Design, construction and testing of underground seals

Abstract

There has not been any formal research carried out in South Africa into suitable construction methods and materials for underground seals. This literature survey was done to find out how this is handled in other countries, mainly the USA and Australia with comparable mining conditions and mining methods. It is concluded that although suitable materials and construction methods are available, the only methods of approval are full scale testing, which are costly and impractical. Research is required into the non-destructive and small scale testing of suitable designs and materials