Methods applied in Australian industry to evaluate coal mine slope stability

Strata failure is a principal hazard in open cut coal mining as it has the potential to cause multiple fatalities. Prior to the excavation of any slope, a geotechnical assessment should review the likely slope performance, including the risk of slope failure. Controls to manage this risk to an acceptable level should accompany the geotechnical analysis. A survey of 43 practising geotechnical engineers indicated that kinematic and 2D limit equilibrium analyses were the methods most commonly applied to analyse excavated slope stability. While these methods are well established and widely applied in the broad rock engineering disciplines(e.g. civil, hard rock), a recent review of over 60 slope failures suggests these methods have limited suitability for modelling the complex failure mechanisms observed in excavated coal mine slopes. Kinematic techniques do not adequately capture the rock mass component of excavated slope failure and do not provide a geospatial location of potential failure, while 2D limit equilibrium techniques do not adequately capture the 3D mechanisms of excavated slope failures. Methods which do consider the 3D mechanisms of slope failure are summarized for industry consideration and application.