The use of cable bolts or ground control—current applications and future innovation

Current cable bolt technology was developed to a large extent in the 1990s. Incremental improvements in fabrication, design, and application continue to make mining and construction safer and cost effective. The brief history of cable bolts, design and manufacturing, characteristics and properties begin to describe the success that these support systems have realized globally in all types of underground uses. Design concepts, that include lengths and densities, have evolved from basic dead load calculations to complex interactions with pillar yielding, effective roof spans, and lateral shifting of immediate roof strata. The differences between tension and nontensioned systems are explored and the recent innovations of indented PC-strand, tensioned systems and high-capacity hollow cables discussed.