Mountain damage

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Warning sign of mountain damage in the southern Ruhr area
Technical expansion of the Seseke (North Rhine-Westphalia) made necessary by mountain subsidence
Break of day in a brook valley in weather. The brook completely seeps into the old buildings.

A surface damage is by mining -induced activities mostly to buildings and real property damage. It is also considered mining damage if an uninvolved person is harmed by mining activities. If damage to buildings or the like in a mine is caused by the mining activities of another mine, this does not count as mining damage. Mining damage is not only caused by underground mining . Even the water table or horizontal ground movements beyond the control of surface mines may cause subsidence damage.

Basics

Through the underground mining of deposits , the hanging wall is gradually exposed and collapses due to the lack of abutment. This influences the previous physical equilibrium of the mountain body. As a result, the overlying mountain layers are set in motion. These movement processes make themselves felt up to the surface of the day. Depending on the depth and strata of the rock, there are different effects on the surface of the day. At great depths (> 60 meters) the surface of the earth descends gradually, this process is known as mountain subsidence . In the case of subsidence , rock movements such as subsidence , misalignment, strains and compression are usually caused. When mining in the superficial area , in particular through the mining of thick seams , the overburden breaks through completely in the form of a daybreak .

Is used under solid and brittle mountain layers such as If, for example, sandstone or sand slate is mined, these rock layers do not immediately break into the fracture space created by the mining . Depending on the structure of the rock layer, cracks can suddenly tear open. This can lead to earthquake-like vibrations, depending on how big the sinking or falling rock masses are and whether they suddenly / jerkily fall or slide. In abandoned mining areas , the pit water rises sharply when the water retention systems are turned off. This can lead to uplifts due to the swelling of layers of earth . It can also happen that the water table rises.

The open pit lignite mining results in a technically-induced lowering of the groundwater level in the respective mining areas. Due to the resulting lack of buoyancy, this lowering of the groundwater leads to an increase in the effective stresses, which ultimately lead to subsidence of the terrain surface. After the end of the open pit, the swamp measures will be stopped and the groundwater level will rise again. Over time, this leads to an uplift of the previously lowered terrain surface. The same applies to landslides on z. B. overburden tipping, as the example from Nachterstedt shows.

If people are injured or killed due to these changes in the earth's surface caused by mining, or if property is damaged, this is referred to as mining damage.

history

For decades, mining damage was “part of” those who work in the mining industry; partly also for employees in industries such as iron and steel production, which were closely related to mining. In earlier times, mountain damage was regulated by the tradde . In addition, the mines had to repair the mining damage to their own apartment buildings. Since damage has occurred to houses that did not belong to the colliery and mining operations , there have been calls for compensation and appropriate regulations. Those affected in the damaged mountain areas resisted that their property was damaged by cracks, which in some cases even resulted in the property being completely demolished.

At the beginning of the 20th century, considerations arose as to how mining-induced damage to tram tracks could be prevented. This was preceded by several lawsuits by the tram operators against the mining operators in the coalfield in Rhineland-Westphalia. In the first half of the 20th century, many mines had to raise large sums of money to settle mining damage. Already at this point there were considerations to use preventive measures against mountain damage in new buildings. It was assumed that these measures would ultimately make this more cost-effective for the mines liable for damages.

In the 1990s, up to 30,000 mining damage cases were registered. This mining damage was regulated by the mining operators ( RAG ). More than 90 percent of the damage cases had a damage limit of less than 5000 euros per damage. Every year, up to 70 damage from disused mines are reported to the State Mining Authority. Of the reported cases of damage, around 30 were caused by day breaks. Since the damage originates from tunnel mines, many of which were operated in the 18th century, it is usually no longer possible to determine who was responsible.

In 2008, the DSK was notified of around 35,000 new mining damage with a damage volume of around 70 million euros, for which funds are paid out for repair and adjustment. The IPO and the mining foundation will release RAG from paying compensation for new mining damage for the next 30 years. The Mining Foundation's role is to generate the perpetual cost (sometimes called the 'century cost') and to ensure that finances e.g. B. are available for continuous operation of the drainage. The state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia has a 'Committee for Mountain Safety', which also deals with mountain damage.

Types of mountain damage

Mountain damage (cracks, left) on a house in Gladbeck-Rentfort

The ground movements and deformations caused by mining cause various types of damage to the earth's surface, namely to houses, industrial and transport facilities, supply lines and areas used for agriculture or forestry. Likewise, people not involved in mining can be harmed by the mining activities taking place in the immediate vicinity.

Building damage

Damage to buildings is mainly caused by changes in length, which are noticeable as strains or compressions. They mainly appear in the form of cracks in the wall. A second type of damage is the inclination of buildings caused by different subsidence. These imbalances are assessed according to the VBHG-RAG agreement. A mean misalignment is used for dimensioning and evaluated accordingly. Side effects on the building can cause the masonry to shift on the layer of tar paper that was used as a barrier. This causes the soil moisture to rise in the masonry. Cracks in the masonry occur as a result of mining-related uplift of the subsoil due to the rise in pit water. In addition, the rise in pit water can cause cellars to become wet. Breaks in the day can create holes so large that entire houses are destroyed.

Sometimes the changes in the terrain as a result of mining damage can be so serious that entire parts of the city have to be abandoned and demolished, such as the city center of Johanngeorgenstadt (in the 1950s as a result of uranium mining) or parts of the old town of Staßfurt (after potash mining, today downtown lake) and park).

Damage to traffic systems as well as supply and disposal lines

Changes in length cause road damage , for example cracks or bulges. Even more serious is the damage that can result from day breaks on roads, in which the entire road surface can fall over several meters. It can also be pipe bursts come. The subsidence causes damage to railroad tracks . However, the rule here is that if mining and public transport systems cannot coexist, the transport system must always be given priority. In addition, it comes to sewers to gradient changes . On shipping canals , the subsidence must be compensated for immediately by dikes, otherwise the canal would overflow in the subsidence area. The canal literally "grows" out of the area.

Damage to the receiving water

Streams and rivers are disturbed by the subsidence in their natural receiving water. Reaction has to be made here by dikes, re-routing and the construction of pumping stations .

Damage to areas used for agriculture and forestry

The ranging poles show the subsidence in the Emscherbruch in Herten (near the Ewald 1/2/7 colliery) over the past 25 years (1980: -7.8 m; 1985: - 3.8 m; 1990: - 1.3 m; 2000 : Shutdown)

Changes in the groundwater level can lead to growth damage. The rising groundwater can lead to the formation of lakes and swamping of entire areas.

Landscape destruction

Day breaks create holes in the ground which, if they are very large, change the landscape.

Legal regulations

In Germany, the Federal Mining Act (BBergG) of August 13, 1980 regulates §§110ff. the legal questions about mining damage. After that, the person who caused the mining damage is liable to pay compensation according to the rules of the German Civil Code (BGB). Since mining damage liability is strict liability, the polluter must be liable. It does not matter whether the damage was culpably or not culpably caused. According to § 120 BBergG, there is a reversal of the burden of proof for underground exploration or extraction in the context of strict liability , i.e. H. In case of doubt, the mining company must prove that there is no mining damage.

In Section 114 of the Federal Mining Act, a total of five cases are excluded that are not related to mining damage, even if someone was harmed by the mining activities. There is no mining damage within the meaning of Section 114 of the Federal Mining Act if a person employed by the mining company is damaged in the mine or if items used in mining are damaged. Damage caused by a mining company to other neighboring mining companies is also not considered mining damage. Disadvantages caused by planning decisions with regard to the deposit are also not considered mining damage. If the injured party suffers only insignificant disadvantages or if he has only insignificant expenses in connection with the compensation regulations of Section 110, the damage is also not considered mining damage. If the mining operation creates effects that cannot be prohibited by Section 906 of the Civil Code (addition of imponderable substances), these effects are also not considered mining damage.

In Austria, the legal questions regarding mining damage are regulated in Sections 160 to 168 of the Mineral Raw Materials Act from 1993. The regulations are very similar to the regulations of the German Federal Mining Act. The Mineral Raw Materials Act also specifies conditions under which damage is not recognized as mining damage. Here, too, occupational diseases or accidents at work are not considered mining damage, as is damage to land used for mining. If mining damage is caused by an unavoidable event that did not occur due to incorrect execution of the mining activity, the mining operator is not liable to pay compensation. If an injured party is aware of mining damage to his property and knows who caused it, he must report the mining damage within three months. If the injured party lets the reporting deadline expire, he loses the right to compensation for the mining damage.

Prevention / mountain damage protection

In order to avoid or at least reduce mining damage, mining protection devices can be installed. Already in the first half of the 20th century there were plans to protect new buildings against damage from the mountains through suitable construction measures. Each client is obliged to make preventive measures against mining damage when its building in the sphere of influence of the basic operating plan mining areas specified is. Such fuses work either according to the resistance or the evasive principle. Structural reinforcements of the building are part of the resistance principle. In the case of safeguards based on the evasive principle, sliding and expansion joints or roller bearings are installed; the structures are kept small or built in a frame construction. Compensators are installed on pipelines or they are bedded with low friction in order to be able to reduce large, small-scale expansions over large lengths into small relative expansions. It is also possible from the outset to install equipment for later leveling. A particularly spectacular example of mining damage prevention is the “Auf Schalke” arena. Since the stadium was built in a mining area, it had to be provided with special safety measures. The foundation of the entire structure consists of a sophisticated system of bored piles . The stand construction was secured by deformation sliding bearings and is thus separated from the pile foundation. In the case of insignificant measures, the client bears the costs arising from such measures; in the case of larger costs, these must be paid by the mining company.

Provisions for mining damage

Since the mining operators are liable for the mining damage, the companies incur immense costs due to the damage. In order to be able to pay the costs, the mining companies have to set up provisions. As a rule, longer periods of time elapse between the occurrence, detection and assertion of the mining damage. For this reason, different provisions are made. Provisions have to be made for mining damage that is inevitably caused by mining but has not yet occurred on the surface. These costs can only be determined through an estimate and charged to the ongoing operating costs. Damage that has taken effect on the earth's surface is recorded and compiled as damage by the mine separator . Appropriate provisions are made based on the costs determined. Damage to the receiving water or polder damage is mountain damage that must be permanently compensated as damage. For this purpose, provisions must be made that correspond to twenty times the annual amount of compensation to be paid.

Mountain damage waiver

It is possible to contractually exclude the obligation to pay compensation for mountain damage. This addendum to the contract is then referred to as the mining damage waiver or mining damage waiver and entered in the land register of the respective property. The waiver of mining damage affects the market value of the property. A waiver of mining damage can be agreed for various reasons or occasions. These include, among other things, the handling of a total write- off, sale from the property of a mining company and protection against the specific risk of mining damage (construction warning ). As a rule, the costs for the mining damage protection measures are then entered as the contract sum.

Nationally known mining damage cases

In 2004 there was a break in the daylight in a residential area in Siegen (North Rhine-Westphalia), the so-called Siegener Loch . By the end of February 2004, almost 1,000 cubic meters of concrete had been pumped into the daybreak. 22,000 tons of building materials were brought into the mountain. 520 holes with a total length of 14 km were drilled . The state of North Rhine-Westphalia spent a total of four million euros on the security measures. It - or the taxpayer - was left with the costs because there is no longer a mine operator who can be made liable for damages.

In 2009, around 275 people affected asserted claims against RWE Power due to mining damage caused by lignite mining . An expert for mining damage said: "Damage can also occur in areas that are 20 kilometers away from the opencast mine". "The lowering of the groundwater level associated with lignite mining in the region is responsible for cracks and fractures in many buildings."

At the beginning of 2012, a 12 square meter and two meter deep crater opened up on the median of the A 45 near Dortmund. Investigations have shown that the motorway is four kilometers in danger of collapsing. The motorway was completely closed in both directions for a few weeks from January 17, 2012. It was probably about the mine workings of the former Gottessegen colliery .

Call center for mining damage to brown coal in NRW

In lignite mining , which is only operated as an open pit mine in Germany today , it is often unclear whether damage to buildings is related to the mining. Damaged parties have to prove that the damage was at least partly caused by a mining company. RWE Power has given the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Cologne district government a written declaration that it will handle damage reports quickly and unbureaucratically. Potential injured parties can contact RWE Power free of charge and have the cause of the damage checked. If no agreement is reached with the miner, private individuals have been able to contact the Bergschaden Braunkohle NRW appeals office since 2010. The procedure before the calling point is free of charge for the applicant. About ten percent of the damage reports are recognized; litigation is very rare.

Advocacy groups

Regional associations have been set up in North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland to represent the interests of those affected by mining. These are the State Association of Mining Affected in North Rhine-Westphalia and the State Association of Mining Affected Saar eV (IGAB). For those damaged by the lignite mining in the Rhenish lignite area, the Netzwerk Bergbaugeschädigte e. V. of the Rhenish lignite mining area (network) and the Rheinische Initiative Bergschaden e. V. (RIBS) founded. Nationwide , however, represents the "Association of Mining Damaged House and Landowners eV" (VBHG) the interests of its members.

literature

Web links

Commons : Mining Damage  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

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  2. ↑ a b c d e f Rolf Dieter Stoll, Christian Niemann-Delius, Carsten Drebenstedt , Klaus Müllensiefen (eds.): The lignite mine, importance, planning, operation, technology, environment. 1st edition, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-78400-5 , pp. 438, 491-497.
  3. ^ Raimund Willecke, G. Turner: Grundriß des Bergrechts . 2nd edition, Springer Verlag, Berlin / New York / Heidelberg 1970, p. 135.
  4. ↑ a b c d Fritz Heise, Fritz Herbst: Textbook of mining science with special consideration of hard coal mining. First volume, published by Julius Springer, Berlin 1908.
  5. ↑ a b Heinrich Otto Buja: Engineering manual mining technology, deposits and extraction technology. 1st edition, Beuth Verlag GmbH Berlin-Vienna-Zurich, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-410-22618-5 , pp. 394–397, 983–984.
  6. ^ Friedrich Freise: Alignment, device and mining of hard coal deposits. Craz & Gerlach publishing house, Freiberg in Sachsen 1908, pp. 85–90.
  7. ^ A b Carl Hellmut Fritzsche: Textbook of mining science. Second volume, 10th edition. Springer Verlag, Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1962, pp. 406-410.
  8. ↑ Axel Preuße: Fundamentals of mining damage, special topics of mining damage. RWTH Aachen Online ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.2 MB).
  9. ↑ a b Steffen Giesen: Ground movements as a result of swamp measures for deep opencast mines using the example of the Rhenish lignite mining area . Approved dissertation from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen 2010.
  10. ↑ a b c d e Wirtschaftsvereinigung Bergbau eV: The mining manual. 5th edition. Glückauf Verlag, Essen 1994, ISBN 3-7739-0567-X .
  11. ↑ Explanatory dictionary of the technical terms and foreign words that occur in mining in metallurgy and in salt works and technical articulations that occur in salt works. Falkenberg'schen Buchhandlung publishing house, Burgsteinfurt 1869.
  12. ↑ a b Government Builder a. D. Korten: The influence of mining on tram tracks . In: Glückauf, Berg- und Hüttenmännische magazine. Association for Mining Interests in the Dortmund District Mining Authority (Ed.), No. 25, Volume 44, June 19, 1909, pp. 865–875.
  13. ↑ a b O. Luetkens: securing of new buildings against mining damage . In: Glückauf, Berg- und Hüttenmännische magazine. Association for Mining Interests in the Oberbergamtsiertel Dortmund (Ed.), No. 32, 68th year, August 6, 1932, pp. 705–711.
  14. ↑ a b Diethard E. Meyer: Geofaktor Human Interventions and Consequences through the Use of Geopotential Online (accessed on May 12, 2011; PDF; 641 kB).
  15. ↑ Leaning tub in the pot. Online In: Zeit Online. (accessed on May 12, 2011).
  16. ↑ Why the ground is collapsing in Saarland . In: Die Welt from February 26, 2008. Online (accessed July 29, 2016).
  17. ↑ Stefan Schulte: The RAG Foundation and their farewell to mining . In: WAZ of July 29, 2016. Online (accessed July 29, 2016).
  18. ↑ The working areas of the green members of the state parliament are defined . Press release of July 5, 2012 online (accessed July 29, 2016).
  19. ↑ State Association of Mining Affected North Rhine-Westphalia: Stop mining damage .
  20. ↑ State Association of Mining Affected North Rhine- Westphalia: Imbalance measurement according to VBHG-RAG agreement . Online (PDF; 25 kB) (accessed on July 29, 2016).
  21. ↑ a b Andreas Molinga: Guide to the investigation, assessment and remediation of damage caused by mining online ( Memento from April 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
  22. ↑ Axel Preuße, Jörg Krämer, Anton Sroka: Technical assessment of consequential loads of hard coal mining. Online ( Memento from February 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Bergbau. 12/2007 (PDF; 1.8 MB) (accessed on May 12, 2011).
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  27. ↑ Uwe Lauerwald: The accounting and testing of ecological loads that are subject to and not subject to correction. Josef Eul Verlag, Lohmar Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-89012-868-8 .
  28. ^ TU Clausthal: Bergrecht. ( Memento of December 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on May 12, 2011; PDF; 317 kB).
  29. ↑ Federal Mining Act (BBergG) of August 13, 1980 . Full quote. Online (accessed on May 12, 2011; PDF; 308 kB).
  30. ↑ Federal Law on Mineral Raw Materials, Mineralrohstoffgesetz-MinroG from 1993. Online ( Memento from October 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on July 29, 2016; PDF; 771 kB).
  31. ↑ Hubert Gößling, Andreas Schleyer: New findings on the design of underground steel pipelines against mining influences. Using the example of a district heating pipe. Online ( Memento of December 5, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on May 12, 2011; PDF; 4.2 MB).
  32. ↑ Arena "Auf Schalke": ESZ slide bearings allow shifts . Online (accessed July 29, 2016; PDF; 679 kB).
  33. ^ A b c Association of German Pfandbrief Banks eV (ed.): Bergschadenvericht. Consideration in the determination of the mortgage lending value, Berlin 2013, pp. 2–4.
  34. ↑ Johannes Schürken: Special features of the determination of the market value in connection with mining damage . Online ( Memento from May 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (accessed on May 13, 2011; PDF; 74 kB).
  35. ↑ After the 'Siegener Loch' further breaks in the day ( memento from September 6, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) at wdr.de, last accessed on May 31, 2011
  36. ^ Mining damage to Düsseldorf In: Rheinische Post. January 26, 2009, (accessed July 29, 2016).
  37. ^ Christian Schwerdtfeger: Mining damage - A 45 closed. RP Online, January 18, 2012, accessed January 26, 2012 .
  38. ↑ Arbitration for mountain damage . In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger, October 31, 2012. Online (accessed August 1, 2016).
  39. ↑ State association of those affected by mining in North Rhine-Westphalia (last accessed on October 29, 2012).
  40. ^ Regional Association of Mining Affected Saar eV (last accessed on October 29, 2012).
  41. ↑ Homepage of the 'Netzwerk Bergbaugeschädigte e. V. des Rhenish lignite mining area (last accessed on October 29, 2012).
  42. ↑ VBHG website (accessed December 6, 2019)