SHAFT SINKING

Akshay S Krishna
VNIT Nagpur
PURPOSES .
Mining the mineral deposits
Temporary storage and treatment of

sewage
Bridge and other deep foundations
Hydraulic lift pits and Wells
In conjunction with tunneling system or

network for the purpose of lifts,

escalators,stair and ladder-
ways,Ventilation, drainage and pumping.
SHAPES .
Circular shafts are preferred in almost all
situations due to their stability
characteristics.
When strata are competent one, such as

that in most of the metal mines, rectangular

or elliptical shafts give the advantage of
proper use of their cross sectional areas
LOCATION .
Positioning w.r.t to deposits geometry

Positioning w.r.t. surface topography

Position w.r.t. geological disturbances, water

table and ground conditions
ITEMS NEEDED .
Hoist with head gear and suspension gear
The scaffold
Kibble or sinking buckets
Shaft centering devices
Muck disposal bins and chutes
Shaft ventilators with rigid and flexible

ducting
ITEMS NEEDED .
Face and main pumps with suction and
delivery pipe ranges
Compressed air and water pipelines
Portable pneumatic lights
Concrete mixers and delivery range
Blasting cables
SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED .
Power supply
Water supply
Transport
Stores
Repairs
Refreshment
Housing
Social life
BASIC OPERATIONS .
Reaching up to the rock head

Sinking through the rock

Sinking through the abnormal or difficult

ground, if any, using special methods.
REACHING UPTO THE ROCK
HEAD
The ground is excavated using ordinary
excavating tools and appliances or by the
use of mechanical excavators such as
clamshells, backhoes etc.
Cranes are used to hoist the muck if the

cover is thick.
If this procedure is not feasible then either

the ground should be consolidated prior to

carry out any excavation, or a suitable
special sinking method should be adopted.
 No blasting should be done to preserve its
original strength.

Large area than the finished diameter of the

shaft should be excavated taking into account
the allowance for the thickness of temporary
and permanent linings

The shaft collar is built of the concrete of the

required strength and keyed to the bed rock
SINKING THROUGH THE ROCK
1. Drilling
2. Blasting
3.Mucking and Hoisting
4. Support or shaft lining
5. Auxiliary operations:
a) Dewatering
b) Ventilation
c) Lighting or illumination
d) Shaft centering
DRILLING
Use of sinkers to drill holes of 3238 mm.
diameter and the shaft jumbos (equipped with
number of drifters) to drill holes of 4055 mm.
dia. is made

The holes length varies between 1.5 m and 3

m if the sinkers are used, and it can be up to 5
m in case of the shaft jumbos

Wedge cut, pyramid and step cut are the

common drilling patterns adopted
BLASTING .
Usually, high-density water resistant
explosives, such as N-G based, are used
Use of water or sand-clay mixture can be
made to act as a stemming material.
Usually series-parallel connections are made
to connect the detonators at the face and
this circuit is then connected to the blasting
cable suspended in the shaft and leading
right up to the surface.
Face is blasted after taking due precautions.
BLASTING .
Aluminium based water gel explosives (refer
sec. 5.4.5) and high frequency electro
-magnetically initiated detonators are
succesfully used these days
Improved environmental

conditions,improved safety due to better

shock sensitivity characteristics, Ease of use
of loose detonators ,economic advantages
are some of the factors favouring Al based
gels
BLASTING .
Another variation is the use of emulsion
explosive with booster and Nonel
detonators

They have advantages like Less expensive

and faster loading than cartridge explosives
,Provides full borehole coupling , Reduce
drilling and Better fragmentation.
 The mucking efficiency depends upon the
size of rock fragments, hoisting depth, shaft
cross-section and water inflow rate

Several types of shaft muckers are available

MUCKERS .
Arm loaders such as riddle mucker,
cryderman mucker, cactus grab and
backhoe mucker

Rocker shovel such as Eimco-630

Scrapers used for very large dimensioned

shafts
CRYDERMAN MUCKER
CACTUS GRAB
ROCKER SHOVEL .
SCRAPERS .
LINING .
Basically there are two types of lining:
Temporary and Permanent. The make of
water and strength of the strata through
which the sinking operation is to be carried
out govern the choice

In some situations temporary support is not

required, whereas in others, it becomes
essential to protect the crew and equipment
from any side fall
SPECIAL METHODS .
They can be of use if the ground through
which shaft is to be sunk is loose or
unstable such as sand, mud, gravel or
alluvium, or when excessive amount of
water is encountered, which can not be
dealt with the sinking pumps
Piling system,Caisson methods,

Cementation,Freezing method,Shaft drilling

& Boring are special methods of shaft
sinking
REFERENCE :
Surface and underground
excavations;methods,techniques &
equipments - Ratan Raj Tatiya