Prevention of damage to highways and railroads in mining areas

Roads and railways, a distinctive part of Civil Engineering, when situated in subsidence areas, are subjected to the multiparameter reactions of soil due to subgrade deformation. The essence of technical degradation of such objects due to mining-induced subsidence entail changes in their functional and stability-strength properties. These changes take place within the structural system itself and, also in its subgrade. The linear character of such objects as a highway or a railroad creates a specific type of interaction between the subgrade and the elongated structure. The type of mining-induced contact reactions and the magnitude of service loads determine the operating capability of structures under these specific conditions. The need to maintain the proper geometrical parameters of the system (grade line, slope, superelevation, horizontal and/or vertical curvatures) arises from the necessity to maintain safe and uninterrupted traffic. The paper is based primarily on the author's broad and lengthy research experience