Geodetic Monitoring of the Surface within the Trial Operation of the Room and Pillar Mining Method in the Ostrava-Karvina Coal District

Abstract

Mine Plant 2 is a part of the Ostrava-Karvina Coal District (OKD) that is located in the Czech part of the Upper Silesian Basin. The first coal was exhausted from Mine Plant 2 in 1968. The most used method of mining so far in this area has been strike longwall mining with controlled caving. Due to extensive changes in the surface, which occur as a consequence of deep mining by the method of longwall mining with controlled caving, it is not possible to use this method in densely populated areas. At the present time, therefore, the trial operation of a new mining method called room and pillar is carried out. The method was chosen with the aim to minimize subsidence and deformations of the surface. The room and pillar mining method has never been used before in the conditions of the OKR, therefore it is necessary to prove the real effect of mining by this method on the surface. For this purpose, a surface observation station was designed, consisting of 36 surface points. The position and height of all points of the observation station is determined in stages three times a year.