BLASTING OVER 40 FEET OF TOE BURDEN - A CASE

STUDY TO OUTLINE MODERN PLANNING TECHNIQUES.

By Richard O'Meara.
Austin Powder Company.
Red Diamond, McArthur, Ohio.

1. Abstract.
The use of angled shot holes can be extremely effective in blasting faces that either have a
great deal of toe burden or where it is difficult to give a drill access to a face due to backbreak
and face erosion. However many quarry operators are wary of using angled holes because of
the perceived possibility of increased flyrock and uncertainty of the driller's abilities to drill at
the designed angle.

This paper will discuss a situation in which a quarry was forced to drill angled holes due to
the characteristics of the face. By using modern laser profiling technology, borehole deviation
measurement and computer modeling of the face to be shot, the concerns about flyrock and
other hazards were eliminated.

In this example the bench was laser profiled to establish the true burden across the entire
breadth of the face. The engineers then used computer software to help design the best hole
pattern, using a combination of straight and angled holes drilled to achieve a constant elevation.
Once this had been drilled, the exact position of each hole in that face could then be surveyed
and the angle and any deviation measured. From this information the explosives loading pattern
could then be designed for each hole, dependent on the burden at every point down it and the
initiation sequence calculated accordingly.

The resultant blast was both highly effective and, most importantly, very safe. It is doubtful
whether it could have been blasted as safely, confidently and accurately without the benefit of
such technology.

2. Background.
Towards the end of 1992, one of Austin Powder's granite quarrying customers approached
the company, seeking some help with a difficult blasting problem. The quarry wanted to start a
new bench and alter the direction of mining. Establishing this new bench required cutting a slot
into the top of a very old highwall situated directly across from the processing plant. Being
granite, the top of this highwall had weathered in the typical "onion layer" way and had resulted
in a long dome of rock. Obviously it was going to be very difficult to drill and blast the first face
with conventional vertical holes because the drill would have to set up so far back from the

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face, due to this weathered backbreak. See Figure 1. The Quarry Superintendent also wanted
to have all the holes drilled to the same elevation, so that the resultant floor would be horizontal.
Since the top of the highwall varied in elevation along its entire length this further complicated
the task of planning the drilling. Also the processing plant was relatively close and in the direct
line of the blast, so it was imperative that flyrock be reduced as much as possible.

The hardest part about planning a blast like this is establishing the true burden down the full
length of the holes. This would prove especially difficult in this instance since it was obvious
from the outset that a combination of angled and vertical holes would be required, to effectively
blast what the naked eye could see was going to be at least 40 feet of burden. At the time of
the initial survey, the entire highwall was inaccessible either from the top, due to the
accumulation of boulders and the amount of backbreak, or from the base, due to a deep pond
that had filled the old workings. Add to all this the fact that the contract driller had never drilled
an angled hole at this quarry and the whole project was looking very awkward.

To overcome these problems Austin Powder decided to use a laser profiler to remotely
survey the face. The measurements obtained would allow a computer program to generate a
three dimensional model of the bench and eliminate any questions about the true geometry of
the blast. Then it would be possible to plan where best to drill the holes and at what angles.
Later, once the holes had been drilled, they would be surveyed in, to establish the site of each
collar with respect to the face. Then the angle and deviation along the full length of the holes
would be measured to give the true burdens at every point within each hole. Finally the
explosives would be loaded in a manner that would ensure a safe blast with no flyrock. Using
another computer program, the explosives loading would also be checked to ensure that the
powder factor remained within a set range.

3. Field Procedure.
3.1. Initial Survey.
The initial visit to the quarry and the first survey involved surveying the face with a three
dimensional laser profiler. All the measurements required had to be performed remotely
because of the inaccessibility problems already mentioned, difficulties tailor made for Laser
Profiling. Laser surveying incorporates the use of a theodolite with an electronic distance
measurer or E.D.M. in one device. First order EDM's require a prism at the point of interest to
reflect back to the device an emitted pulse of Infrared Laser light. Measuring the time taken for
the laser light pulse to travel to and from the reflector gives a direct calculation of the overall
distance traveled since the speed of light is a constant. At the same time, values for the vertical
angle and the horizontal angle are recorded. The devices used in surface mining operations do
not require a special reflector to bounce the laser off, the rock face is sufficiently reflective.
However where first order EDM's are accurate to hundredths of an inch, instruments in the
face surveying category achieve an accuracy of a few inches. This is ample resolution for this
application, giving results that are quicker to obtain and more accurate than any other method,
particularly in difficult access situations.

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3.2. Drill Pattern.
Once the results from the laser profiler had been downloaded into the computer, the
engineers were able to plan the drilling pattern for the first row of holes, designed both to
achieve a constant elevation and to take care of the very large burdens on the front face of the
shot. Subsequent rows could then be drilled on the quarry's' standard pattern to establish the
first section of the slot.

Figures 2 and 3 show examples of this planning process for one line of holes. The laser
profiling establishes the topography of the bench which can then be "sliced" across, to give a
cross section through a hole at that point and the face. During the planning process the hole can
be moved with respect to the face and have the angle altered. The software has been designed
to immediately show the effects on the front row burden distances when the hole is collared
closer to, or further away from the face and to show the effects of different angles of drilling.
These changes are shown both graphically and in table format. At the end of the planning
process the hole angles and positions were summarised and the results given to the driller to
follow. All the collar positions were marked with painted rocks and were taken directly from
the software with relation to two known points.

3.3. Monitoring the Holes.

Once the holes had been drilled, following the drill plan as closely as possible, the actual
angles and true positions of each hole could be surveyed. Plotting the positions of the actual
collar of each hole was a matter of surveying in a marker on top of the hole and merging this
data with the original survey of the bench. Then a probe was lowered down each hole to
measure the angle achieved and any deviation from the original plan. This probe consists of a
stainless steel cylinder approximately 6 feet long containing two inclinometers set at 90 degrees
to each other and a microprocessor. The probe is attached to a series of 6 foot rods that allow
it to be lowered down the borehole and stopped at discrete intervals. A second electronic
notebook, operated at the top of the hole serves to monitor the depths at which the probe is
stopped and the inclination of the hole recorded. After all the holes in the front row have been
monitored, the information retained in both the surface notebook and the probe are
downloaded into a computer for processing. The output shows the hole depth and any
deviation of the hole with relation to the free face. Figure 4 shows the output for one of the
holes, showing the angled drilling towards the free face. Table 1 shows the comparison
between the drill angles and depths planned and those achieved on the bench.

Combining the results of the hole monitoring with the "map" of the face from the Laser
Profiler gives the best possible indication of the real burdens for the front row of holes. For use
with angle drilled holes, the results allow the most accurate assessment of how to load the holes
in the safest and most effective manner. Figure 5 shows one cross section of the actual results
achieved. It shows the relative position of both the vertical hole and the angled hole to the free
face. The tabulation of the burdens between each hole and the face allowed the engineers to
calculate the interburden between the two holes to ensure that the holes were not overloaded
with explosives, since account must be taken of their proximity, particularly towards the top of

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each hole.

Figure 6 gives an isometric view of the entire shot and the holes in the front row, both angled
and vertical. The constant drilling elevation has been achieved, all that remained was to blast it.

3.4. Loading the holes.

Figures 7 shows the output from part of the hole loading calculations. A combination of
straight ANFO and Heet 130, a 30% emulsion blend, were available for the blast, and these
were loaded to maintain a reasonably consistent powder factor, predominantly blend in the
angled holes and ANFO in the vertical hole behind, where the interburden was smaller. The
computer printout shows the burden on the hole at 3 feet intervals as well as the powder factor
in that region taking into account the explosives density, coupling factor and spacing between
the holes.

Initiation was achieved with a Non Electric system, detonating only one hole at a time to
reduce vibration. Surface delays were either 17, 25 or 42 milliseconds with two 350
millisecond delay detonators per hole. Two one pound cast pentolite boosters were used as
primers.

4. Blast Results.
Both initial assessment of the shot and subsequent analysis of a high speed film of the shot
showed a blast that went exactly as expected apart from a couple of big chunks on the short
left hand side where a previously hidden mudslip caused some loss of explosives energy.

5. Summary.
Sophisticated analysis and measurement techniques, such as Laser Profiling and Borehole
Deviation Monitoring, certainly helped the Engineers perform a safe and highly effective blast in
what would otherwise have been a very awkward situation. A large face burden was cleanly
broken using a combination of vertical and angled holes, the explosives only being loaded once
the engineers were happy that the geometry was as planned. This case study serves to illustrate
how a little extra time spent in studying and planning blasting operations can pay operators big
dividends in terms of safety and overall cost effectiveness, particularly in difficult blasts.

6. Acknowledgments.
The author would like to thank MDL and Measurement Solutions Incorporated for
permission to extract output from their computer software and incorporate it in the figures
associated with this paper.

Table 1. Comparison Between Planned and Achieved Hole Angles For The Front Row
Of The Shot. Vertical holes Drilled Directly Behind The Angled Holes.
Hole Planned Achieved
Number deg. deg.
1 14 12.2

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 2 0 0
3 14 13.1
4 0 0
5 15 15.9
6 0 0
7 16 15.7
8 0 0
9 14 13.2
10 0 0
11 14 12.8
12 0 0
13 16 13.9
14 0 0
15 10 12.8
16 0 0
17 10 7.2
18 0 0
19 10 7.8
20 0 0

ISOMETRIC VIEW OF DIFFICULT BLASTING SITUATION

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 Copyright © 2000 International Society of Explosives Engineers
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ISOMETRIC VIEW OF THE FRONT ROW OF THE BLAST
(Vertical and Angled holes drilled to a constant elevation.)

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 Copyright © 2000 International Society of Explosives Engineers
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