Support and Reinforcement in the Mining Cycle
The most commonly used mesh is probably welded mesh made of approximately 5 mm thick steel wire and having 100 mm square openings. The steel wire may be galvanised or not. The alternative has been an interwoven mesh known as chain link mesh. The disadvantage of traditional chain link mesh compared with weld mesh has been the difficulty of applying shotcrete successfully through the smaller openings available. This difficulty has now been overcome in a high strength, light weight chain link mesh with 100 mm openings which is easy to handle and can be made to conform to uneven rock surfaces more readily than weld mesh. A feature of this mesh is the fact that the intersections of the wires making up the squares in the mesh are twisted rather than simply linked or welded. Roth et al. (2004) describe static and dynamic tests on this mesh. Mesh of this type is being used successfully at the Neves Corvo Mine, Portugal, where it has been particularly successful in rehabilitati...