Using Haulage Accidents and Incident Reports to Identify the Impact of Substandard Haul Road Design on Operational Safety

摘要

Well designed and maintained haul roads are the key to minimising truck haulage on-road hazardsrnand costs, as well as increasing productivity. However, practically designing and managing a haulrnroad for optimal performance is often diffi cult to achieve. Poorly designed and built roads exhibitrnhigh rolling resistance – a one per cent increase in road rolling resistance can typically reduce speedrnon ramp by as much as ten per cent - and on the fl at by up to 26 per cent. In the current economicrnclimates, investment and operating decisions come under scrutiny. In the long run, this scrutinyrnreturns improved effi ciencies and leaner, healthier operations. The focus of this evolving evaluationrnprocess should and will certainly fall on haulage operations – simply by virtue of their contribution tornoverall cost of operations – often in excess of 50 per cent of total costs for deep open-pit mines. Whilstrnthe end result – improved effi ciency and reduced cost per ton hauled – is not in itself problematic,rnit is the route, or process followed to achieve these savings that needs to be carefully managed. Werncan be guided on this journey by our understanding of how a road is designed, and, critically, therninterplay between a good design and safe, cost effi cient haulage.rnThis paper briefl y summarises the evolution of mine haul road design, from the seminal USBM workrnof Kaufman and Ault in 1977, through to current geometric, structural, functional and maintenancernmanagement design components. These augmented design and management guidelines have beenrndeveloped over the past decade, both in response to the requirements of mine operators for morernsafe and effi cient haulage systems, and the truck manufacturers’ requirements for a more predictablernand controlled operating environment. These developments have been paralleled by the need tornminimise haulage hazards, both from a health and safety perspective. Generally, both objectives havernbeen achieved, but with some specifi c areas of design and operation still presenting ongoing potentialrnhealth and safety hazards.rnThe paper then summarises current design guidelines for these safety-critical issues, both fromrna road-design ‘best-practice’ and road management perspectives. Implementation of the approachrnis seen as a basis for reducing the potential of an under-designed mine road to lead to health andrnsafety defects and secondly as a means of giving haul road safety and performance issues greaterrnprominence in the minds of the road-user, operator, mine planner and designer alike.