Summary

This review gives information about surface and underground mine haul roads. Topics discussed include haul road design, maintenance, and health and safety. Information about dust control and soil stabilization product suppliers is also given.

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INTRODUCTION

This quote from the South African CSIR website best justifies this State-of-the-Art Review:

Principal, but often neglected components of any mining or forestry operation are the haul roads. These roads are often designed with little expertise, resulting in expensive maintenance requirements and high vehicle operating costs. Truck haulage costs can amount to between 30 and 50 per cent of total surface mining costs and up to 60 per cent of total forestry operation costs. The savings from appropriate design, construction and maintenance of haulage roads and utilization of the most suitable materials can thus be significant.

A U.S. source gives these statistics

Mine haulage costs at open pit mines may represent 50% of the mining cost and sometimes as much as 25% of the total costs, which include processing, marketing, and overheads.