Integrated Technologies for Slope Stability Assessment of Open-Pit Coal Mine Slopes: An Indian Perspective
Somesh Sengupta *
Department of Geology, St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi – 834001, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Highwall and overburden-dump instability is a persistent safety and operational challenge in open-pit coal mines because slope performance is governed by interacting geological, geotechnical, hydrogeological, geometric, dynamic, and operational factors. This narrative review synthesizes complementary methods for slope-stability assessment in Indian open-pit coal mining, including geological mapping and discontinuity characterization, laboratory and field characterization, rock-mass classification, groundwater assessment, limit-equilibrium and numerical modelling, and modern deformation-monitoring technologies. Monitoring approaches considered include total stations, GNSS, terrestrial laser scanning, LiDAR, slope-stability radar, time-domain reflectometry, fibre Bragg grating sensors, and IoT-enabled sensing. The review emphasizes that analytical and numerical models are most defensible when calibrated against site observations and updated as new monitoring data become available. A case study from Jayant Open-Pit Coal Mine, Singrauli Coalfield, India, illustrates how investigation, design, drainage control, operational measures, and monitoring can be combined to manage dragline-dump stability. The resulting framework supports risk-informed slope design and adaptive mine-slope management while recognizing the uncertainty inherent in geological conditions, material properties, groundwater behaviour, and model assumptions.
Keywords: Highwall slopes, overburden dumps, geotechnical engineering, hydrogeology, slope stability, numerical modelling, slope stability radar (SSR), terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), LiDAR, time domain reflectometry (TDR), fibre Bragg grating