Date
02 Jun 1988, 10:30 am - 3:00 pm
Abstract
Johnston City, a small community in southern Illinois, lies above the Herrin (Illinois No. 6) coal seam. The community has experienced sporadic episodes of surface subsidence due to the collapse of underground mines since the 1930's. Although the mining company left a large block of coal beneath the town's elementary school to prevent subsidence damage to the structure, large cracks appeared in the school building in December, 1971. After the building was razed, construction of a new school was initiated in 1974. Approximately six months after the start of construction, new evidence of structural distress was observed in 'the still-uncompleted structure. Construction was suspended indefinitely while site investigations were conducted. These investigations, along with recent air photo studies, indicate that renewed mine collapse and the resulting downward displacement of the surface, were the cause of this second incident of structural distress.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
2nd Conference of the International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering
Publisher
University of Missouri--Rolla
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 1988 University of Missouri--Rolla, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Van Besien, Alphonse C. and Aughenbaugh, Nolan B., "Johnston City School, Mine Subsidence or Shallow Foundation Problem?" (1988). International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering. 20.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icchge/2icchge/2icchge-session2/20
Johnston City School, Mine Subsidence or Shallow Foundation Problem?
Johnston City, a small community in southern Illinois, lies above the Herrin (Illinois No. 6) coal seam. The community has experienced sporadic episodes of surface subsidence due to the collapse of underground mines since the 1930's. Although the mining company left a large block of coal beneath the town's elementary school to prevent subsidence damage to the structure, large cracks appeared in the school building in December, 1971. After the building was razed, construction of a new school was initiated in 1974. Approximately six months after the start of construction, new evidence of structural distress was observed in 'the still-uncompleted structure. Construction was suspended indefinitely while site investigations were conducted. These investigations, along with recent air photo studies, indicate that renewed mine collapse and the resulting downward displacement of the surface, were the cause of this second incident of structural distress.
