Project Details
Blasting trench rock with Nxburst when using a hydraulic breaker in residential area created complaints due to noise levels and slow production – located in Nanaimo, BC – completed July 2019
Scope of the Project
- Blast trench rock using Nxburst Rock Breaking Cartridges to reduce vibrations to nearby structures and increase production
- Previously blasted area on rock face where rock was consistently dig up and exposed
- 1500 barrel installations
Hard rock was dug and hit where 1500 barrels needed to be installed. The overall area of the trench rock was 55’ x 6’ x 4’ in average rock cut. A rock breaker was becoming tedious and inefficient creating noise complaints for residents in the area. Nxburst was used with 3’ spacing using the largest charge weight for hand drilling (plugger work). The low-explosive was recommended to the contracted to help speed up rock breaking in the form of blasting to lay their pipe. Nxburst certification allows civil and excavating contractors the opportunity to have in-house blasting without previous blasting experience to handle rock breaking work in previously blasted areas and urban settings to break rock in sensitive areas and congested job sites.
Which GeoBreak Products Were Recommended
Nxburst 25034 cartridges were recommended in the trenching situation to blast and break the rock.
Expected Outcome
The expected outcome of using Nxburst 25034 Rock Breaking Cartridges was to blast and break the rock allowing to increase excavator performance and improve digability of blasted material.
Actual Outcome
Nxburst blasted and broke the rock minimizing and eliminating the use of a rock breaker attachment for an excavator.
Final Thoughts From The Project Contractors
GeoBreak provided their assistance while showing us how a blasting operation looks with the Nxburst product. This project is in a residential area where this rock was not detected when holes were tested. The rock breaker became very slow and we needed to lay pipe in the ground. We hand drilled the rock and blasted the trench in sections. Once relief was created in the trench from small blasts and using the breaker, the rock had more place to go which made digging much more manageable. After seeing how the whole process from drilling, loading, stemming, tying in charges, initiating the blast and inspecting results this is something where members of our crew can be trained to use to handle future rock breaking areas of a project moving forward.
