Underground mining hazard map including building site categories in an area affected by underground mining activities

Abstract

The objective of the paper is generation of an underground mining hazard map. The method applied to create the map is based on five categories of areas with different characters of underground mining influence making use of the so-called building site categories. The individual areas with different groups represent various suitability or unsuitability for founding new structures in such influenced territories. They will also reflect a higher or lower degree of influence on already existing structures. Areas affected by underground mining of category V are suitable without any significant restrictions. Areas of the medium category represent influence of building site categories III and IV with economically acceptable measures for founding engineering purposes. The last type is areas with high influence in the category I and II and they are clearly unsuitable for new development. Structures may be founded there in exceptional cases only. This methodology was applied on four map sheets in 1:10,000 scale in a coal mining region in the town of Karvina and its environs in the direction to the City of Ostrava (Czech Republic). Extensive changes caused by underground mining have been identified in the study area and the implementation of the suggested maps may help to deal with the issue in terms of land development by means of land use planning.