Subsidence Movements and Structural Damage Related to an Abandoned Coal Mine

An area in southwestern Illinois has been experiencing surface and subsurface movements with associated damage to surface structures. The area is underlain by an abandoned, partially extracted room-and-pillar underground coal mine. Instrumentation included TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry), Inclinometers, Sondex, Tiltplates, and precision land surveys. This paper presents the results of a 16-month cooperative study between the Department of Mining Engineering at SIUC and a local coal company