Rapid Roadway Development

The project commenced in 1998 and involved collaboration between ACARP, CSIRO, JCOAL, Boart Longyear, The IHI Corporation, Taheiyo Komatsu and Hydramatic Engineering (now Sandvik).  All funds allocated to this project have been expended and the work program forming project C9017 is now complete.  

The final report for the ACARP C9017 Rapid Roadway Development Project consists of three parts.  

Part 1:   Summary of Project Outcomes (This Document): is a high level discussion of the final outcomes of the project.

Part 2:  Technical Report for Activities 2004-2008: a self-contained report describing the work program and results for the period 2004-2008

Part 3:   Technical Report for Activities 2001 - 2004: a self-contained report describing the work program and results for the period 2001-2004

To complete the list of reports available, an interim report covering the period from the inception of the project in 1998 to 2001 is also available and is cited as a reference to this report (Kelly et al, 2001).

The goals of this report are to:

· Provide a concise description of the technical objectives and outcomes of the project.

· Discuss the successes of the project

· Examine the reasons for failure to achieve the initial project objectives

· Show how reduced scope objectives were defined

· Describe the learnings from this project which will provide a positive influence to the direction of future work

· Indicate the future uses of the ACBM platform

Successes

A new mining machine, the ACBM, has been developed, which will demonstrate new technologies and will act as a platform for further research and development.

With the advent of the ACARP Roadway Development Task Group and the CM2010 project, an ACARP initiative to develop a new mining machine that can operate for 20 hours per day at 10m per hour development rate, it is believed that the Autonomous Conveyor Bolter Module (ACBM) will remain a key potential building block to meet certain CM2010 project targets.

The bolt storage and delivery system has been found to be appropriate for further investigation and development as part of ongoing CM2010 studies.

Major issues

· Project structure - overly complicated with inadequate management to achieve objectives.

· Technical risk - too many new, inter-related concepts and developments in parallel: self drilling bolt, grout delivery system, automation systems.

· Resourcing - inadequate resourcing available for manufacturing system components from Australian participants.

Analysis of the project progress and outcomes will assist in maximising the benefits of the project and in avoiding a reoccurrence of the problems experienced in the Rapid Roadway Development project.

THE FINAL REPORT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE ACARP WEB SITE