Mine Subsidence Engineering Consultants provide engineering services in the field of mine subsidence prediction, mine subsidence damage assessment , monitoring and related areas.

The principals, Arthur Waddington and Don Kay have been involved in mine subsidence engineering matters since 1978 in both Australia and the United Kingdom.

Over the years Don and Arthur have developed and refined a method of subsidence prediction known as the Incremental Profile Method, which provides site specific mine subsidence predictions thus assisting stakeholders in assessing the potential impacts of underground mining on surface infrastructure.

Being fully qualified and experienced civil and structural engineers, the company is able to offer a variety of services to its clients in the fields of building, civil, structural, environmental, mine infrastructure and subsidence engineering. The company is well positioned to assess the impacts of subsidence on structures and to provide advice on the mitigation of subsidence impacts.

As well as meeting the information needs of a variety of clients, Arthur and Don have conducted extensive research into the impacts of underground coal mining on buildings, creeks, river valleys, gorges and clifflines.

The Company's research programme includes regular reviews of measured data as well as major research projects to achieve specific objectives. Examples of these major projects include:

** the initial development of the Incremental Profile Method for the Southern, Newcastle, Hunter & Western Coalfields of NSW, which included studying the interrelationships between the incremental longwall panel widths, the chain pillar widths, lengths of longwalls, effect of proximity to the longitudinal ends of longwalls and the relationship between subsidence, tilt, curvature and strain;

** applying the method to suit data for the coalfields of Central Queensland;

** adjusting the method to accommodate the influence of differing cover depths, multi seam data and local geological conditions;  and

** undertaking specific research projects funded by NERDDP and ACARP.

The office is located in Chatswood, Australia, so we are conveniently positioned to meet the needs of our clients in the Newcastle and Southern Coalfields of New South Wales and interstate.

The Incremental Profile Method

The Incremental Profile Method was developed by Arthur Waddington and Don Kay during the course of a study for one of their clients, during the latter part of 1994. The method has been refined over the years with proven reliability following considerable research by Arthur, Don, Daryl Kay and James Barbato.

Incremental subsidence profiles show the settlement resulting from the extraction of an individual panel of coal and can be derived by subtracting the observed subsidence profile before mining from the observed subsidence profile after mining.

The regularity of shape of incremental subsidence profiles was first noticed whilst undertaking an empirical study using monitoring data from more than 72 longwall panels.

The Incremental Profile Method of predicting surface subsidence over a series of panels was developed during this study and starts with the prediction of the magnitude and shape of the incremental profiles for each panel in a series based on each panel’s width, adjacent chain pillar width, position within the series of panels and depth of cover.

Final subsidence at any point on the surface is then predicted by adding together the appropriate subsidence value from each incremental profile at that point.  Tilt and curvature predictions are derived directly from the predicted subsidence profile shape and strain is derived from the predicted curvature profile.

Predictions have been carried out using the Incremental Profile Method over a number of monitored panels and close correlations between the observed and predicted profiles have been achieved.

Mine Subsidence Engineering Consultants Pty Ltd

Consultants in Civil, Structural, Environmental, Mine Infrastructure & Subsidence Engineering

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