Integrated Asset Management Strategies for Unpaved Mine Haul Roads

The world-wide expansion of surface mining has led to the development of very large off-highway trucks currently capable of hauling payloads in excess of 290 tons. Typical axle loads in excess of 200 tons are applied to mine haul road networks that have historically been designed empirically, relying heavily on local experience. Currently, truck haulage costs can account for 10%-50% of the total costs incurred by a surface mine. As the trend in increasing truck size continues, the current pavement systems will prove inadequate. Not only will the maintenance costs of existing roads with inadequate thickness increase, vehicle operating and maintenance costs will also increase prohibitively. There is a need to consider an integrated approach to pavement system structural, functional and maintenance design components, taking into account road construction costs, vehicle operating costs and road maintenance costs. Since mine roads are built and operated by private companies, minimisation of total transportation costs is required. The paper presents an integrated mine haul road asset management strategy and illustrates the value of its application through case studies. Using the asset management strategy, the improvement in structural design resulted in a 29% saving in construction costs and also provided better service, whilst the optimal selection and management of wearing-course materials also provided better functionality at lower total transportation cost. Environmental considerations were addressed by the characterization of wearing course material performance that enabled a haul road dust management strategy to be developed based on the comparative costs of the suppression solution adopted. Through a case-study application, the benefits of effective dust management and the associated reduction in total construction costs, vehicle operating costs and road maintenance costs is illustrated.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0971174016
• Corporate Authors:

  University of Washington, Seattle

  Engineering Professional Programs, 10303 Meridian Avenue North #301
  Seattle, WA  United States  98133-9483
• Authors:
  • Thompson, Roger J
  • Visser, Alex T
• Conference:
  • Fifth International Conference on Managing Pavements
  • Location: Seattle Washington, United States
  • Date: 2001-8-11 to 2001-8-14
• Publication Date: 2001-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: CD-ROM
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 13p
• Monograph Title: Fifth International Conference on Managing Pavements, August 11-14, 2001, Seattle, Washington. Conference Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Asset management; Axle load force; Costs; Haul roads; Maintenance; Mine haulage; Operating costs; Pavements; Road construction; Strategic planning; Trucks
• Subject Areas: Design; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Motor Carriers; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I23: Properties of Road Surfaces; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01037872
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0971174016
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 4 2006 9:11AM