P R E S P L IT T IN G

Precision Presplitting:
The Basics
Precision Presplitting Is Being Used In The Blasting industry
To increase Safety And Prevent Overbreak In Weaker Rocks.

By Anthony). Konya and Calvin ]. Konya

This is thefirst in a two-part article about Precision Presplitting. -Ed.

riving through the mountains you may look up and see

D a wall nearly falling over with hanging boulders and
loose rock. As you get closer, you may see small portions
of half casts scattered along the wall. We all think the same
thing: "Someone must have underbid the presplitting on
this project. However, is this really the result of a bad job of
drilling and blasting or is there a problem with the current
methods of explosive presplitting used in todays blasting
industry?

The normal presplitting used in quarries and construction

projects involves loading a drillhole with a presplit powder,
small-cartridge emulsion or dynamite. This is done with
little consideration to the rock types and the geologic dep-
ositional environment with typical presplit powder loads
able to break the strongest of granites and limestones.
Generally, when one chooses to presplit the weak or heav
ily jointed with typical presplit blasting, the blasts are
overloaded and the results can be poor. It makes no sense
then to use these high powder loads, which leave the wall
in bad condition with scattered half casts, bad backbreak
and hanging boulders. This becomes a safety issue when
loading and guarding must be put up to keep employees
away from the crumbling face.
For example, a highly jointed limestone quarry with 35-ft.
benches needs to be presplit to provide a smooth final wall
near a structure such as a crusher. The drill rig is capable
Figure 1 - Normal Presplit
In this example, the available powder is 0.32 lb. per ft. The
stemming for a normal presplit is estimated to be 12 to
14 times the drillhole diameter. Using a 3-in. hole, this is a
stemming of 36 in. (3 ft.). The main concern with this is that
while a large amount of stemming may reduce blowout, a
smooth crack does not form to the top of the presplit, caus
ing overbreak at the top of the blast. Little attention is paid
to timing and generally the presplit is fired instantaneously.
Table 1 - Normal Presplit Design
Bench Height 35 ft.
Drillhole Diameter 3 in.

of drilling a 3-in. hole. The question then becomes, what Spacing 36 in. (3 ft.)
blasthole spacing should be used and what would be the Powder Load 0.32 Ib./ft.
powder load?
Stemming 36 in. (3 ft.)

A rule of thumb for normal presplitting would be to use
a spacing that is 12 times the drillhole diameter, which in
this case is 36 in. (3 ft.). Next the powder load needs to be
determined, which unfortunately is normally the presplit
powder that is available from the manufacturer.
Timing Instantaneous
This presplit is then drilled out and loaded and the blaster
hooks up the initiators. The blaster is waiting in eager antic
ipation that a smooth wall will result and that will eliminate
all the safety concerns with the highwall.

24 ROCKproducts May 2016 www.rockproducts.com

 ROCK PRODUCTS

The blast goes off and after the dust settles everyone watch
ing is upset that the wall is still badly broken and the high-
wall still poses a risk to employees. In many cases the blaster
would just give up believing that bad geology is to blame and
that this type of rock cannot be presplit. However, it is not
the geology but the problems with our typical presplit design
that is to blame.
highwall and a drill rig that could drill a 3-in. hole. With pre
cision presplitting that typical spacing used was 24 in., and
this proved to work in almost all situations. The explosive
load for this blast was 550 grains of detonating cord per ft.
(0.08 lb. per ft.) This time a stemming of only 10 times the
drillhole was used; 30 in. and the entire presplit will be fired
instantaneously.

About 30 years ago we were facing these same problems Table 2 Precision Presplit Table
when trying to presplit highly weathered and very soft rocks.
Bench Height 35 ft.
Needing to create a design that would work in all situations,
we tried what is now called "precision presplitting." This Drillhole Diameter 3 in.
new form of presplitting would use the rock characteristics Spacing 24 in. (2 ft.)
to help determine the spacing and explosive load. Figure 2 Powder Load 0.08 Ib./ft.
shows the original test of precision presplitting in a sand
Stemming 30 in.
stone quarry.
Timing Instantaneous

Figure 3 - Precision Presplit

The blast was tied in and set off, and after the dust settled a
smooth wall was shining in the distance. They have done it
Figure 2 - Original Presplit Test and the blaster cannot be happier!
While testing this new method, it was realized that the con
In this example, the presplit was in homogenous rock, but in
tinuous powder loads used in traditional presplitting was
many cases the presplit has to run through multiple rock lay
too powerful and this is what was causing the large destruc
ers: siltstone, shale, limestones and sandstones. In this situ
tion (overbreak) of the back walls. By switching the explo
ation one can vary the explosive load at the proper intervals
sive from continuous lengths of presplit powders to deto
to account for all the different rock types. This can be done
nating cord with small dynamite, charges spaced out on the
by taping different lengths of detonating cord to increase the
detonating cord.
explosive load where needed and having the main strand of
detonating cord be for the weakest zone. For example:
Later it was found that multiple strands of detonating
cord were easier and faster to load and the exact explosive
Table 3 - Varying Explosive Loads
requirements can be set and accurately loaded. Using this
method, even weak siltstones can be presplit to form smooth, Rock Type Elevation Explosive Load
solid walls.
Limestone 0-20 550 grains per ft.

In the previous example the blaster decided to try this new Shale 20-25 300 grains per ft.
technique of precision presplitting. He again had a 35-ft. Limestone 25-35 550 grains per ft.

www.rockproducts.com ROCKproducts May 2016 25

PRESPLITTING

Figure 4 - Grundy, Va.

This has worked well on many large, sensitive projects, in For instance, if a quarry had a drilling cost of $3 per linear ft.
cluding one in Grundy, Va. (Figure 4). In this blast there were and similar cost per lb. of explosives of $3 per lb. In this case
four different rock types that varied throughout the face and the quarry would reduce the explosive cost of their presplit
a straight highwall had to be maintained. This increased by $0.21 per sq. ft.. At the same time, their total drilling cost
flexibility in precision presplitting allowed for more control per sq. ft. would increase by $0.51. Therefore, the quarry
over the final wall at a mining operation. would increase the cost of presplitting by $0.30 per sq. ft.
Little if any scaling of the final wall would be required.
Another feature of a precision presplit is that its bot
tom-primed with either a cast booster or a cap-sensitive Next the quarry needs to determine the monetary gain by
chub of emulsion or dynamite. While this does add a little receiving a smooth wall. If this quarry spends $50,000 per
extra power to the bottom of the blast, the main benefit is year in scaling and berms to improve their safety near the
the extra weight it gives on the detonating cord. This makes face and has a total of 3,000 ft. of a highwall (which is 35-ft.
the blast much easier and quicker to load. high), this is a total savings of $0.48 per sq. ft. In the end,
by switching to precision presplitting this mine would save
While precision presplitting uses much less explosives, it $0.18 per sq. ft. for a total of $18,900.
generally increases the total drilling because of a reduction
The current methods of presplitting used in the mining and
of the spacing. Looking at design variables and the economic
construction industry today are extremely ineffective when
variables one can analyze the differences between the two
weaker or geologically unique rock is being presplit. Unfor
methods of presplitting. Once an economic consideration is
tunately, a presplit is normally necessary in a weaker rock to
placed on the benefit of having a smoother wall, a mine can
increase safety and prevent overbreak of the face.
then make an evaluation of whether precision presplitting
is worth the investment. In the table below a comparison of
The new form of precision presplitting is designed specifi
these two forms of presplitting is done. cally to form a smooth crack to the top of the highwall in all
rock types. Precision presplitting has now been proven to
Parameter Traditional Presplit Precision Presplit work on many projects such as the Folsom Dam, Kentucky
Bench Height (ft.) 35 35 Locks, Panama Canal, etc., and is being used in the mining
industry today to increase safety and prevent overbreak in
Drillhole Diameter (in.) 3 3
weaker rocks.
Spacing (in.) 36 24
Powder Load (lb. per ft.) 0.32 0.08 In the next issue we will discuss how to calculate the explo
Stemming (in.) 36 30 sive loads for a precision presplit based on the rock types
Timing Instant Instant/delay
and characteristics.
Lb. persq. ft. 0.12 0.05
Dr. Calvin Konya is the president o f Precision Blasting Services,
Drilling per sq.ft. 0.33 0.50 and Anthony Konya is a project engineer fo r the company.

26 ROCKproducts May 2 0 1 6 www.rockproducts.com

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