Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

1.

INTRODUC
CTION

notes speciifically cove

er the desig n of rock an
nchors, rock bolts and dowels in open pit
These n
mining applicationss. However, the princi ples and de
esign procedures show
wn can be extended
to include retain
ning walls, concrete dams, bu
uildings, bridges, tunnnels, shafts and
undergrround caverns. Figure
e 1 shows so
ome typicall application
ns.

Figu
ure 1:

T
Typical Anc
chor Applica
ations

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

The de
esign metho
ods are in all cases the use of
o simple statistics
s
annd are cov
vered in
numero
ous text boo
oks, for exam
mple:

Hoe
ed, E. and Bray, J.
Lon
ndon, 1974.

Tho
omas, H.H. The Engine
eering of La
arge Dams Part 1. Willey 1976.

Korrari, K. and
d Fritz, P. Stability Analysis
A
of Rock Sloppes for Pla
ane and
Wed
dge Failure
e. Design Methods in Rock Me
echanics, 1 6th Sympos
sium on
(1)
Rocck Mechanic
cs, ASCE, 1
1977 .

Han
nna, T.H. Foundations
F
s in Tension
n. McGraw Hill, 1982.

Win
ndsor, C.R. and Thomp
pson, A.G. Rock reinfforcement ttechnology, testing,
dessign and ev
valuation co
omprehensiv
ve. Rock Engineering
E
g Vol 4. Pe
ergamon
Press 1993.

Hutchinson, D.J. and Die derichs, M..S. Cable bolting

b
in uunderground
d mines,
Bi Tech
T
Publishers, Canad
da 1996.

Rock Engineering, Inst. of Mininng and Me

etallurgy,

The me
ethods set out in the above
a
textss enable th
he designer to arrive aat the working load
required
d for each anchor.
a
The
e simple ca
ase of plana
ar sliding is set
s out beloow.

weight,

Factor o
of Safety,

FoS
F

H2
2

taan

tan

Resistting Force
Disturrbing Force

Does th
he reinforcin
ng load sup
pplied by th
he cable bo
olt act to decrease the disturbing force or
increase the resistting force?

(1)

A cop
py of this pap
per is attache
ed to these n otes.

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

There iss some justtification forr assuming it decreases the disturbing force iff it is pre-te
ensioned
(active)) cable. On
n the other hand,
h
if the cable is no
ot tensioned
d (passive) tthe reinforc
cing load
can only be develo
oped after some
s
movem
ment has ta
aken place and
a therefoore it is sugg
gested it
increases the resissting force.

Assume
e the cable is not tensioned (passsive)
Resisting fo
orce =

shear
s
resisstance along
g failure pla
ane + com
mponent of T acting
along
a
failure
e plane

Disturbing force
f
=

weight
w
of bllock acting along failure plane

Therefo
ore,

Shear resisstance =

Therefore
Solving for T

N = Wcos + Tsin ( - )
cH

Wcoss

sin
s

FoS
F
Tp
T

Tsin

cH/ s in

Wcos

tan

Tsin

tan
n Tcos

Wsin

FoS Wsiin

cH / sin

Wcos

(1)

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Assume
e the cable is pre-tensiioned (activve)
Resisting fo
orce

= shear ressistance alo

ong failure plane
p

Disturbing force
f

= weight o
of block actiing along fa
ailure planee component of T
acting al ong failure plane

FoS
F

Solving for T

Ta

cH/ s in

Wcos
Wsin

Tsin

Tcoss

FoS W ssin cH/ sin

sin

tan
n

Wcos tan

FoS cos

(2)

Equatio
ons (1) and (2) assume a uniform
m FoS for all
a the unkno
own param
meters. It ha
as been
propose
ed that diffe
erent FoS should be ussed, depending on the
e degree of confidence in each
parame
eter, i.e. higher FoS forr ill defined parameters
s.

For exa
ample,
Fc
F
Fw
Fu

=
=
=
=

1.5 for cohesion,

c
c
1.2 for friction,
f

1.0 for weights

w
and
d forces and
d
2.0 for water
w
presssures

using th
hese valuess Equation (1)
( becomess
T

Wsin

cH / 1.5sin

Wcos
W

/ .

/ .

(3)

Once th
he working load has be
een obtaine d, the follow
wing matters have thenn to be addrressed:

cho
oice of anch
hor type (p
pre-tensione
ed, strand or
o bar, tem
mporary/permanent,
resttressable)

cho
oice of safety factors

dessign of anchor bond zon

ne

free
e length (unbounded zo
one)

corrrosion prote
ection

These m
matters are dealt within
n the follow
wing sections
s.

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

2.

CHOICE OF
O SUPPOR
RT PHILOS
SOPHY

ajority of op
pen pits hav
ve an opera
ating life of less than 20
2 years al though there are a
The ma
few excceptions wh
hich continue operating
g for 20 yea
ars or more. Also it is often the case that
the slop
pe to be su
upported is
s not expossed until se
everal years
s after the commence
ement of
mining or that it is to be mine
ed out or du
umped again
nst as minin
ng progressses. Therefore it is
usual to
o design ca
able anchors as temp orary supports (e.g. Figure
F
2) unnless the particular
environment is fou
und to be highly aggrressive in which
w
case
e the only ooption is to
o design
perman
nent supporrts (e.g. Figu
ure 3).
The currrent practicce in open pit
p mining in
n Australia is
i to use the
e term cablee anchor to
o refer to
long strrand anchorrs which ma
ay or may n
not be pre-ttensioned. If the anchhor is pre-te
ensioned
it is said
d to be active, if not then it is ter med passiv
ve.
Active ssupport invo
olves stress
sing the cab
ble anchor over
o
an unb
bounded lenngth, Figure
es 2 and
3, and provides efffective support prior to
o any move
ement of the
e rock masss. Passive support
is offere
ed by an an
nchor groute
ed over its full length and
a requires some moovement of the rock
mass to
o occur befo
ore any sup
pport from th
he cable an
nchor is mob
bilised.

Figure 2:

Typ
pical Tempo
orary Strand
d Anchor

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Figure 3:

Typ
pical Perman
nent Strand
d Anchor

Genera
ally, passive
e support systems a re adopted
d in open pit mines because they are
cheape
er and easie
er to install.

No need to ens
sure an unb
bounded len
ngth of anch
hor.

Ten
nsion is not applied.

t rule how
wever, is w
when large, continuous
s, flat structtures are undercut.
The excception to the
Significant shear displacemen
d
nt can occu r along suc
ch a structurre before thhe available support
from a p
passive ancchor can be
e mobilised and hence an active sy
ystem is ussually consid
dered.

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

3.

ANCHOR TYPE
T

A fully e
encapsulate
ed reinforcin
ng bar or bo
olt in resin or
o grout is characterise
c
ed by its larrge axial
tensile capacity that can be developed
d
o
over a relattively short length of thhe bolt and its high
resistan
nce to shea
ar where the
e bolt crossses a joint. In contrastt, cement ggrouted cables offer
little ressistance to shear and the develo
opment of fu
ull axial-loa
ad may requuire deform
mation of
the grou
ut over a su
ubstantial le
ength.
3.1.

Cable Anc
chors

Within tthe Australian context cable anch

hors are no
ormally con
nstructed froom either 12.7 mm
diamete
er or 15.2 mm
m diamete
er strand witth nominal ultimate cap
pacities of 1184 kN and
d 250 kN
respecttively.
Typical cable anch
hor installations are pre
esented in Figures
F
2 an
nd 3 and esssentially co
omprise:

Borrehole the
e diameter sshould be such that at least 10 mm
m clearance
e should
be maintained
m
between th
he borehole wall and an
ny cable strrand.

Cab
ble Anchor the cab
ble anchor can consis
st of one oor more strrands of
typically 15.2 mm
m diamete
er and ultimate capacity
y of nominaal 250 kN.

nd Length this sectio

on of the an
nchor is bon
nded to the rock. In a passive
Bon
systtem this co
omprises all of the anc
chor. In an active systtem this co
omprises
the length of anchor
a
beh ind the geo
ological features upon which sliding may
occur. Over th
he bond le ngth the sttrands shou
uld be cleann with no trraces of
grea
ase or oil.

Free
e Length over this se
ection tension is imparted to the anchor. Along this
section the stands are fre e of grout. This is ach
hieved by coovering the strands
in grease and then
t
coverin
ng with a plastic sheath.

acers utilised appro

oximately ev
very two metres
m
to m
maintain separation
Spa
betw
ween strand
ds and grou
ut/breather tubes.
t

Cen
ntralisers are used to
o keep the anchor
a
within the centree of the borrehole.

Nosse Cone a nose con e is sometimes used to

t assist thee installatio
on of the
ancchor.

Gro
out cemen
nts which arre commonly used inclu
ude:
-

Type A (no
ormal or ord inary) Portland cement which is nnormally ade
equate.

Type B (hig
gh early strrength) is ra
arely warra
anted. Its leesser bleed
ding and
faster set rarely justiify its grea
ater expens
se and thee usual diffficulty in
obtaining frresh supplie
es.

Type C (low
w heat) whicch is often used
u
for very long anc hors.

A water
w
cemen
nt ratio of 0..35 0.38 has
h proven satisfactoryy for anchorrs and is
com
mmonly used. Normall y, the only admixtures
s required aare those to prevent
setttlement. Th
hese cause
e the cemen
nt grains to
o stay sepa rated until they set
and
d produces a grout of u niform stren
ngth throughout the hoole.

Gre
eases are only used in active su
upport syste
ems over thhe unbonded length
of th
he anchors..

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Ancchor Block this simplyy involves using

u
neat grout
g
to creease as flat surface,
perp
pendicular to the cab
ble installation. Ancho
or blocks aare not nee
eded for
sup
pport system
ms in hard ro
ock unless the surface is very irreegular.

Bea
aring Plate even in fully groute
ed cables testing has shown the
e anchor
platte plays a very
v
significcant role in
n allowing all
a the suppport available to be
mob
bilised.

Barrrel and We
edge Ancho
ors these provide positive conneection betw
ween the
bea
aring plate and
a the cablle strands.

Typical details of temporary and perma

anent stran
nd anchors used in civvil engineering are
given on Figures 2 and 3.
Variouss cable opttions are av
vailable as shown in the pages that follow
w (reproduced from
Hutchin
nson & Died
derichs, 199
96). Figure 4 shows a typical permanent barr anchor as used in
civil eng
gineering.

Figure
e 4:

Tyypical Permanent Bar Anchor

A

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August 2012
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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Plain Strand

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

10

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Epoxy Coated/En
ncapsulated
d Strand

11

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Swaged
d/Buttoned
d Strand

12

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Birdcag
ged Strand
d

13

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Nutcag
ged Strand

14

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August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Bulbed
d Strand

15

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August 2012
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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

16

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

17

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

3.2.

Bar Ancho
ors

olts of 19, 23,

2 26, 29, 32,
3 35 and 38 mm diam
meter bar in
n either reguular or supe
er grade
Rock bo
can be used having ultimate capacities
c
a
as given in Table
T
3.1.
TABLE 3.1
1
ULTIMAT
TE BREAKING LOAD
BAR DIAMETE
ER
mm

REGU
ULAR GRAD
DE
kN

SU
UPER GRAD
DE
kN

19
23
26
29
32
25
38

280
410
525
655
800
950
1130

305
450
570
710
870
1040
1230

Bar ancchors can be

b fitted with one or tw
wo nuts or with
w a mech
hanical sheell in the anchorage
zone w
which may in
n some cas
ses result iin a shorterr anchor zo
one that thee equivalen
nt strand
anchor.. However, the main advantages of bar anch
hors are:

3.3.

1.

theyy have very

y little stretch
h

2.

theyy can be ins

stalled upwa
ards more easily
e
than strand
s
anchhors

Pre-tensio
oned or Acttive Ancho rs

Pre-tensioned ancchors comprrise a free llength and a bond or anchor

a
zonee. Within the bond
zone off a strand anchor
a
the strands
s
are
e alternately
y spread and crimped ttogether to provide
good grrout bond. The free le
ength of botth bars and
d strands is usually achhieved by encasing
e
the stra
ands or bar in grease filled
f
plasticc sheathing. In many cases
c
the rrequired free length
is dictatted by the geometry
g
off the applica
ation. For example
e
wh
hen used forr slope stab
bilisation
the free
e length is from
f
the slo
ope face to the postula
ated sliding surface. W
Where anch
hors are
used be
eneath foun
ndations the
e free lengtth is usually controlled
d by the coone pullout criterion
discusssed in Section 4.4. Fo
or strand an
nchors, and
d where geo
ometry of thhe application does
not govvern, the minimum free
e length wou
uld be dicta
ated by the extension rrequired to achieve
the dra
aw-in of the
e wedges at the ancho
or head to provide a giv
ven lock offf load. This may be
calculatted using th
he following simplified e
equation:
I fmin

EA
xx
P o

where:
Ifmin
E,A
P
xo

=
=
=
=

Minimum free length

l
Elasstic modulus and crosss sectional area
a
of anchor
Req
quired prooff load
Exte
ension requ
uired to ach
hieve drawn in of the wedges (nnormally about 5 to
6 mm)
m

In mostt cases, thiss minimum free

f
length as derived from this method is lesss than 1 m.

18

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

4.

SAFETY FA
ACTORS AND
A
DESIG
GN CRITER
RIA

An anch
hor has to be
b designed
d for the folllowing poss
sible modes
s of failure:
1.

Failure of the strands

s
or b
bar

2.

bar through the grout

Pulll-out of the strands or b

3.

Pulll-out of the grout/rock b

bond zone by
b shear (i.e
e. like a pisston in a cylinder)

4.

Pulll-out of a mass of rock containing the whole or

o part of thhe anchor.

edge regard
ding the ulti mate load values
v
for th
he four condditions liste
ed above
Our level of knowle
g precise in the case o
of failure of the steel th
hrough to qquite imprec
cise with
ranges from being
regard to grout/ro
ock bond failure and very unce
ertain with regard to rock mass failure.
Therefo
ore in consid
dering desig
gn safety fa
actors one must
m
first co
onsider the bbases of de
esign.
4.1.

Failure of Strands
S
orr Bar

garding the
e ultimate sttrengths of strand
s
and bar is very low. There
efore it is
The unccertainty reg
not unre
easonable to
t work at stresses
s
up to 100% off the quoted
d minimum bbreaking strress.
For com
mparison th
he current practice in civil engin
neering is to
o use 50-660% for permanent
anchorss and 63-65
5% for temp
porary anch ors.
4.2.

Failure of Steel/Grou
S
ut Bond

erred as she
en the wire strands
s
of thhe cable an
nd grout.
ear betwee
The ancchor force, T, is transfe
The ma
aximum she
ear is at the
e top of the
e bond zone and decreases towaards the end of the
anchor zone, until slip occurs progressivvely down th
his zone. The
T bond beetween strands and
grout in
nvolves adh
hesion, friction and me
echanical in
nterlock. In
n practice ssome slip occurs at
the top of the bond
d zone and breaks dow
wn the adhe
esion compo
onent. How
wever, prov
vided the
grout iss not faulty and the strands are fre
ree of greas
se etc., failu
ure of the sstrand/grout bond is
not a go
overning criiterion.
As a gu
uide, the ulttimate bond
d stress bettween the strand
s
and grout whichh is assume
ed to be
uniform
m over the bo
ond length should not exceed:
1.0 MPa for clean plain bar
2.0 MPa for clean strand or deforrmed bar
3.0 MPa for clean bird
d caged strrand
The abo
ove values are based on
o a minimu
um grout co
ompressive strength off 30 MPa.
For a grroup of barss or strands
s, the effecttive perimetter is multiplied by a redduction facttor, see
margin sketch whicch shows th
he interactio
on between strands in a double caable installa
ation.
For 2 strands, reductio
on factor is 0.8
For 3 strands, reductio
on factor is 0.6
on factor is 0.4
For 4 strands, reductio

19

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Also the
e cross-secctional area of the stran
nds/bars sh
hould not ex
xceed 15-200% of the borehole
b
cross-sectional are
ea.
Again e
experience has shown that failure
e of the steel/grout bon
nd is not a governing criterion
unless tthere is som
mething serriously wron
ng with the grout
g
or insttallation proocedure.
4.3.

Failure of the
t Grout/R
Rock Bond
d

ong the grou

ut/rock interrface are co
omplex and depend on :
Shear sstresses alo

whe
ether the an
nchorage is a tension or
o compress
sion type orr some hybrrid

the amount of slip

s betwee
en grout and
d rock

ed on an av
verage alloowable bond
d stress
Normal practice iss to design the bond zone base
ng tabulate
ed values based
b
on experience.
e
Thus the
e anchor
between grout and rock usin
T, is related to the fixed
d anchor de sign by the equation (F
Figure 5):
force, T
T = dl
where:
l
d

Figurre 5:

=
=
=

fixed an
nchor length
h
effective anchor diiameter
g bond stresss
working

Cross section
n showing tthe idealised cable boltt assembly within a borehole

This is the case even

e
thoug
gh it is unli kely that distribution of
o the bondd stress is uniform
unless the rock iss soft. How
wever, it m ust be reco
ognised tha
at simply inncreasing th
he bond
length d
does not prroportionally
y increase tthe capacity
y and typica
ally bond lenngths are limited to
about 10 m.
The texxt by Hann
na (1982) re
eproduces data on ro
ock/grout bo
ond valuess first publis
shed by
Littlejoh
hn and Brucce in 1976. The inform
mation is no
ot repeated here. Seleected design
n values
relevant to some Australian conditions are given in Table 4.1.
4
It is cconsidered that the
values g
given in Table 4.1 inco
orporate a ssafety factorr of about 2.0.

20

Robert Berrtuzzi
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Support off Rock Slopes in

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TABLE 4.1
1
ALLOWABL
A
LE AVERAGE
BOND STRESS
[kkPa]

ROCK TYPE
SED
DIMENTAR
RY
Qua
artzitic san
ndstone (e.g
g. Hawkesb
bury Sands
stone)
Fressh
Slightly to Moderately wea
athered

800 1200
500 800

Sha
ale (e.g. Ashfield Shale)
Fressh
Slightly to Moderately wea
athered

500 1000
300 500

Mud
dstone (e.g
g. Melbourn
ne Mudston
ne)
Fressh
Slightly weathe
ered
Mod
derately weathered

750 1500
500 1000
300 750

IGN
NEOUS
Bas
salt (Melbourne)
Fressh
Slightly weathe
ered
Mod
derately weathered

1500 3000
1000 2000
400 1500

Gra
anite (Fresh
h)

1400 1600

MET
TAMORPHICS
Bris
sbane Meta
amorphics
Slightly weathe
ered to fresh
h
Mod
derately weathered
High
hly weatherred

10000
400 700
200 300

GEN
NERAL
Stro
ong rock
Med
dium rock
Wea
ak rock

1000 1400
700 1000
3500 - 700

w strength rock masses and wherre shear strrength data

a exist, the maximum average
For low
working
g bond stresss at the rock/grout int erface shou
uld not exce
eed half of tthe minimum shear
strength
h, i.e.

Cohesionm
min

In the a
absence of shear stren
ngth data fo
or the rock mass or field pull-outt tests, the working
bond sttress is ofte
en taken as 1/30 of the
e unconfined
d compress
sive strengthh up to a maximum
m
of 1.4 M
MPa.

21

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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

4.4.

Failure of the
t Rock Mass
M

of a mass of
o rock enco
ompassing an anchor or group off anchors m
must be considered.
Liftout o
This is a controverrsial subjectt because:
1.

the shape of th
he failed rocck mass is uncertain
u
(see Figure 66).

2.

nd adhesio
on) between the faileed mass and
a
the
the strength (friction an
mainder of th
he rock is no
ot known.
rem

n detail and
d summarise
es the ratheer sparse da
ata from
Hanna (1982) disccusses these matters in
and full sca
ale tests. The
T author uses the British Standard (BS 80 81-1989) which,
w
in
model a
some ccases make
es allowanc
ce for shea r strength in
i the rock and allowss for differe
ent cone
angles depending on rock co
onditions (se
ee Figure 6).
6 Where multiple annchors are installed
such that their respective pullout cones intersect th
he overall vo
olume mustt be calcula
ated, not
the sum
m of the individual cone
es.

Fig
gure 6:

Pull-out off Mass of Rock

22

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Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

4.5.

Summary of Design Procedure

on the disccussion pres

sented abovve it can be
e seen that the designn procedure is quite
Based o
straightt forward an
nd has the fo
ollowing ste
eps:
1.

Asssess the req

quired workking load per anchor and
a decidee whether strand or
bar anchor are appropriate
e.

2.

Asssess the number of strrands or ba

ar size and the approppriate hole diameter
d
(thiss depends on the levvel of corro
osion protec
ction and iss discussed
d in the
follo
owing sectio
on).

3.

Asssess the allowable gro

out/rock bo
ond stress and thereffore determ
mine the
leng
gth of the bond
b
zone, and alter anchor hole diameterr if necessa
ary such
thatt the bond le
ength does not exceed
d about 10 m.
m

4.

Che
eck against rock masss failure and alter the free lengthh, if approp
priate, to
give
e a safety factor
f
of at least 1 aga
ainst cone pullout (difffficult to do in most
ope
en pit applic
cations; che
eck for com
mpentancy of
o rock masss, bedding planes,
continuous join
nts, etc.).

5.

aw in of
For strand anchors, checck for miniimum free length to pprovide dra
dges at anchor head (u
usually less than 1 m).
wed

Once th
he total sup
pport intens
sity has be en assesse
ed it is nec
cessary to aassess the support
pattern using eithe
er variation in:
i

individual cable
e anchor ca
apacity and//or

verttical and horizontal spa

acing

e authors experience
e
that 500 kkN anchors are typically used in open pit mining
m
to
It is the
econom
mise on drilling whilstt still main
ntaining pra
acticable anchor spaccings. Giv
ven this
capacityy, the spacing may be calculated from the re
equired support intensitty. Howeve
er, there
are gen
neral guidess to the limiits on spaciing. If anch
hor spacing
gs are too w
wide apart they
t
can
fail to b
be fully effecctive and in
n general sp
pacings gre
eater than 5 m are not recommen
nded. In
addition
n, a supporrt pattern of
o less than
n 2 m x 2 m would not
n be praccticable as it would
require intensive drilling.
d
If sm
maller spac ings are ind
dicated larger capacityy anchors sh
hould be
conside
ered which will
w result in
n more acce
eptable spacings.
After the support spacing
s
has
s been esta
ablished the
e next step is to checkk to see if itt fits into
the slop
pe geometryy. Typically
y the vertica
al spacing should
s
provide a wholee number off rows of
bolts pe
er bench he
eight (i.e. 2,
2 3, or 4 a nd not say 2.8, 3.3, etc.).
e
In ad dition, a sta
aggered
subsequent rows.
pattern should be created
c
by alternating
a

23

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

5.

CORROSIO
ON PROTE
ECTION

atter of corrrosion prote

ection is disscussed in detail in Hanna (19822) and in Pells and
The ma
Bertuzzzi (1999) (2) and summa
arised below
w.
Temporrary Anchorrs
For tem
mporary anchors, with
hin the fixed
ength a ce
ement groutt cover of at least
d anchor le
10 mm thickness is considere
ed to be no
ormally suffficient to prrotect the ttendon. Within the
free ten
ndon length
h the constrruction shou
uld be such
h that air, water
w
and ccorrosion prromoting
agents cannot reacch the prestressed ste
eel or can ga
ain ingress.. This is noormally achiieved by
the use
e of individua
al coated and greased
d strand.
Perman
nent Anchorrs
an uncracke
ed cement grout boddy surround
ding the
In the case of a permanent anchor a
prestresssed steel was
w genera
ally conside
ered to be an
a effective
e protectionn against co
orrosion,
because it provides an alkaline
a
envvironment for the steel.
s
Hoowever, the
eoretical
investig
gations on th
he load tran
nsfer mecha
anism, as well
w as actua
al tests withh anchors th
hat have
been e
excavated and
a
inspectted have sshown that cracks, bo
oth in radiaal and long
gitudinal
direction, of up to
o 2 mm wid
dth are alm
most inevitab
ble within the
t
fixed annchor lengtth. In a
corrosivve environm
ment these cracks
c
are d
detrimental to the long term perforrmance.
For thiss reason pe
ermanent an
nchors are ffully encase
ed along the
e free and ffixed ancho
or length
in a thicck wall diffu
usioned-tigh
ht, elastic a
and chemica
ally passive
e plastic sheeathing ma
ade from
poly-eth
hylene or po
oly-propylen
ne. Corrug
gated sheath
hing has the
e capacity tto bridge the above
mention
ned crackss and to form a ba
arrier against external agents. In a com
mpletely
encapsulated bond
d length the
e tendon fo
orce will firs
stly be trans
sferred from
m the strand to the
cementt grout inside the corrrugated du
uct. A com
mplete filling
g with highh strength grout is
thereforre essentia
al. Full sc
cale grouti ng tests and
a
subseq
quent pullo ut test under site
conditio
ons have prroved the va
alidity of thiss system.
There a
are two ve
ery importa
ant factors with regard to the construction
c
n of fully sheathed
anchorss as describ
bed above, the quality of the corru
ugated shea
athing and tthe sealing of joints
between the corrugated and smooth and
d sealing th
he nose con
ne of the annchor. The
e size of
the borrehole requiired for an anchor is cclearly depe
endant on the
t numberr of strands
s and on
whether the author is perman
nent (fully ssheathed) or temporary
y. Typical bborehole diameters
for perm
manent ancchors are as
s per Table
e 5.1. Curre
ent practice
e in Australi an open pitts which
tend to use tempo
orary anchors is to use
e a minimum
m hole diam
meter of aboout 75 mm. This is
ample in most case
es.
TABLE 5.1
1

(2)

NO.
N OF
ST
TRANDS

BOREHO
OLE DIAMET
TER
[mm]

1 to 4
5 to 12
13 to 25
25
2 to 40

100
150
210
250

A cop
py of this pap
per is attache
ed to these n otes.

24

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

6.

CONSTRU
UCTION AND INSTALL
LATION

bt that cons
struction co ntrol, partic
cularly for permanent aanchors, is of great
There iss little doub
importa
ance. Based on the au
uthors expe
erience therre are two main
m
areas of concern. These
are:

age testing of the hole

metthod of drilling, cleanin g and leaka

grou
uting

ng, brittle ro
ock (say with unconfine
ed strength greater tha
an 50 MPa)) the anchorr can be
In stron
readily drilled with percussion
n equipmen
nt and in pa
articular a down-the-ho
d
ole hammer. Such
materia
als form chip
ps when drrilled and th
here is usua
ally little sm
mear of the hole perime
eter and
little cha
ance of hole blockage during drillling. However, with we
eaker sedim
mentary roc
cks such
as mudstones and weak sand
dstones two
o problems have
h
to be faced.
f
The firsst is that clo
ogging can occur within
n the hole when
w
down-the-hole peercussion drilling
d
is
used. W
When such
h clogging occurs
o
high air pressurres build up
p in the vici nity of the hammer
and it iss possible for joints and bedding
g planes to be blown open. In tw
wo cases involving
marine work the author
a
is aw
ware of sub
bstantial pn
neumatic liftting of the rock mass when a
down-th
he-hole ham
mmer becam
me clogged .
The second is the
e problem of
o sidewall smear whiich is a particular prooblem if aug
ger type
drilling is used. It is not a pro
oblem if wa
ashboring orr diamond coring
c
is addopted beca
ause the
circulating water te
ends to was
sh the sidew
walls clean.
A big isssue is grout leakage from the b orehole. In
n open pit mining,
m
lea kage testing of the
hole is usually imp
practicable. The autho
or normally uses a non-flowing grrout mix to prevent
the grou
ut escaping
g from aroun
nd the anch
hor.
The insstallation of a passive
e (un-tensi oned) cablle bolt into
o an upholee is shown
n in the
followin
ng sketches in Figure 8.
8
With reg
gard to grou
uting of the hole (and tthe inner an
nnulus for fu
ully encapsuulated anch
hors) it is
conside
ered importa
ant that the
e hole be fu lly grouted in one pass. Occasioonally there may be
horage zon
a valid reason for grouting firrst the anch
ne and then
n the remai nder of the
e anchor
after stressing. If this is don
ne then carre is require
ed in ensurring that a zone of very weak
grout do
oes not rem
main at the top
t of the firrst grouting stage.
t
rock face at the h
head of the
e cable needs to be caarefully con
nsidered
The geometry of the
when fixxing the pla
ate assemblly, to preven
nt cutting th
he cable. See Figure 77.

25

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

e 7: Problem
ms kinking the cable in
n both up-ho
oles (left) an
nd down-hooles (right). Three
Figure
posssible solutiions morta
ar bed, ang
gled washerr & enlarged
d plate holess, domed plate
p

26

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

The incclination of the cable relative to th

he failure plane
p
is also
o critical. F
Figure 8 shows the
importa
ance of ensu
uring the ca
able is insta lled so it ac
cts in tension not comppression.

F
Figure 8: Desirable
D
te
ensile or un desirable co
ompressive
e forces cann be induced
d
in the
t cable bo
olts depend ing on relattive orientattion betweeen cable and
d failure
plane
p

27

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Figure 9: Installlation of a p
passive dou
uble-cable bolt
b in an upp-hole

28

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Figu
ure 8: continued

29

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Figu
ure 8: continued

30

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

Examplle
Calcula
ating cable load

. x

From eq
quation (1),, Tpassive

tan 45o

tan 60o

2071 kN/m run of sloope

20 x 20
20
071 cos 45o tan 15o
sin 45o
o
o
45 1
10 tan 15 co
os 45 10o

1.2 x 2071 x sin

n 45o
sin
.
.

= 822 kN/m rrun of slope

e

From eq
quation (2),, Tactive

20 x 20
2071 cos 45o tan 15o
sin 45o
45 10o tan 15o 1.2 cos 45 10o

1.2 x 2071 x sin

1
45o
sin
.
.

= 703 kN/m rrun of slope

e

From eq
quation (3),, T

20 x 20
tan 15o
1.5 x sin 45
5o 2071 cos 45o
1.5 x sinn 45o
1.2
tan 15o
45 10
0o
cos 45 10o
1.2

2071 x
x sin 45o
sin

.
.

= 803 kN/m rrun of slope

e

31

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

If we ha
ad installed the cable 10 below tthe horizonttal ( = -10) then the load in the passive
case be
ecomes,

Tp
=

sin 45

1 0o

799.23
3
o
tan 15 cos 45 10o

.
.

= 1008 kN/m
m run of slop
pe

Comparison:

CA
ASE

LOA
AD
kN / m run of slope]
[k

Passsive
Acttive
Spe
ecified FoS
Passsive, down
nhole

822
2
703
3
803
3
1008

32

VE
RELATIV
T1
0.86T
T1
0.98T
T1
1.23T
T1

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

33

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

34

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2

Support off Rock Slopes in

n Open Pits

35

Robert Berrtuzzi
August 2012
2