Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
(OP)
I am involved in a project that is required to remove two dozen large sandstone boulders from a location that is about 100 meters downstream from a major dam. These boulders are approx. 10m x 5m x 3m in size. Would it be better to remove the rocks by breaking them into smaller sizes using blasting or rock breaking methods? Additional considerations/concerns are seismic activity on the embankment dam, economics, length of project, etc. Any thoughts would be helpful.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.





RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
just finished with blasting on a dam spillway less than 10 meters from the top of an existing dam with lake full to the spillway crest. no problems encountered.
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
Dik
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
The surrounding dirt around the charge reflects energy both cases, but blowing the debris "up" reduces the total energy into the surrounding soil ...and the dam.
(Blowing "up" requires you plan on retaining the debris however.)
You may also consider drilling a row of holes in the larger boulders before the blast to encourage cracking into manageable sized chunks rather than random crack parts.
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
RE: Rock Blasting vs. Breaking
- expansive cement ( Bristar, S-mite, etc )
- Nonex, Boulder buster or Pyroc products ( heat gives very high pressure which will break the rock, no vibrations ).