Over the past year Dr. Sauer & Partners has been providing technical support to Worley for the ground support designs of the Mineral Transport System (MTS) Shaft and Horizontal Development Inset for Anglo American’s Woodsmith project.
Since our last update in November 2023, the construction of the MTS Shaft Enlargement has been completed to Bench 2 at approximately 350m below ground level. The excavation and support of Station Chamber North and South Headings has also been completed down to Bench 2.
The specialist contractor Redpath Deilmann is currently progressing the works on the 11 intersecting roadways. The roadways are located in the Redcar Mudstone and are mined using the drill & blast method. They feature horseshoe profiles with arched roofs and vertical walls tailored to the prevailing ground conditions. The ground support design consists of rock bolts, flexibolts and steel mesh for temporary support. For durability over the 50 years lifetime of the mine and the long term support case a sprayed concrete lining is applied.
Exavation of Bench 2 has been completed on seven roadways, with excavation initiated and being put on hold on two additional roadways. Temporary ground support has been installed on nine roadways. Sprayed concrete lining has been completed on four roadways, with spraying currently underway on three roadways.
Dr. Sauer & Partners designer’s representation team on site audits the progress of the project and liaises with Anglo American, Worley and Redpath during the execution of the works. Our site team undertakes weekly underground visits and reviews monitoring data, bolt and sprayed concrete testing results, as well as excavation & spray profiles.
Additionally, Dr. Sauer & Partners is carrying out a number of design interface studies in order to review the impact of geometry changes and the construction of the structures designed by Arup on the already built MTS structures. This includes the assessment of the vertical load on the temporary headwalls due to a potential upper MTS level, an assessment on Roadway junctions and rock pillar stability between two excavated chambers. The design work is carried out remotely from our office in London.
Due to Anglo American’s recent announcement to slow the development of the Woodsmith Mine project, the works on the MTS Horizontal Development are currently put in a safe stop. Dr. Sauer & Partners developed the procedure for these works, with a requirement for advance faces to be bolted and sprayed up prior to closure, and safe for the ‘care and maintenance’ period.
