Causes, impact and control of overbreak in underground excavations

Drill and blast system is used in hard rock excavation due to its economics and adaptability to changing rock mass conditions. Common question during mining and tunneling operations is 'whether overbreak has been caused by blasting practice or poor rock mass quality'. Critical evaluation of the factors influencing blast damage is required to address such questions. In order to understand the mysterious nature of blast damage prediction and control, the field work involved the small scale blasting of physical models and the assessment of blast damage during drifting operations. The damage was measured by the Half cast factor, percentage overbreak and the Blast damage index. The influence of rock mass features, explosive characteristics and blast design parameters on overbreak has been examined in this study. A new approach for the judicious design of perimeter hole pattern and charge concentration has been proposed. Implications of blast damage have also been outlined in this paper. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.