Geotechnical consequences of the Newcastle Coal Measures rocks

Abstract

This paper attempts to relate the lithology and fabric of four main groups of Newcastle Coal Measures rock types to their geotechnical properties and engineering behaviour. The four groups comprise: massive sandstone and conglomerate; claystones and tuffs; mudstone, shale and siltstone; and the coal itself. Although their geological relevance is primarily concerned with underground coal mining, these rocks are exposed at the surface across most of Newcastle and its suburbs, and are thus significant in terms of urban environmental geology. The key mining issues include longwall support design and panel layouts, caving and subsidence mechanisms, soft floors and stiff roofs, water inflows and pillar design. The urban geotechnical issues include landslides and rock falls, shallow abandoned mine workings, reactive and erodible soils, waste disposal and potential sources for geomaterials.

本文试图将Newcastle煤炭岩类的四个主要岩群的岩性和结构与它们的工程性质和工程行为相联系起来。这四个岩群包括：大规模砂岩和砾岩；粘土岩和凝灰岩；泥岩、页岩及粉砂岩；煤 炭本身。虽然他们的地质意义主要在于地下煤炭开采，这些岩石出露在Newcastle大部分地区及其郊区的地表，并因此在城市环境地质上有其意义。关键的采矿问题包括长壁支护设计和面板布局、崩落和沉降机制、软底面和硬顶面、水的流入和支柱设计。城市地质问题包括山体滑坡和岩崩，浅的废弃矿井巷道，活性的和侵蚀的土壤，废物处理和岩土材料的潜在来源。

KEYWORDS:

• geotechnical
• coal
• conglomerate
• tuff
• subsidence
• Newcastle