The first comprehensive treatise on mining haul road design, construction, operation and management, Mining Haul Roads – Theory and Practice published by Taylor and Francis in 2018 presents an authoritative compendium of worldwide experience and state of the art practices in haul road design, construction, operation and management.
The book provides a complete practical reference for mining operations, contractors and mine planners alike, as well as civil engineering practitioners and consulting engineers.
The need for updated guidelines was first recognised in the mid 90’s in South Africa where Roger Thompson and Alex Visser from the University of Pretoria, developed updated design techniques for structural (layerworks), functional (wearing course) and maintenance management of mine roads, stemming from research and extensive mine-site application and developmental work supported by industry research partners and clients world-wide.
The book is a result of the integration of operational aspects, planning/design and civil engineering applied to mining engineering, combining the areas of expertise of each one of the three authors and represents a key comprehensive update and expansion of mine haul road design guidelines since the USBM publication dating back to the 1970’s..
Further international collaborative work with surface mining operations led to the books’ three authors – Roger Thompson (Mineravia Consulting – Australia), Alex Visser (University of Pretoria, South Africa) and Rodrigo Peroni (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) working together to capture mine road design and management practices developed and applied over the last 25 years by the three authors, over three continents and many of the world’s leading surface mining operations. In this book, the authors:
- Introduce the four design components of an integrated design methodology for mining haul roads – geometric (including drainage), structural, functional and maintenance management
- Illustrate how mine planning constraints inform road design requirements
- Develop the analytical framework for each of the design components from their theoretical basis, and using typical mine-site applications, illustrate how site-specific design guidelines are developed, together with their practical implementation
- Summarise the key road safety and geometric design considerations specific to mine haul roads
- Specify the mechanistic structural design approach unique to ultra-heavy wheel loading associated with OTR mine trucks
- Describe the selection, application and management of the road wearing course material, together with its rehabilitation, including the use of palliatives
- Develop road and operating cost models for estimating total road-user costs , based on road rolling resistance measurement and modelling techniques
- Illustrate the approach of costing a mining road construction project based on the design methodologies previously introduced
- List and describe future trends in mine haulage system development, how mining haul road design will evolve to meet these new system challenges and how the increasing availability of data is used to manage road performance and ultimately provide 24×7 trafficability.
Jim Humphreys, Professional Engineer, AHS developer for a major North American truck manufacturer and Distinguished Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (USA) describes the book as. “ the most definitive treatise on mining haul roads ever written….. There has never been a text that addresses the many facets of mining haul roads on such a scope….” The book was also awarded the ‘Outstanding Professional Title in Engineering’ by the Informa Group in 2018 and is testament to support received from mine sites and staff whose efforts to understand and improve the performance of mine haul roads contributed to the many practical aspects of the book.
Author: Roger Thompson, Mineravia Consulting (www.mininghaulroads.com)
Email roger.thompson@mineravia.com
Contacts: Alex Visser (South Africa) alex.visser@up.ac.za
Rodrigo Peroni (Brazil) peroni@ufrgs.br
Roger Thompson (Australasia) roger.thompson@mineravia.com
