DRILLING AND BLASTING

J. D. Jacobs, Jacobs Associates

STATE OF THE ART able drill bits, tungsten carbide bit facings, better drill
steels, larger and more powerful pneumatic drills, hydrau-
Tunneling through solid rock may be performed either with lically powered booms for positioning of drills, larger and
a tunneling machine or by use of conventional drilling and faster mucking machines, devices such as "cherry pickers,"
blasting. Machine tunneling is comparatively new, having and the sliding floor (magic carpet) for faster switching of
come into general us.e since the 1950s; the drilling and blast- muck-hauling vehicles. These improvements were the
ing method has been practiced for several centuries. This products of equipment manufacturers and inventive
leads to speculation as to whether the machine will com- tunnel engineers and were not publicly financed. The
pletely replace the older and more conventional method of increased tunneling activity today and the stimulus of
tunnel excavation. publicly financed research may bring even greater ad-
The complete obsolescence of underground drilling and vances in conventional tunneling methods during the
blasting techniques does not appear to be imminent. Rock next decade.
that is too . ard to cut economically with a machine must
be e xcava ed in the convent ional manner: using drills and
explosives. Tunneling machines are expensive both to pur-
chase and to install; consequently, they are frequently un- Tunnel jumbo equipped with hydraulic drills (photo courtesy
economical in shorter tunnels. Furthermore, improvements of Atlas-Copco).
resulting from research into drilling and blasting may likely
bring wider adoption of conventional methods.
When the drilling and blasting method is used, the
ground is shattered by the detonation of explosives within
holes drilled into the solid rock. These holes are usually
25.4 to 50.8 mm (1 to 2 in) in diameter, spaced several
centimeters to a meter apart in a preplanned pattern, and
drilled to a depth that is dependent on the length of round
to be pulled. Pneumatic percussion drills are customarily
used. Small drills can be hand held, but larger and more
powerful drills, which are now commonly used, must be
mounted on positioning devices to obtain maximum drill-
ing speed with a minimum of labor. Standard practice is
to mount the drills on a carriage or "jumbo" that travels
to and from the face on railroad tracks or on pneumatic
tires.
Explosives for tunnel blasting can be either gelatine dy-
ruwiite or ammonium nitrate. Detonation is accomplished
by use of electric blasting caps with built-in delays. Delay
refers to the short interval of time that occurs between the
instant the electric current is applied and the instant of ex-
plosion, which may vary from zero to several seconds. The FUTURE RESEARCH
use of delays results in sequential loosening and ejection of
the shattered rock during the blast, which starts with a "cut" Faster Drilling
shot near the center of the face and progresses in a series of
shots outward to the tunnel perimeter. Accelerated research into improved metallurgy of drill
Drilling and blasting is cyclical. To excavate a round re- bits, differently shaped bits, and faster drills could in-
quires the sequential operations of drilling the holes, loading crease substantially the currently attainable drilling
the explosive, detonating the blast, and finally removing and speed. Rotary drills might replace percussion equip-
disposing of the broken rock, installing supports (when ment in hard rock work. Experiments in the past with
needed), and extending utilities. The aim of the tunnel rotary drills were discouraging largely because of the
engineer is to reduce the cycle time to a minimum, thereby harmful effect of noise on the human operator. Re-
permitting a maximum number of rounds to be "pulled" search into noise abatement might lead to discoveries
in a 24-h day and keeping the cost of tunneling as low as that would result in a reevaluation of rotary drilling.
possible. ·
Since 1930 many improvements have been made in ex- Automation of Drilling Mechanisms
cavating tunnels by drilling and blasting. Consequently,
tunnels are today being driven twice as fast and sometimes Programmed positioning of drill holes could eliminate
with less labor than they were 40 years ago. Improve- delay now caused by human factors such as the experi-
ments during these years include the drill jumbo, remov- ence, intelligence, or state of fatigue of the operator.

5
Mechanical Loading of Explosives years in mucking machines. Faster production could
undoubtedly be obtained by introduction of already
One of the factors that increase labor costs in tunnel known principles to tunnel excavation. Use of hydrau-
construction is the number of workers required to lically powered and more compact shovels could result
hand place and tamp the explosive charge. Machines in faster and less costly handling of materials in under-
to place the charges could result in significant savings ground excavation.
in labor cost and loading time.
Hydraulic Drills
Labor Efficiency

Manufacturers have recently introduced hydraulically

A program of education and improved relations between
powered drills and impact breakers that give great prom-
employer and workers is needed to increase labor efficiency,
ise of success. Perhaps further experimentation with
improve safety, and reduce costs. An objective study should
combinations of percussion drills and impactors of ex-
be made to determine the optimum number of workers re-
pansion breakers will lead to a new rock-breaking tech-
quired for various tunneling operations. Part of the high
nique that will eliminate the need for explosives.
costs of underground excavation results from requirements
Smoother Excavation of union management that more workers be employed than
needed for efficient and safe operations with today's equip-
One of the advantages of machine excavation is the elim- ment.
ination of overbreak. The removal of unnecessary ma-
terial beyond the required excavation lines increases the
cost for labor and ground supports and especially adds Measuring Surface Vibrations
to the cost of concrete lining required to fill those un-
wanted spaces. Further research is needed in methods Vibrations at the surface of the ground are caused by blast-
to permit better control of overbreak.
ing for rock tunnels. The character of these vibrations
Faster Muck Removal cannot now be accurately predicted, and a measurement
method is needed, particularly when blasting occurs under
Little improvement has been made during the past 40 densely populated areas.