Mapping of Previously Mined Ground for Infrastructure Citing Purposes

Status

Sequential Number

Identification Number

Matching Research Agency

Knight Hawk Coal Company, LLC

Principal Investigator

Student Involvement

Project Objective

1         Missouri S&T will acquire 3,000 lineal feet of high-resolution reflection seismic data along multiple traverses at the Knight Hawk Coal Company PEUG Site in an effort to determine if/where the area has been previously mined.  This information is required for infrastructure planning and construction purposes.  Previously-mined ground is susceptible to gradual-to-catastrophic subsidence which can cause structural damage to overlying infrastructure including roadways and utilities (for example, please refer to the following links: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/10/pdf/GeoFacts/geof12.pdf; http://www.pittsburghgeologicalsociety.org/subsidence.pdf; http://geology.com/news/2005/11/coal-mine-subsidence-information.html; http://www.dep.state.pa.us/msihomeowners/WhatIsMS.html#2; http://www.isgs.uiuc.edu/education/pdf-files/c573.pdf) 

2        Three thousand lineal feet of high-resolution reflection seismic data will be acquired along multiple traverses at the Knight Hawk Coal Company PEUG Site.  The reflection seismic data will be interpreted (using borehole control as an interpretational constraint) with a view to determining if the seismic tool is useful for mapping shallow (~100 ft) previously-mined ground (room and pillar mining).  The Missouri S&T researchers will also focus on the degree of resolution provided by the seismic data.  They are interested in determining whether individual rooms and pillars can be resolved and if the magnitude of post-mining collapse can be quantified. 

3        The Missouri S&T researchers want to determine optimum data acquisition and processing parameters.  The seismic data will be acquired using a weight-drop source mounted on the back of an ATV, a 48-channel seismograph and high-frequency geophones (spaced at 10 ft).  Expectations are that a 24-channel seismograph using geophones spaced at 20 ft would suffice.  Higher density data are being acquired in the field in an effort to determine optimum (from cost-effectiveness perspective) data acquisition parameters.  Similarly, the acquired data will be “over processed”, so that optimum (from cost-effectiveness perspective) parameters can be determined.  Mining-related subsidence is a real problem in many areas of the USA, so the determination of optimum acquisition and processing parameters will be of interest to others engaged with these issues.

Project Abstract

Missouri S&T will acquire 3,000 lineal feet of high-resolution reflection seismic data along multiple traverses at the Knight Hawk Coal Company PEUG Site in an effort to determine if/where the area has been previously mined (room and pillar coal mining).  This information is required for infrastructure planning and construction purposes.  Previously-mined ground is susceptible to gradual-to-catastrophic subsidence which can cause structural damage to overlying infrastructure including roadways and utilities.

Task Description

N/A

Anticipated Benefits

If Missouri S&T is successful, we will demonstrate that the high-resolution reflection seismic tool can be used to differentiate non-mined ground from shallow previously mined ground (room and pillar coal mining; depths less than 100 ft).  This work is important for several reasons:

1.       Previously-mined ground is susceptible to gradual-to-catastrophic subsidence which can cause structural damage to overlying infrastructure including roadways and utilities.  Knight Hawk Coal Company needs to locate abandoned mine workings to ensure that they do not interfere with planned infrastructure including the placement of roadways and utilities.

2.      Large areas of Illinois and other states have been undermined.  Unfortunately, old mine maps are often inaccurate so the precise locations of the abandoned mines are unknown.  The high-resolution seismic method may prove to be a reliable tool for differentiating non-mined ground from previously mined ground. It may also be capable of differentiating individual rooms and pillars and quantifying the extensiveness of subsidence.

3.      Missouri S&T will have the opportunity to determine optimum acquisition and processing parameters.  This information will be very useful to others attempting to use the seismic tool to map previously mined ground.

Modal Orientation

Milestones

Relationship to other Research/Projects

Anderson routinely works with non-invasive imaging technologies in support of highway-related applications.  Some related contracts and publications follow:

Hatheway, A.W., and Anderson, N.L., 1998, Coal mining in west-central Illinois: Geology & mining hazards, in Anderson, N.L., Cardimona, S., and Newton, T., Editors, Highway Applications of Engineering Geophysics with an Emphasis on Previously Mined Ground: Missouri Department of Transportation Special Publication, 143-155.

Hatheway, A.W., and Anderson, N.L., 1998, Limestone mining in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois: Geology & mining hazards, in Anderson, N.L., Cardimona, S., and Newton, T., Editors, Highway Applications of Engineering Geophysics with an Emphasis on Previously Mined Ground: Missouri Department of Transportation Special Publication, 167-175.

Shoemaker, M.L., Anderson, N.L., Shaw, A.E., Baker, J.A., Hatheway A.W., Newton, T.E. and Conley, J., 1998, Reflection seismic study of previously mined (lead/zinc) ground, Joplin, Missouri, in Anderson, N.L., Cardimona, S., and Newton, T., Editors, Highway Applications of Engineering Geophysics with an Emphasis on Previously Mined Ground: Missouri Department of Transportation Special Publication, 124-135.

Shoemaker, M.L., Anderson, N.L., Hatheway, A.W., Newton, T.E.,* Shaw, A.E., *Baker, J.A., Cardimona, S., *Webb, D.J., and Conley, J.L., 1999, Reflection seismic and ground-penetrating radar study of previously mined (lead/zinc) ground, Joplin, Missouri: Journal of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, V. 4, 105-112.

Hatheway, A.W., Newton, T. E., and Anderson, N.L., 2008, Subsidence Characterization of Abandoned Disturbed Mined Ground (Joplin, Missouri, USA): Geological Society of London, Engineering Group,  Symposium on Subsidence-Collapse; Occurrence, Impact and Mitigation, held at University of Birmingham, UK, 6 September, 6 pages.

Anderson, N.L., Apel, D., Dezelic, V., and Ismail, A., 2006, Differentiating Rooms and Pillars on Reflection Seismic Data: A Seismic Investigation of Two Abandoned Coal Mines: Highway Geophysics-NDE Conference peer-reviewed proceedings (http://www.mst.edu/2006geophysics/).

$129,081 grant from Missouri Department of Highways to delineate abandoned lead mines in Joplin, MO. Principal Investigator: Anderson. 1996. Funded by MoDOT.

$101,000 grant from Missouri Department of Transportation to map abandoned lead/zinc mines along a proposed section of Interstate, Joplin, Missouri. Principal Investigator: Anderson. 1998.

$10,675 grant from Geotechnology for reflection seismic study of a coal mine property. Principal Investigator: Anderson. 1998.

$12,000 grant from Missouri Department of Transportation to map shallow underground coal mines using low frequency GPR antenna: Principal Investigator: Anderson. 1998.

Technology Transfer Activities

Results will be presented at national conference (probably FHWA Geophysics Conference in 2011) and published. The deliverables will include an evaluation of the utility of the high-resolution seismic method for mapping shallow abandoned coal mines and a discussion of the degree of resolution provided by the tool.  A discussion of optimum acquisition and processing parameters will also be included.

Transportation Research Board Keywords

High-resolution reflection seismic, coal mining, subsidence