Study on Improvement of Dumping Site Stability in Weak Geological Condition by Using Compacted Layer

Berau Basin, a sub-basin of Tarakan Basin, had been developed during Eocene to Miocene period. Rocks in Berau Basin consist of sedimentary, volcanic and igneous rocks aged from Pre-tertiary until Quaternary epoch. The youngest identified rock formation was alluvial deposit consists of mud, silt, sand, gravel and swamp with brown to dark color. This youngest rock formation is relatively weak geological condition and can cause problems in the coal mining operation. PT Berau Coal as one of the coal mining companies in Berau Basin area had experienced some problems related to the occurrence of alluvial deposit. A large failure has occurred at one of its out pit dumping area which lies over the swamp material. The failure caused a higher operating cost since it made that the distance for waste rock dumping became to be farther than the designated area. Therefore, in order to prevent similar failure occurring at dumping area which lies above swamp material, an improvement of dumping site stability on weak geological condition has to be needed. The proposed method for improving the stability of out pit dumping area in weak geological condition is to construct the compacted layer of waste rock before the out pit dumping area construction. Based on experimental results, a minimum of 40 kPa pressure is needed to give a proper compaction to the waste rock. The result of numerical analysis by Finite Element Method (FEM) shows that construction of compacted layer on the base of out pit dumping area can improve its stability.