“Method For Treating A High And Steep Landslide In A Mine With A Gently-Inclined And Weak Interlayer” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20210180455)

2021 JUL 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Engineering Business Daily -- A patent application by the inventors CHANG, Shuxiang (Wuhan City, CN); CUI, Aneng (Wuhan City, CN); CUI, Kai (Wuhan City, CN); HU, Bin (Wuhan City, CN); HUANG, Shibing (Wuhan City, CN); LI, Jing (Wuhan City, CN); SHENG, Jianlong (Wuhan City, CN); YE, Zuyang (Wuhan City, CN); ZHANG, Guangquan (Wuhan City, CN), filed on November 17, 2020, was made available online on June 17, 2021, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application has not been assigned to a company or institution.

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “Landslides are one of main risks that affect safety and stability of slope projects in mines, hydropower, transportation, etc. Landslide treatment is to determine appropriate engineering technical measures according to geology terrain of a slope and working conditions, etc., so as to ensure a smooth progress of an on-site project and safety of personnel and apparatus. In southwest of China, such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other provinces, there is a wide range of gently-inclined and weak interlayers. Such weak interlayers are generally thin layers of shale containing carbon, silty sand, calcium and other mineral components, with a dip angle of less than 25°, low mechanical strength, poor water-physical properties and obvious rheological effects. Especially in rainy season, under softening effect of water, mechanical properties of the weak interlayers deteriorate, and ratio of anti-sliding force to sliding force decreases, so that a slope is in a critical instability state, and it is easy to cause large-scale sliding damage along the gently-inclined and weak interlayers. Due to existence of many structures and buildings in mines and uncertainty of landslide disasters, the landslides are prone to cause huge economic losses and endanger safety of personnel and apparatus. Therefore, treatment of a high and steep landslide in mines with gently-inclined and weak interlayers is very important.

“Current technical solutions for landslide prevention mainly include interception drainage, slope cutting and unloading, anti-slide piles, and anti-slide retaining walls. Among them, the technical solutions of interception drainage, slope cutting and unloading can reduce sliding force of a sliding body and reduce landslide disaster, but these technical solutions cannot fundamentally realize landslide control. The technical solutions of anti-slide pile and anti-slide retaining wall can effectively control the landslide, but these technical solutions are prone to lead to material consumption and huge investment. Especially in treatment of landslide in mines, due to continuous excavation and advancement of slope in a mine, the technical solutions of anti-slide piles and anti-slide retaining walls gradually lose their roles in mining process.

“For the landslide in mines along the gently-inclined and weak interlayer, if a traditional method is used to perform the landslide treatment directly on a landslide accumulation body from top to bottom, safety of personnel and apparatus is lower. Important structures and buildings behind the landslide, such as high-voltage towers, are on a sliding zone of the weak interlayer. In order to avoid disturbances in process of landslide treatment affecting stability of the important structures and buildings behind the landslide, blasting methods should be avoided in the landslide treatment. The roads up the hill behind the landslide and previous benches in a mine being destroyed, and working surface for the landslide treatment being damaged, lead to a smaller space for the landslide treatment. This type of landslides is controlled by the weak interlayer, so safety for the landslide treatment in a rainy season is poor. In view of complex geological conditions of mine engineering, high difficulty for the landslide treatment, large amount of the landslide treatment engineering and tight construction time, traditional treatment methods cannot fully meet requirement of the landslide treatment, and innovative treatment measures are required.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The present disclosure is intended to overcome disadvantages in the prior art and provide a method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer. The method according to the present disclosure can treat a landslide from root cause and avoid a secondary landslide. Moreover, the method according to the present disclosure will not cause any impact on structures and buildings in a mine, and can guarantee safety of personnel and apparatus.

“In order to achieve the above objects, the method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer according to the present disclosure may comprise: S1. excavating small-benches on stable bedrock below a weak interlayer to form working surfaces for risk elimination process of landslide; S2. conducting the risk elimination process, S3. transporting a landslide accumulation body to a crushing station or a rock dump site; and S4. repeating steps S1 to S3, and continuously advancing risk elimination along the working surfaces for the risk elimination process of landslide until treatment of the high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer is completed, wherein the step S2 comprises the following steps: laying out the small-benches perpendicular to a stratus strike of a high slope in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer, and advancing risk elimination along the stratus strike; keeping a horizontal distance between the working surfaces for the risk elimination process implemented on adjacent small-benches equal to or greater than 50 m, and conducting the risk elimination process on two or more small-benches at the same time; a landslide accumulation body collapsing along a free surface side by its own weight; stable structure of a consolidated accumulation body being destroyed by vibrations of an excavator bucket, and then the consolidated accumulation body collapses by its own weight.

“In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a slope gradient of the small-bench may be 5‰-7‰.

“In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a height difference between two adjacent small-benches may be determined according to an operating range of excavator.

“In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the step S1, a crawler-type impact hammer may be used to excavate the small-benches on the stable bedrock below the weak interlayer.

“Compared with the prior art, the method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure have at least the following technical effects and advantages:

“According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, small-benches on stable bedrock below a weak interlayer are excavated to form working surfaces for risk elimination process of landslide, and the steps of conducting the risk elimination process as described in step S2 of the present disclosure are performed, then a landslide accumulation body is cleaned up. Wherein, the small-benches are arranged on stable bedrock below the weak interlayer, thereby improving safety of a landslide treatment. In addition, the small-benches can not only be used as a platform for the landslide treatment, but also as a small safety platform for a slope in a mine after the landslide treatment is completed, to buffer and block falling rocks. Furthermore, the technical solution of “conducting risk elimination process on two or more small-benches at the same time” greatly speeds up progress of risk elimination. The technical solution of “keeping a horizontal distance between the working surfaces for the risk elimination processes implemented on adjacent small-benches equal to or greater than 50 m” ensures safety of the risk elimination, and avoids damages to personnel or apparatus on a lower working surface for the risk elimination process during the progress of a upper working surface for the risk elimination process. The technical solution of “stable structure of a consolidated accumulation body being destroyed by vibrations of an excavator bucket, and then the consolidated accumulation body collapses by its own weight” does not adopt any blasting process, which can avoid impact of blasting vibrations on a landslide accumulation body, eliminating a secondary landslide and having no impact on structures and buildings in a mine, and thus safety of the landslide treatment is guaranteed. A crawler-type impact hammer is used to excavate the small-benches on the bedrock below the weak interlayer, which can avoid use of blasting process, and thus avoiding adverse influences on the landslide due to blasting vibrations. In addition, a slope gradient of the small-bench can be 5‰˜7‰, which facilitates drainage of accumulated water during the landslide treatment.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer, comprising: S1. excavating small-benches on stable bedrock below a weak interlayer to form working surfaces for risk elimination process of landslide; S2. conducting the risk elimination process; S3. transporting a landslide accumulation body to a crushing station or a rock dump site; and S4. repeating steps S1 to S3, and continuously advancing risk elimination along the working surfaces for the risk elimination process of landslide until treatment of the high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer is completed; wherein, the step S2 further comprises the following steps: laying out the small-benches perpendicular to a stratus strike of a high slope in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer, and advancing risk elimination along the stratus strike; keeping a horizontal distance between the working surfaces for the risk elimination process implemented on adjacent small-benches equal to or greater than 50 m, and conducting the risk elimination process on two or more small-benches at the same time; a landslide accumulation body collapsing along a free surface side by its own weight; and stable structure of a consolidated accumulation body being destroyed by vibrations of an excavator bucket, and then the consolidated accumulation body collapses by its own weight.

“2. The method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer according to claim 1, wherein a slope gradient of the small-bench is 5‰-7‰.

“3. The method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer according to claim 1, wherein a height difference between two adjacent small-benches is determined according to an operating range of excavator.

“4. The method for treating a high and steep landslide in a mine with a gently-inclined and weak interlayer according to claim 1, wherein in the step S1, a crawler-type impact hammer is used to excavate the small-benches on the stable bedrock below the weak interlayer.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: CHANG, Shuxiang; CUI, Aneng; CUI, Kai; HU, Bin; HUANG, Shibing; LI, Jing; SHENG, Jianlong; YE, Zuyang; ZHANG, Guangquan. Method For Treating A High And Steep Landslide In A Mine With A Gently-Inclined And Weak Interlayer. Filed November 17, 2020 and posted June 17, 2021. Patent URL: https://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220210180455%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20210180455&RS=DN/20210180455

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