International Workshop on Seismic Stability of Tailings Dams

这项行动是为国家科学基金会、露天采矿办公室（美国内政部的一个局）和矿山联合组织和赞助的尾矿坝地震稳定性国际研讨会提供部分支持。安全与健康管理局（劳工部内的一个机构）。尾矿坝是用于从开采的矿石中提取感兴趣的材料的研磨过程的残留物。它们的特点是由路堤固定的液压填筑。过去在太平洋沿岸的几个地震多发国家多次发生尾矿坝因地震而倒塌的情况，造成了重大的财产和生命损失，以及严重的环境问题。 根据提供给国家大坝清单的最新数据，美国有860座与煤矿开采有关的大坝。其中，232个被联邦应急管理局的危险等级系统认为具有高危险潜力，表明故障将合理地可能导致生命损失和重大财产损失。绝大多数这些高危险性的大坝是位于阿巴拉契亚煤田的煤矸石尾矿坝。有一些超过200米（600英尺）高。由于地震载荷，这种结构的破坏将是灾难性的。尽管土坝的抗震设计和分析已经取得了相当大的进展，但对尾矿坝抗震稳定性的研究却很少。过去的研究表明，煤废料的力学性质与大多数土壤的力学性质大不相同。 尾矿坝的结构和施工方法与常规土坝有很大的不同。因此，迫切需要研究地震荷载下尾矿坝的稳定性，并开发适合这种独特结构类型的抗震设计程序。 这次研讨会将汇集美国和国际专家，讨论所涉及的关键问题。目标是：1）总结当前最先进的技术，以及尾矿坝设计和抗震分析的实践; 2）确定研究需求; 3）促进研究人员，政府监管机构和执业工程师之间的沟通和合作。 在所需专门知识范围内，组织者将包括代表性不足的少数群体。研讨会将于2003年5月22日至23日在俄亥俄州克利夫兰的凯斯西储大学土木工程系举行。研讨会的会议记录将在研讨会网站和政府管理机构的网站上在线公布。

This action is to provide partial support for an International Workshop on Seismic Stability of Tailings Dams, being jointly organized and sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Surface Mining (a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior), and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (an agency within the Department of Labor). Tailings dams are the residue of the milling process used to extract materials of interest from mined ores. They are characterized by hydraulically placed fills held in place by an embankment. Failure of tailings dams due to earthquakes has occurred many times in the past in several Pacific Rim earthquake-prone countries, causing significant loss of property and human lives, as well as severe environmental problems. According to the most current data supplied to the National Inventory of Dams, there are 860 coal-mining related dams in the United States. Of these, 232 are considered to have a high hazard-potential by FEMA's hazard rating system, indicating that failure would be reasonably likely to result in loss of life and significant property damage. The vast majority of these high-hazard-potential dams are coal refuse tailings dams located in the Appalachian Coal Field. A few are over 200 m (600 feet) high. Failure of such a structure due to earthquake loading would be catastrophic. Even though considerable progress has been made in seismic design and analysis of earth dams, little research has been conducted on the seismic stability of tailings dams. Past research has shown that coal waste materials have mechanical properties quite different from that of most soils. The structure and construction method of tailings dams are very different from conventional earth dams. Therefore, there is an urgent need for research to investigate the stability of tailings dams under earthquake loading, and to develop seismic design procedures suitable for this unique type of structure. This workshop will bring together US and international experts to discuss the critical issues involved. The objectives are: 1) to summarize the current state-of-the-art, and the state-of-the-practice in the design and seismic analyses of tailings dams; 2) to identify research needs; 3) to facilitate communication and collaboration between researchers, government regulatory agencies, and practicing engineers. Within the limits of the required expertise, the organizers will include underrepresented minorities. The workshop will be hosted by the Department of Civil Engineering, Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio on 22-23 May 2003. The workshop proceedings will be posted online on the workshop web site and the web sites of the government regulatory agencies.