Study of strata control in an ug coal mine being worked by …
5. Continuous miners operate a room and pillar mining system. A series of 18 to 20 foot wide rooms are driven in the coal bed with pillars or columns of coal left standing to help support the roof. Roof bolts, typically four to six feet long steel bolts, are inserted into holes bored into the roof to bind the strata together support the roof. …