Design Guidelines for Coal-Refuse Piles and Water, Sediment, or Slurry Impoundments and Impounding Structures

摘要

This publication presents guidelines used by the Mine Waste Branches of the Mine Safety and Health Administration's Denver Technical Support and Pittsburgh Technical Support Centers and by MSHA district managers in their review of engineering plans for coal refuse impoundments. These guidelines give detailed information on the hydrologic, hydraulic, and geotechnical factors that should be considered in planning such structures. A plan review checklist is included. The current Mine Safety and Health Administration amended regulations on refuse piles and impounding structures became effective on November 1, 1975. These regulations are set forth in Title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, Sections 77.214 to 77.217. The regulations on refuse piles include requirements for reporting pertinent information, identification, construction, and certifying stability. The regulations on impounding structures include requirements for development and approval of construction plans, notification of potentially hazardous conditions, and identification. The MSHA district managers have the responsibility to approve the engineering plans for proposed construction or modification of waste disposal facilities before the plans are carried out. On request, the Mine Waste Branches provide the district managers with technical reviews of and recommendations of these plans. To minimize any differences in the philosophy used by each branch in their review of plans, the design guidelines presented in this publication were jointly developed. These guidelines should be followed in the preparation of required submittals. This will speed the review process by eliminating the need for MSHA to request additional work and resubmittal. Supporting data and engineering calculations for stability, hydrology, hydraulics, and laboratory data should be submitted along with the engineering plan and specifications. (ERA citation 08:048557)