Abatement of a failure in piping soil above an abandoned mine, East St. Louis, Illinois

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:7042791

Cummings, R A; Mukherjee, A

From before the turn of the century until as recently as the 1950s, relatively shallow coal reserves near the margins of the Illinois Basin were extracted by room and pillar methods. Subsequent development has, in many cases, extended onto ground with high subsidence potential. Pit subsidence in Illinois is particularly common in the towns of Streator, Carterville, and Herrin, although there are others. Pit subsidence is characterized by by distinct circular or oval depressions and normally is associated with shallow mining and thick soil relative to the thickness of rock. In 1983, the Elam residence near East St. Louis experienced an abrupt and severe ground failure that has been interpreted as pit subsidence. To help understand how these pits form and how the problem may be best abated, a particularly thorough investigation of the Elam occurences was conducted by Engineers International, Inc. (EI) on behalf of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining (OSM). The investigation of the occurences, the abatement procedure proposed, and the outcome of this unusual and interesting subsidence problems are examined.

• OSTI ID: 7042791
• Report Number(s): CONF-851054-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
012031* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Underground Mining-- Strata Mechanics & Control-- (1987-)
510500 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABANDONED SHAFTS
BUILDINGS
COAL MINES
COAL PRODUCING DISTRICTS
COAL RESERVES
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
DRAINAGE
EROSION
GROUND SUBSIDENCE
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
HOUSES
ILLINOIS BASIN
LAND RECLAMATION
MECHANICS
MINE SHAFTS
MINES
MINING
OVERBURDEN
PIPES
RESERVES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESOURCES
ROCKS
ROOM AND PILLAR MINING
SHAFT EXCAVATIONS
SOIL MECHANICS
SOILS
THICKNESS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
UNDERGROUND MINING