The Effect of Geological Structure and

Powder Factor in Flyrock Accident,

Masai, Johor, Malaysia
Edy Tonnizam Mohamad
Associate Professor (Dr.), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Department of
Geotechnics and Transportation,Faculty of Civil Engineering, 81310 UTM
Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
e-mail: edy@utm.com

Danial Jahed Armaghani

PhD Student, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Department of Geotechnics and
Transportation,Faculty of Civil Engineering, 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor,
Malaysia
e-mail: danialarmaghani@yahoo.com

Hossein Motaghedi
PhD in Geotechnical Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Islamic Azad
University of Qaem Shahr, Qaem Shahr, Iran
e-mail: hossein.motaghedi@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Rock blasting is the most commonly used method for rock breakage in the eld of civil and
mining. The main goal of such operation is to produce the desired fragment size distribution
leading to optimize the overall mine/plant economics. Blasting has some environmental
impact such as ground vibration, airblast, dust and fumes and flyrock. One of the undesirable
phenomena in the blasting operation is flyrock, which is a propelled rock fragment by
explosive energy beyond the blast area. A flyrock accident occurred during a blasting work
at Masai quarry Johor, Malaysia in 19 July 2013. Due to this accident, a factory worker was
killed while 10 others were injured after being hit by rock debris from an explosion at a
quarry that flew up to 700 m away. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the
causes of flyrock accident based on results of geological structure and also powder factor. In
order to investigate causes of this accident, two continues blasting patterns were considered
and powder factor of these blasts were calculated. It is concluded that blast geometry (such
as burden and spacing), total weight of explosive, close distance between the quarry and the
residential area, and geological conditions were considered the most influentioal parameters
in this accident.

KEYWORDS: Rock blasting, Flyrock accident, Blast geometry, Geological

Structure, Powder factor.

INTRODUCTION
In civil engineering, rock is removed to create structures such as tunnels, hydraulic channels
or caverns, or deep excavation at the ground surface for road cuts, foundation or basements
(Bhandadari, 1997). For this work, there are some methods such as ripping, blasting and
excavators. Blasting operation is a natural rock formation dislodge from its original location.
Blasting of rock from a quarry face should be designed to obtain the optimum fragmentation and
a rock pile attitude compatible with the plant and equipment used (Bhandadari, 1997). The main
purpose of the blasting operation is to create desired fragment size distribution leading to
optimize the general mine economics (Monjezi et al. 2007). Blasting affects the rock
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fragmentation, so there must be some beneficial measures to decrease undesirable occurrences

such as flyrock. Blasting has some environmental impact such as ground vibration, air blast, dust
and fumes and flyrock (Bhandadari, 1997). As an environmental hazard flyrock causes serious
injury to people, damage to equipment, building and property. According to Roy (2005),
blasting-induced flyrock can travel from a few meters to more than 1000 meters with poorly
controlled blasting.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
Flyrock
Flyrock, propelled rock fragments by explosive energy beyond the blast area, is one of the
undesirable phenomena in the mining blasting operation (Rezaei et al. 2010). Any mismatch
between distribution of the explosive energy, mechanical strength of the rock mass and charge
confinement can be cause of flyrock (Bajpayee et al. 2004). Flyrock is produced when explosive
energy is excessive for the amount of burden, stemming is inadequate or the energy is too
rapidly vented through a zone of weakness in the rock. When this happens, much of the
explosive energy is used to throw rock rather than to create fragmented rock (Roy, 2005).
Flyrock is the source of most of the injuries and property damage in a majority of blasting
accidents in surface mines.

Causes of Flyrock
Flyrock may have different causes depending on the place and situation of this phenomena.
The following factors can lead to flyrock. The first one is related to inadequate burden and
spacing. Burden and spacing need to be calculated taking into account the hole diameter, rock
characteristics and fragmentation requirements. An insufficient (or less) burden will cause
breakthrough of drill hole charges, resulting in flyrock. Spacing appreciably less than the burden
tend to cause premature splitting between blast holes and early loosening of the stemming. Too
close a spacing causes crushing between holes and also cratering giving rise to flyrock
(Bhandadari, 1997). The other one is overloaded holes. The distance to which a flyrock travels
will depend on the amount of specific charge. A high specific charge throws flyrock to a longer
distance than a low specific charge. Inadequate stemming is also very important in flyrock
distance. If stemming column is adequate, the explosion gases are not forced to heave up the
partly fractured ground but are simply allowed to rifle out of the top of the blasthole at very
high velocity causing considerable flyrock (Roy, 2005). The other significant parameter is
inaccurate drilling. Accurate drilling provides proper burden and spacing which are essential for
better results. This is achieved by proper positioning of drill to accurately collar the hole and by
proper inclination of holes. However, if during drilling, the driller is not guided properly for the
position and direction of the hole, the drill may deviate from its calculated position and during
the time of blast the effect may be same as that of reduced burden and overloaded hole thereby
resulting in flyrock (Bhandadari, 1997). The other cause is geological conditions. Zone of
weakness and voids are often causes of flyrock. Any explosive loaded in this zone will have the
line of least resistance and blow out, causing flyrock (Roy, 2005). Other factors such as
powder factor, pattern layout, delay sequence should also be evaluated if any excessive flyrock
is generated.

Powder Factor and Specific Charge

Two terms are often used to relate explosive mass and consequent rock broken: Powder
factor and Specific charge, q. observation of blast designs based on empirical relations has been
often indicated in terms of powder factors. Powder factor is the ratio between the total weights

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of explosive detonated in a blast divided by the amount of rock that is broken. It is usually
expressed as kilogram per ton or kilogram per meter. As the powder factor in kg/m3 increases,
the average fragment size decreases when the burden B, remains constant (Hemphill, 1981). The
powder factor varies between 0.1 (kg/m3) and 0.53 (kg/m3) for bench blasting. Powder factor for
tunneling should be larger by 1.25-1.5 times than bench blasting because of the large fixity
(Bhandari, 1997).

History of Flyrock Accidents

In a survey of blasting operations carried out in USA, it was observed that out of 34
accidents that occurred during scheduled blasting, 28 were attributed to flyrock (Britton et al.
1977). These accidents resulted in 10 fatalities and 19 injuries. A study of blasting accidents in
India mines indicated that more than 40% fatal and 20% serious accidents resulting from
blasting occurred due to flyrock (Bhandari, 1994). In the United Kingdom during 1980-85 103
incidents were reported of which more than half of these involved flyrock projections to distance
ranging from 350 m to a maximum of 900 m, with rock weighting up to 500 kg. According Mine
Safety and Health Administration, flyrock is the leading cause of blasting accidents, accounting
over 60 percent of all accidents during 1987-88 (Anon, 1990). Historical data summarized by
Verakis and Lobb (2003) shows that for the period of 19782001, a total of 195 blasting
accidents occurred in US surface coal mine operations. Of the 195 accidents, 89 accidents
(45.64%) were directly attributed to lack of blast area security, 54 accidents (27.69%) to yrock,
33 (16.92%) to premature blast, and 11 (5.64%) to misres.

FLYROCK ACCIDENT IN MALAYSIA

Case Study
The Masai quarry is situated in Seri Alam near Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia. The mentioned
quarry is producing granite aggregates for various construction uses with capacity of 30000 per
month. Blasting is carried out between 2-4 times per month at this quarry. Figures 1 and 2 show
the location of the quarry and the affected areas. Area of blasting also is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 1: Location of Blasting Site

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Figure 2: The Location of the Quarry Face and wild Stone Fly (550 m from the site of the
explosion shown yellow arrows)

Figure 3: The Blasting Area

Flyrock Accident
A flyrock accident was occurred due to a blasting in Masai quarry near the Seri Alam, Johor,
Malaysia in 19 July 2013. The massive explosion caused rocks and boulders to rain down on the

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light industrial park located at Jalan Bukit 2 under the Malaysian Industrial Estates Sdn Bhd
(MIEL) located about 700 metres below the site. A factory worker was killed while 10 others
were injured after being hit by rock debris from an explosion at a quarry some 700m away in
Seri Alam. Beside this, 18 cars and 14 factories along the road were damaged due to flyrock
accident.
This is the first time the world saw thousands of wild rocks weighing up a piece of plate
weighing nearly 2 tons of flying up to 700 m from the scene and many hundreds of workers like
life on the horns. This unexpected accident killed an employee of foreigners who are working in
a plastics factory where the factory is located within 350 m from the explosion. More than 10
workers were injured and many buildings damaged plant and equipment. This does not include
more than 10 vehicles were badly damaged. If the price of a loss, can reach to millions of
dollars. Figures 4-8 shows the effects of the explosion, while Figure 9 shows a picture of the
factory where the workers were killed.

Figure 4: TNB Damaged Transformers (350 m from the blasting site)

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Figure 5: Wild Flyrock into the Plant (350 m from the blasting site)

Figure 6: Some Rocks resulted from Wild Flyrock (350 m from the blasting site)

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Figure 7: Thrown Rocks on the Plant, Located 550 m from the Blasting Site

Figure 8: Some Damages to Vehicles Around the Plastic Factory

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Figure 9: The View of the Plastic Factory where the Worker Was Killed

POWDER FACTOR ANALYSIS

Parameters such as burden, spacing, powder factor, stemming length, subdrilling, maximum
charge per delay and so on can affected in blasting results. Among them, powder factor has
pivotal influence in blasting results such as flyrock distance. Powder factor is the ratio between
the total weights of explosive detonated in a blast divided by the amount of rock that is broken.
It is usually expressed as kilogram per cubic meter. In this paper, two continues blasting patterns
are shown and the powder factors of these blasting are compered. Some blasting parameters are
shown in Figure 10 schematically.

Figure 10: Some Blasting Parameters

Figure 11 and Table 1 show blasting parameters for the last blasting before accident one.

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ANFO was used as explosive material. Accoring to these blasting parameters, the powder factor
for this blast is 0.619 kg/m3. The normal powder factor in the Masai quarry is between 0.6-0.8.
Figure 12 and Table 2 also show blasting parameters for the accident blasting. The powder
factor for this blasting is 1.18 kg/m3. It was found that the blast geometry played a great role in
this accident. Some parameters of blast geometry such as hole diameter were considered
constant in both blasting while some other parameters such as burden and spacing were changed
in the accident one. It is worthy to note that total weight of explosive is another important
parameter in the result of blasting. In the almost similar volume of the rock, this is a significant
point in order to minimize environmental impacts of blasting like flyrock.

Figure 11: Blast Geometry for the Last Blasting before Accident One
Table 1: Blasting Parameter for the Last Blasting before Accident One
Blasting Parameters
Property

Hole
diameter

Hole
depth

Average
hole depth

Number
of holes

Average
stemming

Average
charge

Value

89

26-30

28

39

194.1

Unit

mm

kg

Figure 12: Blast Geometry for the Accident One

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Table 2: Blasting Parameter for the Accident One

Blasting Parameters
Property

Hole
diameter

Hole
depth

Average
hole depth

Number
of holes

Average
stemming

Average
charge

Value

89

28-32

30

45

209

Unit

mm

kg

STEREOGRAPHICAL PROJECTION ANALYSIS

A total of four joint sets have been identified around the explosion site (Figure 13). These
discontinuities occur naturally (as a result of tectonic activity and weathering) and some new
cracks because of earlier blasting work. In order to have a better geological investigation,
stereographical analysis was perform. Stereographical analysis results (Figure 14) show the
existence of joint dominant orientation (set 1, 2, 3 and 4) that contribute to the instability
towards the south (toward the plant involved). This proves that the orientation of the
discontinuity that exists is made of rock blasted become easier to excavate.

Figure 13: Four Joint Sets Found in the Blasting Site

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Figure 14: Analysis of Discontinuity Stereographical Analysis

DISCUSSION
There are several causes for this accident. The first is from the skills of trained person
responsible for handling explosives. Error handling explosives operators not only endanger
themselves, but other workers may also be involved. More serious when there are civilians
directly involved in quarrying activities can also be considered. Explosives operators need not
only well versed in handling quantity and type of materials to be used but also they should be
able to control the situation.
The second is geological conditions that cannot be altered and should be understood by the
project proponent. Geological aspect is very important to be aware but there is no body that
makes rules that professional geologists should make periodic reports. There is a discontinuity or
crack rock mass that affects the activity of an explosion. If there are a lot of cracks, and also
orientation sets of discontinuity that causes low stability, the total explosion energy must be
reduced. Sometimes these cracks not visible to the naked eye deck and can only be expected by
an experienced geologist.
The third cause of this accident is designing the blast geometry. In every blasting operation,
blast geometry such as burden and spacing plays an important role in the blasting result. An
insufficient (or less) burden will cause breakthrough of drill hole charges, resulting in flyrock.
Spacing appreciably less than the burden tend to cause premature splitting between blast holes
and early loosening of the stemming. Too close a spacing causes crushing between holes and
also cratering giving rise to flyrock.
Close distance between the quarry and the residential area is another factor that should be
given attention. The shortest distance between the face of the quarry to the plant explosion, is at
a distance of only 350 m. This distance is too close. Under the guidelines of Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA) should be positioned closest to the development of not less than 1 km
from the quarry. In this situation, many factory workers who worked in a plant is exposed to the
risk of yesteryear. An estimated total of more than 500 factory workers working in this danger
zone.

CONCLUSION
A flyrock accident was occurred due to a blasting in Masai quarry near the Seri Alam, johor,
Malaysia in July of 2013. Due to this accident, a factory worker was killed while 10 others were
injured after being hit by rock debris from an explosion at a quarry. Beside this, 18 cars and 14
factories along the road were damaged. In order to investigate causes of this accident, two
continues blasting patterns were considered and powder factor of these blasts were calculated.

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Some parameters of blast geometry such as hole diameter were considered constant in both
blasting while some other parameters such as burden and spacing were changed in the accident
one. The powder factor of two continues blasting was 0.619 and 1.18 respectively. Apart from
the powder factor analysis, stereographical analysis was also perform to recognize instability of
blasting face. It can be concluded that blast geometry (such as burden and spacing), total weight
of explosive, close distance between the quarry and the residential area, and geological
conditions were considered the most influential parameters in this accident.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research is being carried out using the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) financial
support. The authors would like to thanks UTM for the research grant and facilities available in
the Department of Geotechnics and Transportation, Faculty of Civil Engineering.

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