4. Horizontal transportation
4.2 Personnel transportation
4.2.3 Carriages
It has been identified that personnel carriages pulled by locomotives will be the preferred method of lateral transportation for the workforce (Rupprecht and Williams, 2001 (a». The use of the carriage system only become necessary once travelling distances between the shaft and stope cross cuts exceeds 1,400 m to 1,800 m. Walking would be appropriate for shorter distances, as the period taken to spot and load the carriages would be longer than the actual time to walk to the working place. However, in certain situations it may be advantageous to restrict workers from travelling in the haulage, thus requiring the workforce to utilise a personnel carriage system. The transport system must ensure the continual flow of the workforce, as a crew should arrive as a unit and not in 'dribs and drabs'.
Personnel carriages are made to mine specifications and designs are available with a capacity from 12 to 120 workers. The use of a standing carriage offers greater capacity compared to seating carriages; a standing carriage with a capacity of 60 workers is the equivalent size of a seating carriage with a capacity of only 48 workers. The ergonomics and safety aspects of the design must be matched to the duty of the carriage. For long distance travel seating carriages are more comfortable then standing carriages.
An example of the capacity of a typical horizontal transportation system based on two 60 person carriage, a working place located 3 km from the shaft station with an average train speed of 10 km/hr. In this case, 120 workers could be transported per train per hour.
Capacity of horizontal transportation=Capacity of carriage x No. carriages X No. trips
=60 persons x 2 carriages x 1 trip/hr
=
120 person per hour per trainEquation 4-1: Personnel capacity for horizontal transportation
Where:
The time for one trips= distance + shunting loco at loading + off loading point + distance
speed speed
3km 5 ' . 3km
= + mInutes + 5 minutes + _
10km/hl 10km/h
=0.333 hours + 0.083 +0.083 + 0.333
=0.832 hours or 50 minutes
Equation 4-2: Time for one trip
and
No. trips= 1 hour =1.2 trips 50 minutes
=1.0 trips
Equation 4-3: Number of trips per hour
To minimise time losses, the horizontal transportation schedule should tie into the shaft schedule. Ideally, the personnel train capacity should match the cage capacity (±120 workers per cage) and the train should depart immediately for the working places once the workforce has been loaded into the train. However, where a large number of personnel are· to be transported to a working place far from the shaft it may be advantageous to utilise larger carriers and wait for the additional cage to fill the personnel carriages. Sufficient personnel trains should be available to transport the number of workers required for a mining area on a level. Typically, this would amount to approximately 225 to 300 workers requiring between two to three personnel trains depending upon the number and size of the personnel carriage.
Once the transportation of the workforce is completed, the locomotives can change batteries (if required) and proceed to carry out other duties such as the transportation of rock or material. While the locomotive is busy with other duties, the personnel carriages can be parked in dedicated parking bays until they are required at the end of shift, when the operation as described above is reversed.
Personnel transportation systems work well for the start of shift but are seldom as efficient at the end of the shift. Inefficiencies in the personnel transportation system, such as unreliable train schedules encourage workers to leave their workplaces early to ensure that they do not miss their cages. To overcome this problem personnel trains should run on strict and reliable schedules. Another factor is that workers finish their tasks at different times, Le. the machine operators finish sooner then the charging up crew. This also results in personnel reporting to the shaft station at different times. Multi-skilling and new mining technology will ultimately overcome this problem by requiring smaller crews, which will make it easier to group the workers as a team throughout the shift. This in turn could facilitate the main haulages to be classified as a "no-:go" zones during the shift, keeping the haulage free of unauthorized personnel.
4.2.3.1 Carrier Design
Personnel carriages should be equipped with:
• Reflectors at each end.
• A braking system acting on the wheels of the carrier that can be activated by the locomotive drive.
• Doors positioned on one side of the carriage, roller shutter or sliding, securable from the outside with an adequate entrance space.
• An emergency exit that can be opened by personnel within the carriage.
• Means for passengers to communicate with the driver or to stop the train in an emergency.
The design of the personnel carrier should ensure:
• Adequate ventilation, at least 20% of the side area should be of wire mesh.
• Standing height of at least 2,0 m with an aerial coverage of 0,12 m 2 per person.
• Capacity of the personnel carrier displayed on the outside of the carriage.
4.2.3.2 General transportation practices with carriages
Tau Tona Gold Mine utilises two 6S-person carriages which travel up to 16 km/hr with personnel loading bays placed in the main cross cut of the longwall layout.
During the transportation of the shift, all other transportation activities are halted.
At Kopanang Gold Mine, the majority of the workforce travel to their workplaces on foot. However, on the main production levels there are between three to six
personnel carriers in use, each capable of seating 45 people. These trains are double headed, utilising a locomotive at each end of the train. This configuration reduces the transportation cycle time, as there is always a locomotive available to pull the carriages, thus no shunting of the locomotive is required. The personnel carriers operate from the station to positions and along the footwall drives but do not enter the cross cuts. Once these locomotives complete the transportation of the workforce, the locomotives exchange their batteries and then are utilised to transport explosives and material.
Although personnel trains can reach up to speeds of 16 km/hr, it is more important to focus on a well scheduled and managed system rather than a high-speed system. Kopanang has improved track work, procedures and communication to ensure the transportation system operates smoothly. A critical area identified by the mine is the end of shift procedure, where it has been identified that personnel carriers should be provided with parking bays and the change of the locomotive drivers should be done timeously preferably on the level and with the locomotives parked in the appropriate position.
Driefontein Gold Mine utilises carriages with capacities of 20 and 45 persons per carriages. Four personnel carriers per locomotive are utilised and up to two trips with two locomotives are required for busy levels. During the transportation of the shift, other tramming activities are stopped and the haulages are considered a
"no-go" zone to pedestrians. At the end of the shift when personnel are leaving the work area late, it is permissible for the latecomers to travel in the haulages by foot. Informal loading bays are utilised on the station and at the waiting places. In order for the personnel carriers to be ready for the shift, the previous shift prepares the personnel train for the next shift. Once personnel transportation is complete, carriages are parked in redundant cross cuts or on· the station in designated areas.
Utilising hoppers to transport both rock and personnel does away with the time lost to change from hoppers to personnel carriages as well as the problem of storing the carriages when not in use. Matjhabeng Gold Mine has experimented with the use of hoppers as a means to transport the workforce, utilising a stretcher as a floorboard and a net over the hopper as a protective cover. The hopper . transportation system though requires quality track work to prevent hopper
derailments and good worker discipline to maintain safety standards and for these reasons the hopper transportation system has not been put into practice.
Several mines are currently testing Anglogold's prototype of the "21 'st century locomotive" where the train· can be driven from either the locomotive directly or the caboose by remote control. Thus, the train can always be driven from the front end. This saves time in terms of shunting the locomotive. Another feature of the 21 'st century locomotive is that the driver cabin and caboose are enclosed. Thus, there is a potential to utilise air conditioning for the train. This allows the train to potentially operate in return airways or in haulages with higher temperatures and by so doing, reduces the mines' cooling costs.