On the Merits of Modified Sublevel Caving Mining Method – A Case Study

Abstract

EffEct of thE EntirE coal Basin flooding on thE land surfacE dEformationthis paper presents one of the environmental problems occurring during underground mine closures: according to the underground coal mine closure programme in Germany, the behaviour of the land surface caused by flooding of the entire planned mining area -the ruhr district -had to be addressed. it was highlighted that water drainage would need to be continuous; otherwise, water levels would rise again in the mining areas, resulting in flooding of currently highly urbanised zones. Based on the variant analysis, it was concluded that the expected uniform ground movements caused by the planned rise in the mining water levels (comprising a part of two concepts -flooding up to the level of -500 m a.s.l. and −600 m a.s.l.), in the rAG Aktiengesellschaft mines, will not result in new mining damage to traditional buildings. the analysis included calculations of the maximum land surface uplift and the most unfavourable deformation factor values on the land surface, important from the point of view of buildings and structures: tilt T, compressive strain εand tensile strain ε + . the impact of flooding on potential, discontinuous land surface deformation was also analysed.