BLASTING ON LOGGING ROADS (BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)

By: Raymond Chenier

Leaverite Drilling & Blasting Ltd.

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 109

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INTRODUCTION

British Columbia (BC) is Canadas most western province. The landscape in BC is amongst the most
beautiful and pristine in the world. Along with its beauty come vast mountain ranges, coastal rain
forests, swamplands, deep river valleys, and almost every type of landscape imaginable. These all have,
or at one time had, logging roads constructed. Some of these areas should never have had roads
constructed due to poor drainage and unstable slopes, but some of the roads could be considered
engineering masterpieces. To navigate a vehicle the size of an off-road logging truck down the side of a
mountain with an 80h side slope or greater can be a hair-raising experience. Not to mention coastal
rains and/or high elevation blizzards. These factors collectively make logging BCs most hazardous
occupation. People are seriously hurt, sometimes even killed everyday.
FOREST PRACTICES CODE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

In 1995 the Provincial Government implemented the Forest Practices Code of British Columbia. The
Provincial Government deems this as an important component of its overall integrated strategy for land
use planning and resource management in BC.
The Forest Practices Code makes BC logging guidelines the strictest in the world. This had been done
to help change BCs international reputation of poor logging practices. The Forest Practices Code could
essentially be compared to the Clean Water Act.
With the enormous size of BC, you can encounter different types of rock with ever-changing weather
and ground conditions. You hear stories of the good old days when you could load to the nines and
blow over every tree in sight. Under the Forest Practices Code you can be fined $5000 per tree under
section 67(2) (d), which states; harvesting or damaging trees that are required by the silviculture
prescription, logging plan, or special use permit to be left standing or undamaged. There are other fines
for severe damage such as in 45(1), where it states that carrying out a forest practice that results in
damage to the environment can result in a $50,000 fine!! These fines can be handed to the licensee, the
contractor, or the blaster himself. These can be administrative as well as quasi criminal, where a judge
can handout steeper fines or under extremely rare cases, jail time.
CONTROLLED BLASTING

Controlled blasting is the term used in the Forest Practices Code. Controlled blasting should reduce the
amount of fly-rock produced, maximize production of usable shot rock, reduce overall rock excavation
costs, and minimize the impact on the environment.
DRILLING AND BLASTING

Drilling and blasting are the two most important factors in achieving good results in road building, It is
important for the road builder and driller /blasters to have a good working relationship with a lot of clear
communication. This will always help in production, work quality and safety on the work site.
Before any drilling is done, a person has to consider many factors such as rock type, hardness, and
location of joints and slips, if visible. All these factors play a role in determining penetration rate, hole
diameter, hole length, hole spacing, use of down holes vs. lifters or slashing vs. side drilling. Also,

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 110

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consideration needs to be given to amount of burden, type of explosives, delays and firing sequence,
collar and stemming requirements as well as the use of wood spacers for column control. After these
factors are taken into consideration, the blaster should ask himself, does this blast need to produce
surfacing material for roads, or is it to be rip-rap and bank stabilization rock? Or, is the rock to be
wasted at a designated spoil site.7 Other variables should also be considered. For example, if you need
to supply surfacing material (lots of fines) for a road, and the site to be blasted is close to a fish
inhabited stream or for that matter any waterway, can you safely produce the shot rock without
jeopardizing the waterway.7 Some blasts may also need long collars to protect standing timber on steep
side hills. If the driller is not sure of the proper technique and considers the risk unacceptable, he should
notify his supervisor of his feelings. Options to consider are; could a professional blasting consultant or
engineer be brought in for assistance, or could an alternative method of rock excavation (rock hammer)
or could an alternative road location be investigated?
It is good practice to go over the area to be drilled with the road builder. This will help to ensure that
road width and ditch depth is accurate. Also, the driller should mark off the area to be drilled, especially
when quarrying. This reduces the chance of missing holes and also helps determine the burden on your
tirst row of holes. A blaster hates nothing more than to arrive at a blast site and try and figure out how
the driller intended to blast his pattern. If the driller is not doing the blasting, or finishes the drilling at a
shift change, he should discuss his ideas with the blaster in charge. Communication is of the utmost
importance.
BLAST TYPES

There are five basic different blast types on logging roads; Bench Cuts, Ditch-line
Flat-hole Quarries, Down-hole Quarries, and Sinking Cuts.
Bench Cuts

(See Figures 1 and 2)

Bench cuts, also known as go ahead shots, are very common on steep slopes and high elevations.
Holes are drilled roughly parallel to the free face using lifters. With these blasts you are trying to break
rock along the line of the roadway. The objective is to keep the blasted material on the roadway and
prevent loss of rock over the bank. Thus, leaving the rock virtually in the same place, except for swell
factor, enabling the road builder to either dispose of it at a designated spoil site, or use the material to
surface the road. Increasing the burden between the first outside row of holes and the free face is a
common control technique. The extra burden acts as a mat to help hold the broken shot rock in place.
The amount of burden left is at the blasters discretion. De-coupling by using smaller diameter stick
powder, or spaced stick powder, can significantly help reduce fly-rock. Although, depending on the
amount of burden, this can increase the size of fragmentation near the surface. Fines are usually
found down lower in the blast. One should keep in mind that the rock may be weathered near the
surface, resulting in the rock being weaker and consisting of more slips and cracks, This can result in
unusually large collar rock. Angling your holes towards the high-wall, as well as drilling shorter holes
on the inside row can help pull some of the blast-rock onto the roadway. Bench cut blasts are typically
shot from the top row to the bottom row with the inside row firing first. These blasts can be tied-in with
detonating cord and surface delays, but with control and fragmentation in mind, use of non-electric dual
delay detonators is the logging road blasters ultimate choice.

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 111

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Ditch-Line

Ditch line blasting is exactly as it suggests. This is nothing more than 1-2 rows alongside the roadway,
drilled anywhere from 4-12 feet deep. The biggest challenge with ditch-line blasting, especially in hard
rock, is sufficient collar breakage. Often the collar requires a wood spacer with a smaller diameter
cartridge of powder to break the collar rock so the road builder can handle it.
Down-Hole Quarries

When properly done, down-hole quarries will almost always produce the best fragmentation in a very
controlled manner. The driller has to adjust the depth of his holes according to the topography of the
land. These quarries are the preferred choice when it comes to producing road-surfacing rock,
especially when a large volume is needed. Drill holes for a standard down-hole quarry can range from
lo-50 feet deep, depending on surface area of rock available and how much road has to be surfaced.
Flat-Hole Quarries

(See Figures 3 and 4)

Flat-hole quarries are used when a suitable down-hole quarry location cannot be found. These are
similar to bench-cuts, with lifters being drilled and increased burden used on the top row to act as a mat.
The blast sequence is virtually the same as a bench-cut. Hole depths for flat-hole quarries are from lo22 feet deep. The reason for the use of relatively short holes is hole deviation. In flat-hole quarries it is
hard to maintain hole alignment because of terrain and slope face. Before drilling a flat-hole quarry, the
driller should ensure that the cut face has been thoroughly cleaned. This is called scaling and is usually
done by an excavator. It is extremely dangerous for the helper and the driller to work under an
insufficiently scaled face. Insufficient cut-face scaling has lead to serious equipment damage as well as
serious injury and death.
Sinking-Cut Quarry

When the terrain doesnt provide an adequate face for a down-hole or flat-hole quarry, the next choice is
a sinking-cut quarry. These quarries are on relatively flat ground. In a sinking-cut, the center of the
blast is fired first, providing relief for the sides and four corners to fire into the center. Fly-rock
generally shoots straight up and comes straight back down, minimizing any throw to the sides. Highdensity explosives should be used in the cut or center area of the blast. With no free face to break to,
these high-density explosives help in removing the cut area. The driller usually drills four or more holes
at the center of the blast, known as the cut, to be fired simultaneously. It is also common practice to
drill, but not load, some relief holes in the center of the cut. These provide void space to aid in flushing
and breakage, similar to underground tunneling. Burden and spacing in a sinking-cut should be about
80% of a regular quarry shot. Sometimes, the cut holes are drilled deeper than those in the rest of the
quarry. As mentioned, high-density explosives are recommended for the cut, as it may need as much as
60% higher powder factor than the rest of the blast. If the rock is extremely hard, the powder factor may
have to be twice as high. Even pneumatically loaded ANFO may not achieve the required density for a
successful sinking cut shot. Although these quarries have traditionally been tied-in with surface delays
and detonating cord, use of non-electric detonators has all but taken over.

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 112

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CONCLUSION

A typical logging road blast can range from one hole in a protruding rock in the ditch to hundreds of
holes. On any given day a blaster may blast once or as many as 10-20 times, depending on the terrain.
Drilling and blasting in the forest industry has proved to be invaluable in assisting road building.
Without it, there would be locations with valuable timber that would be inaccessible for the harvester. In
addition, access is essential for tree-planters who replace both cut and diseased trees. The relationship
between British Columbias forest industry, the road builder and the driller/blaster is truly unique. With
the forests being such a valued resource for todays generation and generations to come, it is important
that extreme care be taken not only in every blast, but also in any forest practice that takes place in our
great outdoors.
REFERENCES

Forest Practices Code of BC Act 06Jul2000

l~ttp:JJwww.for.~ov.bc.ca/tasbJle~sre~sJfpcJfpcactJcontfpc.l~tm

Road

Construction,

Forest

Road

17Sep2000

Engineering
Guide
17sep2000

Book,

August

1995

http:lJwww.~ov.bc.ca/tasb/le~~e~s/fpc/fpc~uideJ~oadJ~e-toc.l~tm

ICI Explosives 1997, Controlled Blasting in the BC Forest Industry, Richmond BC

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 113

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Figure 1

Cross section of a bench cut viewed tirn roadway-holes angled into the highwall to increase burden.

Plan View of Go-Ahead Shot

Holes angled towards highwall to
pull material onto roadway

Excavated road bed

Downhill Side

Extra burden on outside row

to reduce flyrock

Short holes on inside wall angled towards wall to sweep onto roadway.

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 114

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Figure 3
Increased burden on top row

ProBe view of bench cut

Fimwe 4

Flat-hole quarry drilled where it is diflicult to get on top.

Copyright 2001 International Society of Explosives Engineers

2001G Volume 1 - Blasting on Logging Roads - P 115

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