monitored
and controlled regularly and continuously include stress, deformation, bed separation, load on
support, health and performance of the support system, etc.

Strata control study should be planned in such a way that the study should cover the working
area, goaf area and in advance of the face for prediction of roof fall, supports behaviour, roof and
floor instability and goaf behaviour. The instability of the ground is manifested in the form of
roof convergence, bed separation, change in stress over the ribs, stooks or pillars, load over the
supports and settlement of the goaf. The instrumentation should be planned to get the trend in

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change and critical limit of different parameters in the interest of better production, productivity
and safety during depillaring. The some of the basic parameters to be monitored during
depillaring in advance of the face, over the line of working and within goaf are as follows
(Mandal et al., 1998, 2006):

Roof fall parameters

i) Convergence or roof and floor closure
ii) Bed separation, sagging and deflection
iii) Load on supports and health and performance of supports
Side fall parameters
i) Dilation or side closure
ii) Pillar strain
iii) Stress concentration and side crushing
Goaf behaviour parameters
i) Convergence or roof and floor closure
ii) Rib crushing and side spalling
iii) Caving trend or sequence of fall
vi) Goaf filing or cushioning

The strata control study prefers dense measurement in space and time for a meaningful
conclusion. But, generally, the number of the observational points/stations in a panel is optimized
to meet the economical consideration of the study. This optimization is achieved through
experience and in depth consideration of geo-mining conditions of the site. During the
monitoring, positions of instrumented stations remain stationary and the line of extraction
overtakes all these stations with increase in dimension of the excavation. Although the trend of
variation of strata control parameters is observed to be quite different at different mines, the
value of mining induced stress (Singh et al., 1996) over pillars and roof to floor convergence
during depillaring, generally, increases with decrease in distance of the observation station with
respect to the line of extraction. Similarly, the values of other parameters like bed separation,
load on support etc. were also influenced by the face advance of a depillaring panel. Further, the
peak of the strata movement problem is encountered during major roof falls. Underground
investigation needs instruments to be installed before commencement of depillaring to get the
peak of strata movement during depillaring. Some of the major influential parameters are briefly
discussed below:

2.2.1 Mining induced stress

In case of depillaring operation the re-distribution of stress over remnant pillars/ribs/stooks are
monitored with the help of stress meters. The trend and pattern of re-distribution of stress in the
rock mass/coal around an excavation are monitored in terms of the changes in stress levels. It is
difficult to control a stiffer overlying stratum through an applied roof support during depillaring.
Laboratory and field investigations have demonstrated (Sheorey et al., 1995) that the proper
design of stiffness of natural supports can effectively tackle the problem of depillaring under
uncaveable coal measures. However, here study of mining induced stress developed over the
pillars for varying dimension of excavation becomes an important issue to understand the
interaction between the natural support and overlying strong and massive strata during different
stages of the depillaring. Generally, a number of stress meters are fixed to pick up the variation
of mining induced stress with face advance in a depillaring panel. The readings of a single
instrument provide some idea of variation of mining induced stress but found to be broken in
nature and inconclusive to estimate the nature of strata movement.

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2.2.2 Convergence
Convergence, or the relative displacement of two points on the boundary of excavation, is
probably the most frequently taken underground measurement. During depillaring convergence is
measured continuously to get information of bed separations and the rate of convergence can be
used as warning to impending roof falls and other strata movement problems. Thus, convergence
monitoring may improve the safety of work place and in turn worker’s security which has a
direct bearing on the productivity of the mine.

2.2.2 Load on supports

The stability evaluation of a freshly exposed roof over a gallery is generally done with the
observation of load on support. Load cells are generally placed below the applied supports like
props/chocks/roof-bolts to measure load encountered during different stages of mining. The load
cell performs well to pick up the load generated over the support if the applied support is stiff in
nature. However, in actual practice, the stiffness of passive support keeps fluctuating and
generally remains poor. To improve safety, industry is adopting stiffer supports, like pre-
tensioned roof bolts, to control the roof effectively during excavation. The load cells placed over
the collar of these roof bolts provides only collar load, which may mislead the analysis. If the
roof strata parts then the primary function of a roof bolt is to carry the load of the parted rock
blocks. Here maximum load over the bolt is developed near the parting horizon and a simple
model of load distribution in the bolt (Singh et al., 2001) is shown in Fig.1. To understand the
actual load distribution along a roof bolt, instrumented bolts are used. Here a number of pairs of
strain gauges are embedded along the length of a bolt (Fig. 2) to pick up axial and shear load
simultaneously at each point. The readings of all these strain gauges are taken through lead wires,
which can be extended to a safe observation station. Stiff and high capacity roof bolts are being
used as breaker line support of a depillaring face. To optimize the design of roof bolts based
breaker line support, loading of the roof bolts at different stages of depillaring was studied with
the help instrumented bolts.

Pick up length Anchor length

Neutral point
Bolt load

Load over
the plate

Distance inside the rock from plate

Fig. 1: A simple model of load distribution along a full column grouted bolt installed in the roof
over a narrow gallery.

Pair of strain gauges at different positions along the

5 and shear loads.
length of a bolt to pick up axial
Connecting wire
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Fig. 2: Instrumented bolt for load distribution study.

2.2.3 Bed separation

A borehole extensometer with multi-anchor facility is used to locate the parting horizon
above the working because the readings of an extensometer give differential movement among
the anchors. This instrument is generally fitted in an upward hole drilled from the working
horizon. It provides valuable information till roof is intact as is the case of development of a coal
seam. However, this instrument, generally, fails to give important information during depillaring,
if installed conventionally in an upward drilled hole. In fact, the mouthpieces (containing
sensors) of this instrument get damaged with the instability in the immediate roof, which
ultimately ends the life of the instrument. However, if the multipoint extensometer is installed
from surface (shallow depth cover case) or overlying development (multi-seam mining case)
through a downward drilled hole (Fig. 3), then the instrument provides better information about
the bed separation. Here, the roof fall causes loss of the lower anchors only. Overlying anchors
and mouthpiece with sensors remain intact even after the roof fall. Multipoint borehole
extensometer, placed parallel to a roof bolt in the roof strata, is used to understand the in situ
effectiveness of a high capacity stiff bolt as the resin grouted high capacity roof bolts are being
applied to control the movement of laminated roof strata during depillaring.

Borehole extensometer Surface

Telescopic
convergence rod

Anchors

Reference peg in roof

Excavation
Coal Seam

Reference peg in floor Convergence Indicator

Figure 3: A sectional view of anchors and mouthpiece of a multipoint borehole extensometer
installed in a downward drilled hole over an underground working

2.3 Strata Control Instruments

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Frequently used instruments for strata control investigations are: (a) Load cells, (b) Convergence
indicator (c) Instrumented bolts (d) Stress meters (e) Strain Bars/meters and (5) Bore hole
extensometer. During underground investigations, these instruments are mainly used to gather
two types of information about structures in and around the excavation: (a) stress/load and (b)
strain/deformation. For this purpose different electro-magnetic sensors along with some site-
specific mechanical arrangements are installed at different prefixed positions of a panel before
the commencement of the final extraction. The positions of these instruments are selected in such
a way that they remain undisturbed during extraction of the pillars and also remain protected
inside goaf till roof fall. However application of these instruments provides point to point
information in the space but can be made continuous in time with the help of a microprocessor
based data logger. Generally, four types of sensors are used for all these underground
instruments, which are based on following four principles:

 Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT)

 Strain gauge
 Rheostat/variable resistance
 Vibrating wire

Out of these four types of sensors, the first three types of sensors provide analogue information
while the last one sends only frequency, which is a fixed value like digital signal. It is very
difficult to carry the analogue signals of the first three types of sensors to a distant safe place
without noise and distortion. However, the frequency obtained by the vibrating wire sensor does
not get affected during the transmission. This feature of the vibrating wire (Fig. 4) sensors makes
it superior to other sensors because it is always desirable to monitor instrument’s reading from a
distant and safe place during underground mining (Dutta, 1985). Further, it is always better to
monitor the readings continuous in time with the help of a microprocessor base data logger
system. The hostile environment of underground coal mining does not permit to place a
microprocessor based system quite close to the working face. The data logger has to be placed at
a distant and safe place, generally, outside the panel while the sensors are to be fixed in and
around the working face. The vibrating wire sensors have got capability to tackle the data
transmission issue for the required distant positions of the sensors and data logger.

Wedge
Proving ring Platen A

Vibrating wire A
Signal cable Plucking coil
Cross-section
A-A Side view
Fig. 4: Positioning of wedge, platen and the stretched wire for the stress measurement.
The stress meter is easily embedded in rock mass through a hole and a wedge-platen system,
fastened in a simple mechanical setting tool unit. Change in rock stresses impose changing loads

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over the stress meter’s body causing the body to deflect and this deflection is noted as change in
tension and resonant frequency of vibration of the vibrating wire element. The square of the
vibration frequency is directly proportional to the change in diameter of the stress meter, which is
calibrated to obtain the stress change in the rock. A coil and magnet assembly, located close to
the tensioned wire, is used to excite the wire and sense the resultant frequency of vibration. When
the stress meter is connected to read out box (Fig. 5), a pulse of varying frequency is applied to
the coil and magnet assembly, and this causes the wire to vibrate at its resonant frequency. The
resonant frequency is induced in the pluck up coil and transmitted to the readout box, where it is
conditioned and displayed. Geo-technical investigations related with mining encounter stable to
extremely unstable underground structures during different stages of mining requiring matching
capability of the applied instruments. Due to this reason the applied instruments have got, at
least, two variants: remote type and none-remote type. Remote types of instruments are used only
when the instrumented site is likely to be inaccessible during the excavation otherwise non-
remote type of instruments are preferred. In fact, the remote type instruments involve bit complex
electronics while the none-remote type instruments are generally based on simple mechanical
principles. Further the extended connecting wire of a remote type instrument always face threat
from the hostile underground environment. Vibrating wire instruments, generally, meets the
requirement for the remote type instruments and preferred for the underground strata movement
monitoring work due to its above discussed technical merits. Some of the frequently used
instruments are discussed below:

2.3.1 Stress meters

Design of underground structures and pattern of excavation is greatly influenced by the value and
range of mining induced stress (vertical). Vibrating wire type stress meter is to be used to
monitor the mining induced vertical stress developed over the pillars/stooks/fenders. It is a
reliable and preferred instrument for long term monitoring because it provides frequency as an
output signal. The stress meters are installed into the horizontally drilled boreholes in the pillars
by setting tool and tightened with the help of wedge and platen assembly.

Fig. 5: A vibrating wire stress meter with readout box.

2.3.2 Dual Height Telltales

This instrument provides visual indication of movement of roof strata in the opening of a coal
seam. The cut-off values are also designated on the instruments, which gives warning of possible
roof failure. Remedial actions may be taken if the observed value exceeds the cut off value. It is
proposed that these instruments should be installed at all the junctions as well as in the middle of
all dip-rise galleries.

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2.3.3 Rotary Telltales

When the movement of roof strata is low, then this instrument is used to measure the movement
(<10mm) as this instrument magnifies vertical displacement into a rotational movement i.e. 5mm
= 60° of rotation. During development and splitting, the amount of roof movement is, generally,
low. Therefore, this instrument may provide better information to monitor strata movement
during development, widening and heightening of the galleries.
2.3.4 Auto warning Telltales
This instrument provides information about the movement of roof strata within the horizons,
where these instruments are fixed. Considering the geo-mining conditions of the panel, it is
proposed to keep the length of this instrument equal to 10 m. If any movement of roof strata
occurs below 10 m from the roof of the gallery, then it starts flushing automatically after
attaining the fixed/set values in the instrument. Proper precautions are required to be taken for
safety of man and machinery after the warning.
2.3.5 Roof extensometers
This instrument is basically used for monitoring of the separation of different roof stratum during
drivage of an opening in the rock. It may be a single, double or multi-point anchor type
instrument, depending on the number of roof horizons of interest. It is always good to place these
instruments in a downward hole to understand the complete nature of bed separation because the
instrument installed in upward hole, generally, get damaged with fall/major movement of the
immediate roof strata. Due to high depth of cover of the panel, these instruments are to be
installed in upward holes. In this panel, two way and four way type roof extensometers are
proposed to be installed.
2.3.6 Rib extensometers
This instrument is used for monitoring the dilation of the pillar. It may be a single, double or
multi-point anchor type instrument, depending on the nature of loading/spalling of the pillars. In
this panel, two way and four way type of rib extensometers are proposed to be installed.
2.3.7 Instrumented roof bolts
For monitoring of load distribution along the full column grouted roof bolts, “instrumented roof
bolts” are used, in which strain gauges are fixed along the length of roof/cable bolts at different
intervals. These instruments are proposed to be installed at the locations of breaker line supports
so that these may provide an idea of support performance during the depillaring operation.
2.3.8 Convergence indicators
For convergence measurement convergence recorders are used. There are generally two types
(Fig. 6) of convergence measurement instruments as given below:
(i) Remote indicating type: Remote monitoring of the roof movement near goaf edge and within
the goaf is essential as close observations are neither safe nor feasible due to accessibility. Such
places are monitored from distances by transmitting electrical signals. These recorders are
installed along the goaf edge support and left even after withdrawal of goaf edge support if
required. Monitoring is done by connecting these instruments through cable from central
monitoring station located outside the panel at a safe place. The roof movement is observed in
terms of change in resistance.
(ii) Telescopic type convergence meter: These instruments are very useful to monitor roof
movement near working faces. Two reference pegs, vertically opposite in roof and floor, are
fixed at each convergence station along the development gallery. The separation between these

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two pegs is noted at different interval of time with the help of a graduated telescopic rod to
understand the roof to floor convergence. These types of convergence meters are quite popular
due to low cost, simplicity of installation and easy measurement.
2.3.9 Load cells
Load cells are used to estimate the load being experienced by the applied support in and around
the underground workings. Efficacy and adequacy of the support system can be inferred on the
basis of these load cells. The load cells can be installed on the hydraulic props or roof bolts (Fig.
7) depending upon the types of load cells.

Remote convergence indicator Telescopic type manual convergence indicator

Fig. 6: Different types of convergence indicator

Base support type load cell Hollow type load cell Mechanical type load cell
Fig. 7: Different types of load cells used in strata control study
2.4 Planning of Strata Control Study Programme

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The aim of the strata control study is to ensure safety of men and machine and also increase
production and productivity. It increases human capability of prediction of rock mass behaviour.
To achieve meaningful outcome from the instrumentation programme, careful selection and
planning of the instruments/sensors is very much required. In order to attend the intended goals
of any field instrumentation and monitoring in convenient and reliable fashion, the
instrumentation system should be so chosen that some basic conditions are satisfactorily fulfilled.
In general, all components of a monitoring system should be as simple as possible and the
instruments should be durable and robust and easy to install. An effective instrument should have
most of the following features (De Souza, 1998): (i) Low cost; Simple to use; (ii) Robust, durable
and reliable; (iii) Corrosion resistant; (iv) Water and dust proof; (v) Long-term stability; (vi)
Suitable sensitivity; (vii) Intrinsically safe; (viii) Remote readout capability; (ix) Continuous
recording; (x) Built-in alarm.
The selections of specific instruments depend on the anticipated mechanisms associated with
ground response to mining. A prediction of the type of mechanism, its location, its expected
magnitude and direction is necessary before attempting to design a monitoring programme. The
selection of instruments types, resolution and ranges, depends on whether the anticipated
displacements, stress changes or loads are expected to be large or small, rapid or slow, near the
excavation or deep in the strata. Instrumentation design also involves selection of the type of
recording, manual (using micrometers. readout boxes, etc.) or continuous (dataloggers, data
communication systems, etc.), at the site or remote.

Planning of instrumentation for strata control study should be done in tune with its purpose. The
data generated must neither be too scanty to be confident, nor be too many to be confused.
Monitoring and recording of instrument reading should be done on routine basis. Observational
data must be interpreted carefully with due weightage to experience. Sometimes, reading may be
apparently abnormal to accept. There may be two reasons for such conditions, namely,
instrumental/observational error, or sudden large deformation and displacement in reality. In
such cases, the rock mass/coal surrounding the installed instrument should be visually checked /
inspected by experienced personnel to verify the validity to the instrument readings and proper
preventive measures should be taken, if required. Instruments should be installed prior to mining
to allow sufficient time for detailed checking and full scale calibration. The process of
installation requires the selection of locations which offer maximum protection for the
instruments. Detailed recording of the installation programme in plans, sections and log books is
essential. By understanding the purpose of instrumentation, an informed workforce will not only
contribute to the development of an effective ground control programme but also ensure security
of the instruments.

2.5 Continuous Monitoring with Microprocessor based Datalogger

During the last few decades mining industry has been dominated by a common trend of all the
industry and largely replaced manual methods of operations by mechanised methods. The
situation obviously demands more and more sophisticated and advanced instrumental checking
and monitoring of the ground control parameters. To meet this requirement a great step forward
is the introduction of microprocessor based continuous remote instrumentation and monitoring in
mines particularly in underground mines mainly during depillaring operations because of its
special significance for safety of the miners with higher productivity and effective utilisation of
man power. Continuous recording, although expensive, permits real time detection of changing
ground conditions during mining and an immediate respond to any impending ground control
hazard. With usual method of instrumentation readings are taken in hours, shifts or days, which

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fail to evaluate the limiting or strategic values. Thus suitable guidelines in respect of safety of the
workers and the workings cannot be framed. The installation of continuous monitoring system
with the aid of electronic sensors is likely to decipher the deformation and stress values and help
in evolving limiting values before the settlement of goaf, crushing of ribs and stress and
deformation on the face during depillaring operation (Mandal and Maity, 2000). The hostile mine
atmosphere is the main bottleneck in instrumentation and data collection underground.

3.0 Strata Control Study Programme During Depillaring

It is obvious that strata control study programme in a bord and pillar panel and a longwall panel
are different although the most of the instruments are similar in nature. The strata control study
programme in the two methods of mining is given in the following section. Some the instruments
installed in a bord and pillar depillaring panel is shown in Fig. 8.

Grouted anchor

Borehole Extension rod (non-grouted)

Sensor box Reference peg in roof
Telescopic
convergence rod
Borehole
extensometer
Stress meter Load cell
Remote convergence indicator Reference peg in floor
Remote measuring instruments Manual instruments
in and around splitting and slicing in development galleries
Fig. 8: A typical sectional view of placement of placement of rmote and manual instruments for
underground strata movement monitoring.
3.1 Strata control study in a bord and pillar panel
It has already been discussed that strata control study should be planned in such a way that the
study should cover the working area, goaf area and in advance of the face for prediction of roof
fall, supports behaviour, roof and floor instability and goaf behaviour during depillaring. In bord
and pillar working, generally roof convergence, bed separation, change in stress over the ribs,
stooks or pillars, load over the supports and settlement of the goaf are monitored. Some of
objectives of strata control studies in a bord and pillar workings may be (i) To assess the dilation
of strata within bolted horizon and above the bolted horizon (ii) To assess the convergence of
strata layers at roof and sides during development; (iii) To assess the transverse loading over the
length of roof bolts during development and extraction; (iv) To design optimum support system
(v) To monitor/control caving of roof as desired (vi) To avoid premature collapses of roof and
sides in and around the area of extraction; (vii) To determine the threshold limit of parameters for
safe withdrawal of men and machinery. The typical instrumentation programme in a bord and
pillar depillaring with continuous miner are shown in Fig. 9.
3.2 Strata control study in a longwall panel

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Int. Conf. on Deep Excavation, Energy Resources and Production  DEEP16 
24‐26 January 2017, IIT Kharagpur, India 

A thorough investigation of the roof strata and the support systems is required to completely
understand the geomechanical behavior of the roof and the performance of the powered support
system in a longwall face, so that the problems arising from strata can be tackled effectively. It
also helps in minimising face stoppages and production delays ensuring safety of the men and
machineries. Therefore, proper strata behaviour study is to be conducted in a longwall panel
using state-of-the-art instrumentation adopting a suitable scheme (Fig. 10) which will address all
the issues related to strata and support behaviour.
A comprehensive strata behaviour study scheme in a longwall panel is shown in Fig 8 (S&T
Report, 2010). Under the scheme, load and convergence variations ahead of the face were
recorded in the main gate and tail gate using load cells and convergence recorders. Movements of
the overlying beds were monitored by using surface borehole extensometers and tell-tale
extensometers. The stresses in the rib pillars and advance pillars were monitored using stress
capsules. The loading pattern of the strata on the face supports were also monitored using
pressure gauges and leg closure recorders. Data loggers were also used for continuous monitoring
of a few pre-identified chocks. Efforts were also made by using micro-seismic monitoring
technique to correlate caving phenomenon with the micro-seismic events.

4.0 Conclusions
There is no doubt that strata control study in an underground coal mine is highly challenging and
technical to extract valuable information about the strata behaviour for safety of the workers and
workings. Field experience along with information about the geomining conditions is vital to
judge the suitability of different types of instruments for visualization of rock mass response
under the varying loading conditions of a dynamic mining face like depillaring. An attempt has
been made in this paper to cover most of the aspects of strata control study in a depillaring face.
The judicious planning and installation of quality ground movement sensors with continuous
remote monitoring (Mandal et al., 2004) along with the careful and timely interpretation of data
may ensure safety of the workers and workings. The development of suitable data
communication technology for high-speed, low-noise interference bi-directional data transfers is
necessary to permit the use of real-time, integrated continuous monitoring system. Future rock
instrumentation programmes for strata control during depillaring will be fully automated and
wireless with the integrated high-capacity data processing systems playing the ultimate control.

Acknowledgement
The author is thankful to the Director, CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research,
Dhanbad for permitting to present/publish the paper. The part of the paper is a review of
work/study and analysis done by different scientists of CSIR-CIMFR. Authors are thankful to Dr.
Rajendra Singh, Chief Scientist, Dr. Arun Kumar Singh, Principal Scientist, Mr. D. Kumbhakar,
Principal Scientist and other colleagues of CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad. The views expressed in this
paper are that of the authors and not necessarily of the organisation they belong to.

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Int. Conf. on Deep Excavation, Energy Resources and Production  DEEP16 
24‐26 January 2017, IIT Kharagpur, India 

624
L
634
65
L
55 60
45 50 64L
35 40
25 30
20 59 64
5 10 15 49 54 65L
39 44 Ω

29 34 Ω
21 24 Ω 63
4 9 14 48 53 58 66L
Ω 43
Ω
Ω 33 38
21 23 28 62
3 8 13 Ω 47 52 67L
32 37 42
27
12 22 22 56 61
7 41 46 51 68L
2 26 31 36
23 21 44D
6 11 46D 69L
1
38D 37D 36D
41D 40D 39D
43D 42D
47D 45D
49D 48D
50D

Boundary line of top horizon workings Boundary line of middle horizon workings
Boundary line of bottom horizon workings Boundary line of virgin area
Proposed development of virgin area
LEGEND
2 way rib extensometer Stress meter 4 way rib extensometer Auto warning telltale
4 way roof extensometer Duel height telltale 2 way roof extensometer Ω Strain gauge bolt
Rotary telltale, to be installed in the middle of each split gallery

Fig. 9: Instrumentation plan for strata monitoring in a bord and pillar continuous miner panel

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Int. Conf. on Deep Excavation, Energy Resources and Production  DEEP16 
24‐26 January 2017, IIT Kharagpur, India 

Barrie r Pill ar
SM
S S S
T T-R
Tail Ga te C C C C C TT -R C C LC
TT TT TT LC C LP
S S S I
O P
C
R C LP
T
O A
E
IC
R C LP
P R
T
E P
R I F
C C LP A
MPB X SM MP BX MPB X R C LP O
E
C
A O P G
O P F
IC
C LP
R
O P I
C
C LP

S S S R
C LP
C C C C C TT- R C C LC
Ma in G at e TT TT LC
TT TT T T-R
S S S
50 0 m 30 0 m 200m 10 0 m 50m
Barrie r Pill ar Not to sca le

INDEX :
L Load C ell s - 5 TT Te ll- Tale Ex te ns omet e rs – 1 2 C Conve rge nce St a tions
S St res s C el ls – 1 2 TT-R R emot e- ty pe TTs - 4 RC I Rem ot e Conv e rge nc e Indic at ors – 5
P Pre ss ure Ce lls – 6MPBX Surface extenso me ter s – 3 CLP Choc k Leg C onv ergence /Pre ss ure Se nsors - 8
O Geop hon es fr om su rface-5 SM In-situ stress measur ements - 2

L ayou t of instru ments in a lo ngw all pan el (c ombined p lan)

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 Int. Conf. on Deep Excavation, Energy Resources and Production  DEEP16 
24‐26 January 2017, IIT Kharagpur, India 

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