The importance of roof bolts placement
roof bolts are the first line of defence, as they help to create a stable rock structure and minimising fall-of-ground-related problems for your mineworkers. It is essential that the roof bolts are placed correctly in underground mining.
The purpose of roof bolts
The main purpose of roof bolts is to assist the rock mass to supporting itself and has been named the most significant development in coal mine ground control. There are many forms of roof bolts available and several methods of attaching them too. In South Africa, full column resin roof bolts, resin point anchors and mechanical anchors are the most commonly used.
Locally, an estimated 70% of thin falls or skin falls are caused by ineffective joint support and excessive roof bolt spacings While excessive roof bolt spacing is still a cause of roof falls, its influence seems to diminish with increasing fall thickness. Too wide spacing of roof bolts have been identified as the second most frequent cause of roof falls.
Placing roof bolts
A bolt placement system provides precise and clear information on where each bolt should be placed. However, a spacing that is adequate at the time of the roof bolt installation may not be sufficient after an extensive period of exposure when the roof material has been weathered.
Using too many bolts can be costly and time consuming and establishing the position of the next roof bolt takes time, which negatively impacts on production. A bolt placement system eliminates the need for the miner to travel under unsupported ground to manually mark the roof.
Reunko Steel roof bolts
Our steel roof bolts are high-quality anchor bolts that ensure the stabilisation of rock excavations. Steel roof bolts are typically installed in a particular pattern to provide the necessary support, capable of holding the weight of rocks even in extreme conditions like drilling and explosions.
Our standard lengths roof bolts range from 0.6 metres to 3.0 metres and are all colour coded for simple identification of sizes. All roof bolts are tested in-house in accordance with an ISO 9001:2015 compliant integrated quality management system.
To find out more about our steel roof bolts, get in touch with one of our representatives today.