FR3052181A1 - PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING NATURAL MATERIALS, IN PARTICULAR ROCKS - Google Patents

Abstract

This method of extracting natural materials from a soil (2), comprises in a variable order of execution, the following steps: a) realization of a network of substantially vertical holes in the soil (2) according to a mesh predefined, the holes (6) having a diameter greater than 1 m, b) making two substantially vertical cuts between two adjacent holes, c) producing a substantially horizontal cut between two vertical cuts so as to detach a block, called strip, located between two adjacent holes, and extraction of said bar, d) repetition of steps b) and c) so as to form a trench of polygonal shape thus delimiting a block, e) realization of a horizontal cut under the block so as to release it from the ground and extraction of said block, said block can be in one piece or in several pieces.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of extracting natural materials, including rocks.

The field of the present invention is thus in particular the exploitation of quarries to obtain rocks (granite, sandstone, ...) intended subsequently to be used for example in the field of construction.

In most quarries, it is still common to use explosives to detach blocks of rocks or the like from the rest of the deposit. Although the handling of explosives is better controlled, some uncertainty remains as to the shape and size of the blocks obtained after the explosion of a powder charge.

In addition, such a method generates significant noise and quarries are therefore most often away from inhabited areas and therefore also places of use of extracted rocks. In addition to noise pollution, quarries most often mark the landscape and the corresponding area is difficult to exploit to receive buildings.

It is known, for example from document FR2600375, to operate a quarry by direct debiting of stones or the like. This document proposes for example to make in the upper surface of a site and between at least two edges thereof a plurality of parallel vertical notches of identical height taken from the same horizontal plane and defining between them plate of stone, then removing said stone slabs so as to obtain a vertical face height along an edge of the site, and then to cut along the entire length of the sloping face of the blocks of stone, on the one hand, to allow the passage of the debiting tools and, on the other hand, to form guiding reference supports to obtain a good parallelism of at least two faces of the cut stone blocks, then to progress perpendicularly to the face of the cutting edge as it is being cut by placing itself on the guide reference supports and repeating these operations when the cutting edge is no longer usable, that is to say when said forehead size is no longer sufficient in its thickness to provide usable blocks of stone.

The present invention aims to further optimize the operation of a quarry, and more generally the extraction of natural materials.

An object of the invention is to limit the loss of material and thus to allow maximum use of the extracted material. This allows, in addition to an increase in the yield of the site, to limit the amount of "waste" to be treated and evacuated.

Another object of the present invention is also to limit the nuisance, sound and aesthetics, during the extraction of rocks or the like. Preferably, these nuisances are so limited that it becomes reasonable to bring the extraction site of the place of use of the extracted materials.

Another object of the present invention is to allow the "reuse" of the land once the extraction of materials is complete. To this end, the present invention proposes a method of extracting natural materials out of a soil, characterized in that it comprises in a variable order of execution, the following steps: a) realization of a network of holes substantially vertical in the ground according to a predefined mesh, the holes having a diameter greater than 1 m, b) making two substantially vertical cuts between two adjacent holes, c) producing a substantially horizontal cut between two vertical cuts so detaching a block, called a bar, located between two adjacent holes, and extracting said bar, d) repeating steps b) and c) so as to form a trench of polygonal shape thus delimiting a block, e) embodiment of a horizontal cut under the block so as to release it from the ground and extraction of said block, said block can be in one piece or in several pieces.

With such a method, the footprint on the soil surface is controlled because it is limited to mesh holes. Moreover, after exploitation of the rock, there remains a hole of limited size that it is enough to secure. No "visual" nuisance is produced: the site is only slightly affected by the exploitation of the natural material. This process also allows excellent performance because it operates only by cutting. It is even possible to recover holes from the mesh of holes because the latter are of a fairly large diameter.

To facilitate the work of extraction, the holes in the ground preferably define a rectangular mesh and preferably square. In this way, it is possible to keep tooling settings during many cutting and other operations.

In an extraction process according to the present invention, the holes made in the ground are for example circular cylindrical holes whose diameter is between 2 and 3 m, preferably between 2.2 and 2.6 m. This size of hole allows in particular to use the material removed to make these holes and thus limit losses. It also facilitates the introduction of the tooling to make the cuts of the natural material for the formation of the bars. In this configuration, it can also be provided that the axes of two adjacent holes are spaced from each other by a distance of between 5 and 10 m, preferably between 6 and 8 m.

To limit the influence on the surface of the ground and increase the yield (in m3 per m2) of the quarry, the depth of the holes made corresponds to several times the height of a bar and / or several times the height of a block and steps b) to e) are repeated so as to make a cavity, also called a well, deeper and deeper in the soil.

In order not to weaken the surrounding terrain, especially when the footprint becomes large, it is expected that the steps of realization and extraction of bars and blocks are repeated so as to achieve at least two (or more) wells neighbors, a well corresponding to the extraction of several contiguous strips and blocks and that two wells are at least partially separated by a substantially vertical wall. This vertical wall thus forms a natural reinforcement (it is not added but corresponds to the natural material which has not been affected by the extraction and which therefore has its original structure and links). It is conceivable to create passages between two neighboring wells while keeping reinforcements. The creation of these passages makes it possible to extract a larger quantity of natural material. It also allows to have a connection between the two wells if they are reused thereafter.

To further increase the efficiency of the present extraction process, the substantially vertical holes are advantageously made by making a peripheral cut so as to recover at least a portion of the corresponding material. Such a peripheral cut can be made with a tool such as that described and claimed in WO-2013/057442.

The present invention also relates to a method of operating a quarry, characterized in that it comprises the implementation of an extraction method as described above.

Such an operating method comprises defined steps for the extraction of natural material from the ground, said steps being implemented so as to produce a well and this method of operation further comprises a step of fitting said well, for example by making a floor in said well. This floor can cover the bottom of the well-for example concrete screed (or other). It can also be the realization at an intermediate height (or several intermediate heights) of a floor. Any material (concrete, slabs, metal beams, wood, etc.) can be used for the realization of this floor.

In an alternative embodiment of this operating method, it is also possible to provide steps for producing a building with a roof at least partially covering the network of holes made in the ground, said building being able to be made before making the holes. in the ground. The realization of a building with a roof is independent of the realization of wells and / or soil (s) in a well. Such a building makes it possible to carry out the extraction of natural material under cover and thus to greatly improve the working conditions of the workers involved in carrying out this extraction.

Details and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the description which follows, given with reference to the appended schematic drawing in which:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view illustrating a first step of an extraction process,

FIG. 1B is a view from above of FIG. 1A,

FIGS. 2A-6A and 2B-6B respectively are views corresponding to FIG. 1A respectively 1B for subsequent steps of the extraction process, and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a quarry in operation or at the end of its operation.

The process described below is given purely by way of illustration. Those skilled in the art will understand in particular that the order of certain steps can be modified without substantially changing the result obtained while still having advantages over a prior art extraction method.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, it is proposed to make a network of holes in the ground. It is assumed here that there is a substantially horizontal floor 2. Of course, in nature there is no perfectly flat ground as in the figure. However, it is possible to make the network of holes both on a substantially flat ground, in plain, on a slope, on a hillside, on a hill or mountain. In the figures, there is shown each time a parallelepiped block corresponding to a volume of soil from which we will extract natural material.

In most cases, whether the soil is substantially horizontal or substantially sloping, the holes will be holes extending vertically from the surface 4 of the soil. This orientation is natural and it will facilitate subsequent operations, especially when it will lift large masses to extract them from the ground.

The holes 6 are preferably circular cylindrical holes. This form is the easiest to achieve. The holes will preferably be made with a drilling device that makes the hole by rotating a drilling tool around the ground about an axis of rotation.

It is proposed here to make the holes in the ground using a drilling device such as that described in WO-2013/057442. The method of drilling the holes is then for example a method such as that described on pages 9 to 13 of this document of the prior art. This method makes it possible to carry out, step by step, holes of large diameter and also of great depth by extracting cylindrical blocks of natural material. It is proposed here to make holes whose diameter is of the order of 2 to 3 meters (m). In FIG. 1A, a core 8 obtained during the drilling of a hole 6 of the network using the drilling device of document WO-2013/057442.

The holes 6 made have for example a diameter of the order of 2.4 to 2.5 m. Carrots 8 are obtained which have a diameter of more than 2 m and which can be fully exploited after cutting, shaping and other treatments.

The network of holes 6 is made for example on the basis of a rectangular mesh, or preferably square. The pitch between two adjacent holes 6 (distance for example from center to center) is for example between 5 and 10 m, preferably between 6 and 8 m. These dimensions are given by way of illustration to give an order of magnitude associated with the process described here. They are however not limiting. Of course, depending on the uses that will be made of the rock, or other natural material, extracted, the dimensions of the holes and the mesh will be adapted. For reasons of manipulation, it is also not possible to cut too large blocks of rock that would not be transportable.

It is proposed here to make holes 6 of great depth, from ten to several tens of meters, one after the other, before continuing the extraction process.

A second step is illustrated in Figure 2 (Figures 2A and 2B). This is to extract the rock (it will be assumed in the following description that the natural material used here is rock, for example granite, without the extraction process being limited exclusively to this type of rock. material).

During this second stage, a piece of rock, called bar 10, is extracted from the ground. To extract said bar 10, a first vertical cut 12 is made between two adjacent holes to a given depth, then, still between the same two holes 6, a second vertical cut 14 is made parallel to and at a distance from the first vertical cutout. 12. The two vertical cuts are made to the same depth. They can be made with a cutting wire such as that described in the aforementioned document or also with a cutting system of the type described in document FR2725931 or even WO-89/08525. The cutting device can penetrate into the ground at the two holes 6 at the ends of the bar 10. In this way, a portion of rock attached to the remainder of the ground is defined only by a lower face. To detach the bar 10 from the floor 2, it suffices that at the end of the second vertical cut 14, the cutting system changes cutting direction to come cut horizontally and come and join the bottom of the first vertical cut 12.

Lifting means not described here can then be used to come out of the bar 10 soil. These lifting means may be conventional lifting means, known to those skilled in the art, usually used to lift heavy loads (blocks of rock) in a quarry. By way of illustration, if the holes 6 have a diameter of 2.5 m and the distance between two adjacent holes is 7.5 m, then a strip 10 will have a length of the order of 5 m, a width of the order of 2 m and a height determined according to the use to be made of the rock of the bar 10 and of course the lifting possibilities of the lifting means used. Depending on the latter, the dimensions of the mesh of holes in the ground will have already been adapted.

Figures 2A and 2B suggest successively removing strips 10 from the ground until reaching the bottom of two neighboring holes 6. Thus, the cutting device remains in place at two neighboring holes 6 until all the bars 10 that can be cut between these two holes are removed from the ground.

In the accompanying figures, a limited number of holes 6 has been shown. These holes 6 are arranged, in the purely illustrative embodiment of the drawing, in a mesh square mesh, three lines L1, L2 and L3 and eight columns C1 to C8.

In FIG. 3, it is proposed in a next step to withdraw strips 10 between other holes 6. Thus, it is proposed here to remove strips 10 oriented along lines L1-L3 between columns Ci, Ci + 1 except between columns C4 and C5.

In the following steps, as illustrated in Figure 4, bars 10 oriented in the direction of the columns Ci are extracted from the ground. The method here can be quite the same as for the first bar 10 as proposed above. In FIG. 4, the bars 10 are extracted from the ground on the column C1 between the lines L1 and L2.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5, all the bars 10 oriented along columns Ci are extracted. Once all the bars 10 have been removed, there remain twelve pillars 16 which each extend vertically from a bottom 18 of a well 20. By the cutouts of the bars 10, omitting to cut and remove the bars on the lines Li between C4 and C5 columns, two neighboring wells were made.

By horizontal cuts, the pillars 16 are "sliced" to form blocks of rock. In the numerical example given above, each block has in a top view a substantially square shape of about 5 m side. The height of the block of rock is adapted here also according to the intended use of the rock and the lifting possibilities of the lifting means available. As suggested in FIG. 6, if a high-rise block is desired (for example with a dimension greater than 5 m in the previous numerical example), then a horizontal cut is made at the desired height and, in order to be able to lift out the soil rock with the available lifting means, additional vertical cuts are provided. Figure 6 proposes to cut a block into six "sub-blocks". For example, there are "sub-blocks" having dimensions of 6.0 x 2.5 x 1.7 m.

Figure 7 illustrates the soil 2 when the operation is completed. To optimize the quantity of rock extracted, or to interconnect the two wells 20, or for other reasons, it is proposed to remove rock still between the two wells 20. Depending on the dimensions of the wells 20, It is preferable, as illustrated in FIG. 7, to leave reinforcements between the wells 20. The surrounding terrain is thus not weakened by the exploitation of the soil that has been made. The size of each well will depend on the nature of the land and its stability and / or the subsequent possible use of the well. An originality of the proposed process is indeed the possibility of rehabilitation of the exploitation site that it proposes. Thus the extraction is carried out not only according to the constraints related to the extraction but also according to the site use forecasts thereafter, once the rock extraction or the like completed.

The method described above makes it possible to perfectly control the footprint on the soil surface for quarrying. In the example shown in the drawing, a footprint of 55 x 17.5 m, or less than 1,000 m2, allows digging at 25 m to extract about 20,000 m3 of rock. Such a career therefore has a very good performance. The footprint on the ground surface being perfectly controlled, it is possible to cover the quarry with a roof. Indeed, it is enough to build a shed above the network of holes - before or after the realization of this network of holes - to work dry.

The nuisances are limited with the method described above. Of course, there is noise pollution due to the operation of the equipment used, the means of transport and the drilling and cutting devices of the rock. However, they are limited compared to the nuisance usually found in a rock quarry. It is mainly the aesthetic nuisance that is the most reduced. After exploitation of the soil and extraction of the rock, there are holes in the soil that do not denature the surrounding landscape.

In addition, the site can be rehabilitated. A slab can be made at the bottom or at an intermediate height in a well so as to form one or more floor (s) in the well. It is possible to build a semi-buried building. The wells can also be used for the storage of materials, or as a water reserve, or as an anaerobic digestion tank, ....

The proposed method is also well suited to small farms (for example limited to two wells as shown in the accompanying drawing) that large farms: it suffices to adapt the network of holes, the depth operating. Wells can be made or not, etc.

With the limitation of nuisances and / or the possibility of having a career of small dimensions, the process - and therefore the place of exploitation - can be implemented near a city or a site of use of extracted rocks.

The proposed process can adapt to any type of terrain (plan, slope, ...). It is extremely flexible and can adapt to any configuration.

The present invention is not limited to the method described above and the variants envisaged. It also relates to all the variants mentioned and variants within the scope of the skilled person within the scope of the claims below.

Claims (10)

1. A method of extracting natural materials from a soil (2), characterized in that it comprises in a variable order of execution, the following steps: a) realization of a network of holes (6) substantially vertical in the ground (2) in a predefined mesh, the holes (6) having a diameter greater than 1 m, b) producing two cuts (12, 14) substantially vertical between two holes (6) neighbors, c) performing a substantially horizontal cut between two vertical cuts (12, 14) so as to detach a block, called a bar, located between two adjacent holes (6), and extraction of said bar (10), d) repetition of the steps b) and c) so as to form a trench polygonal shape thus delimiting a block, e) making a horizontal cut under the block so as to release it from the ground and extraction of said block, said block being able to be of a single holding or in several pieces. 2. Extraction process according to claim 1, characterized in that the holes (6) in the ground (2) define a rectangular mesh. 3. Extraction process according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the holes (6) made in the ground (2) are circular cylindrical holes whose diameter is between 2 and 3 m, preferably between 2.2 and 2.6 m. 4. Extraction method according to claim 3, characterized in that the axes of two adjacent holes (6) are spaced from each other by a distance of between 5 and 10 m, preferably between 6 and 8. m. 5. extraction process according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the depth of the holes (6) made is several times the height of a bar (10) and / or several times the height of a block, and in that steps b) to e) are repeated so as to make a cavity, also called well (20), deeper and deeper in the ground. 6. Extraction process according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the steps of producing and extracting strips (10) and blocks are repeated so as to achieve at least two wells (20) neighbors , a well (20) corresponding to the extraction of several strips (10) and contiguous blocks and the two wells (20) being at least partially separated by a substantially vertical wall. 7. The extraction method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the holes (6) substantially vertical are made by making a peripheral cut so as to recover at least a portion of the corresponding material. 8. A method of operating a quarry, characterized in that it comprises the implementation of an extraction method according to one of claims 1 to 7. 9. Operating method according to claim 8, characterized in that the steps defined in claim 1 are implemented so as to achieve a well (20) and in that the operating method then comprises a step of installing said well to achieve a floor in said well. 10. Operating method according to one of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that it comprises steps of producing a building with a roof at least partially covering the network of holes made in the ground, said building being able to be made before making holes in the ground.