Characterization of Coal Mine Overburden and Assessment of Mine Haul Road Construction Material

Abstract: Coal mine waste material can cause geotechnical and environmental problems at disposal. The overburden waste material in coal mines consists of a mixture of coarse-grained particles to rock fragments grading to fine-grained can create a series of consequences on geotechnical such as discontinuous deformation, stability failure, soil-structure failure, stockpiles and retaining wall failure, ground and foundation failures and others. The environmental problems associated with abandoned coal mines such as acid mine drainage which can impact surface water, lakes, ponds, creeks, and entire watersheds are among the issues. This behavior directly affects the geotechnical design procedures. The main purpose of this study is to characterize coal mine overburden and assess its suitability in the base and sub-base of mine haul road pavement construction material. To investigate these issues (problem and potential use), extensive laboratory tests were carried out. Different types of overburdens and road base samples were taken from Jeebropilly open-pit coal mines in the southeast of Queensland and Bowen Basin open-pit coal mines in the north of Queensland in Australia. In this investigation, geotechnical material properties of mine overburden materials are evaluated to check their suitability in the base and sub-base of mine haul road pavement construction material. The results of the laboratory test of overburden and road base are compared for the potential use as base and subbase of mine haul pavement road as construction materials and then, the conclusions are drawn.