Automated monitoring of engineering structures in the Skalisty Mine SKS-1 shaft

Comprehensive safety of critical objects (structures class KS-3) is the topmost objective of an efficient modern mine. Regarding the Polar Division of Nornickel, the situation is complicated by very harsh climate, and by difficult geological and operating conditions, and it is advisable to use automated monitoring of engineering structures (AMES). This article gives an example of using such system at a unique facility of the mining industry—Eurasia’s deepest shaft SKS-1 in the Skalisty Mine. The system of AMES includes the underground and surface monitoring subsystems (lining and pit-head frame, respectively) with their junction at the central server. From the comparative assessment of the known solutions and using the method of expert appraisement, a variant of AMES configuration with point fiber-optic sensors was selected. The focus of the stress–strain control in the lining and pithead frame is deformations, and vibrational accelerations and slope angles of structures are determined additionally. In the process of monitoring, the informational model of the structures is developed and consistently supplemented, and limit ranges are determined and adjusted for the control parameters of AMES, with three levels of hazards. The described AMES system is meant to handle the key problem of early detection of hazardous processes in load-bearing structures in skip-and-cage shaft SKS-1, with the further development and implementation of preventive measures.