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After 250 years of busted backs, coal miners could find relief thanks to professor Yoginder Paul Chugh.
Chugh, professor of mining and mineral resources engineering, has developed a new cribbing system, the Atlas Crib, to support mine roofs and increase ventilation in mines.
The Atlas Crib features wooden pieces that are half the weight of conventional cribs and can support more than double the weight of conventional cribs. The crib is assembled from a central piece of mixed hardwood with generally four pads on the ends of it. Those individual pieces are then stacked in a square form until it reaches the mine roof.
Chugh said the design allows for changes to be made so a crib can be anywhere from nine to 15 feet tall.
"We can design it any which way people want it," Chugh said. "That's the beauty of it - it's an engineered system so I can make it longer or taller."
The conventional crib was assembled from thick pieces of wood, about 40 pounds each, that prevented ventilation and could only support 60 tons compared to the 165 pounds the Atlas Crib supports.
The new crib holds the weight similar to the conventional one by having the majority of the weight bearing down on the pads at the end of the central piece of wood.
The difference, Chugh said, is the 40 percent less area the crib takes up and the efficiency in the vertical grain of the wood on the pads. Chugh said with vertical grain pads, the wood compressed just six inches under 150 tons. The conventional crib compressed 12 inches under 70 tons.
Harrold Gurley, a former miner who is now a researcher for mining and mineral resources, said stacking the old crib was difficult but the new one allows for miners to carry to pieces at a time and stack them without hurting their fingers and back.
"The people underground like the weight being lighter and the ease of carrying them," Gurley said. "You can physically grasp them in the center so you won't catch your finger in a pinch point."
This is the first advancement in the crib system in more than 250 years, and Chugh said it has the potential to have a significant effect on the economy. About 30,000 Atlas Cribs have been sold and they are currently being used in three mines, but Chugh said that is just the beginning.
Within the tri-state area alone, Chugh said he thinks they will be able to sell two million Atlas Cribs a year. Chugh said many of the area's sawmills have already experimented with manufacturing them and said he thinks it will lead to more jobs for smaller mills.
The Atlas Crib is also more versatile than conventional cribs as a shipping company has already contacted Chugh about using the crib to hold parts of the ship.
Gurly said the Atlas Crib could be used for a variety of purposes in virtually any environment.
"It could be used for tunneling in Chicago or any other hard rock mining," Gurly said. "If you are going to be working underground, this could be very beneficial."
Chugh said the Atlas Crib took about one year to develop and started out as unfunded research until the government saw how effective it was during testing. Chugh's research team was awarded a grant that will run out in August.
Chugh said this new technology will show the nation the quality program SIUC has.
"This brings a lot of visibility to the university and credibility to the coal program," Chugh said. "It has the potential to change mining and really help the economy in mining areas."
Jeff Engelhardt can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 268 or jengel@siu.edu.
