Geo-Design undertook a detailed stability assessment of a large underground mine cavern for Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.
The cavern was situated on the steep side of an asymmetric anticline that had been worked by room and pillar mining. The cavern was situated just above the canal system which passed through the mine in tunnels and was used to transport the limestone away via barge.
The cavern in question required a detailed stability assessment, for which Geo-Design carried out a site investigation and detailed inspection. The collected site investigation data provided a basis for a comprehensive analysis and stability evaluation of the site (including a large area of partial collapse), allowing Geo-Design to develop detailed stabilisation options for the Council.
Geo-Design applied a stepped approach, reviewing the detailed geological and structural detail and building a model of the rock mass in order to assess the stability of the cavern.
View of Step Shaft Cavern