Rock Anchor in Salt Strata

[jimzpe]

I am installing a new underground overland belt conveyor in a (you guessed it) salt mine. Anyone have any information on the allowable loading for mechanical rock anchors in salt. I plan on using pretensioned mechanical anchors on the terminal pulley frames.

 

[dgillette]

I can't speak on specific numbers, but I do recall that salt is prone to creep and flow under high pressures. This makes it fairly forgiving for underground mines (fractures tend to heal up so the salt being tunneled is generally free of joints), but it might also mean you need to use a very generous factor of safety for static loads if small deformations would be a problem for the conveyor.