A GUIDELINE FOR TENDON SUPPORT DESIGN

The most commonly used tendon supports in the Sudbury area include roc k bolts, rebars, friction anchors and cable bolts. Due to the fact tha t these tendons are physically different and employ different anchorin g systems they offer varying degrees of stiffness, yield ability, load capacity, anchor dependability and energy absorption. These differenc es coupled with variable rock mass and changing stress conditions have made it challenging to engineer the design of an effective support sy stem. By tapping into the knowledge and experience gained by ground co ntrol practitioners, an empirically based rating system has been assem bled that offers a guide to designers of support systems when choosing the most effective tendon support over a range of rock mass and stres s conditions. A methodology referred to as support planning can be use d to design support systems whose rehabilitation costs will be minimiz ed. The use of multiple tendon types in any one support layout is advo cated, particularly when the stress state of the rock mass to be suppo rted is expected to undergo a change.