Author 1:
Name & Surname: Shokin Yu. P.
Company: VNII Galurgy (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Senior Researcher
Scientific Degree: Candidate of Engineering Sciences
Contacts: e-mail: kopyleva@galurgy.sp.ru

Author 2:
Name & Surname: Kurganov D. E.
Company: VNII Galurgy (Saint-Petersburg, Russia)
Work Position: Engineering consultants

The study teamwork also involved G. P. Khavrotin, N. M. Cheltsova, E. N. Maksimova, A. I. Konstantinovksy and A. G. Lopushnyak from VNII Galurgy, and L. V. Fomichev from VNIMI.

The article describes the improved photoplanimetry-based method of estimating and forecasting stability of underground excavations depending on time and effect of stoping front. The method has been trialed in underground mines of Belaruskali and Uralkali. The novelty of the method lies in the introduction of an integrated index characterizing strains and displacements at the perimeter of an excavation, chamber or a void — excavation configuration criterion K c. The innovations on offer are theoretically grounded; the monitoring station design, the survey and display accuracy methods, as well as the program support and equipment are described. The theoretical substantiation and experimental proof is given for the underground excavation instability criterion — maximum pre-failure rate of increase in the excavation configuration criterion as stoping front approaches. The theoretical and field test results are illustrated with tables and figures. The authors recommend the improved photoplanimetry-based method for the application in potash mines and in analogous ground conditions of mining viscoplastic rocks.

1. Vlćek Ian. Fotogrammetrické zjiśtováni pŕićných profilů horizontálnich důlnich děl // Rudy. 1961. № 9. С. 42–46.

2. Shashmurin Yu. A., Lukovskiy V. D. Opyt primeneniya fotoplanimetricheskogo metoda dlya opredeleniya poperechnykh secheniy gornykh vyrabotok (Experience of photo-planimetric method usage for definition of excavation cross sections). Tekhnologiya razrabotki rudnykh mestorozhdeniy Zapolyarya (Technology of development of Polar region ore deposits). Moscow, Leningrad : Nauka, 1964. pp. 55–57.

3. Drabkin M. M. Fotogrammetricheskiy metod semki podzemnykh ochistnykh i podgotovitelnykh vyrabotok na rudnike «Kaula-Kotselvaara» (Photogrammetric method of survey of underground stopes and openings at Kaula-Kotselvaara mine). Gornyi Zhurnal = Mining Journal. 1970. No. 10. pp. 64–66.

4. Borzykh A. F., Averin G. A., Filonyuk O. V. Primenenie fotogrammetrii dlya otsenki proyavleniy gornogo davleniya (Photogrammetry usage for rock pressure assessment). Ugol Ukrainy = Ukrainian coal. 1987. No. 11. pp. 26–27. 

5. Voroshilov I. K. Primenenie fotoplanimetricheskogo metoda dlya semki kamer pri razrabotke kaliynykh soley (Photogrammetric method usage for chamber survey during potassium salts' development). Izvestiya vuzov. Gornyy zhurnal = Proceedings of universities. Mining Journal. 1972. No. 6. pp. 94–97. 

6. Edinye pravila bezopasnosti pri razrabotke rudnykh, nerudnykh i rossypnykh mestorozhdeniy poleznykh iskopaemykh podzemnym sposobom (Common safety regulations during underground mining of ore, non-metallic and placer mineral deposits). Saint Petersburg : DEAN, 2004. 208 p. (in Rssian). 

7. Instruktsiya po proizvodstvu marksheyderskikh rabot (Surveyor works' guide). Moscow : Nedra, 1987. Application 39. pp. 52, 214–217. (in Russian).

8. Shokin Yu. P., Kurganov D. E., Kovalev O. V. et al. Fotoplanimetricheskiy sposob otsenki ustoychivosti gornykh vyrabotok (Photo-planimetric method of assessment of mine excavations' stability). Certificate of Authority USSR, No. 1647256 А1. Bulletin of Inventions No. 17. 07.05.1991.

9. Shokin Yu. P. , Kurganov D. E., Lopushnyak A. G. Fotoplanimetricheskaya semka gornykh vyrabotok (Photo-planimetric survey of mine excavations). Gornaya entsiklopediya (Mining encyclopaedia). Moscow : Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, 1991. Vol. 5. p. 335.