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Peng Publishes 3rd Edition of Coal Mine Ground Control

Syd S. Peng, professor of mining engineering, recently published the third edition of Coal Mine Ground Control.

The original edition was published in 1978 at the height of the energy crisis. In 1986, Peng updated the material in the second edition. The new edition not only completely revises and updates the original in subject areas but also is broadened to include numerous new topics including high horizontal stresses, computer modeling and highwall stability.

"This is the most comprehensive book ever assembled on the subject of coal mine ground control," said Peng. "The 750-paged book contains 14 chapters and 1,134 references from all published and archived sources since 1876."

Ground control is a passion for Peng, who founded the International Conference on Ground Control in Mining in 1981. The conference is held each year in Morgantown and attended by coal industry professionals and researchers from around the world. Through his efforts, ground control is now standard terminology in mining operations.

"A large part of the sources for this book came from the proceedings of the annual International conference on Ground Control in Mining and three subsidence workshops," said Peng.

A native of Taiwan, Peng received his Ph.D. in mining engineering from Stanford University in 1970, and joined the WVU faculty in 1974. In 1978, he was appointed the chair of the Department of Mining Engineering, a position he held until 2006, when he stepped down to focus on research and writing.

He has previously authored four textbooks (Longwall Mining, first and second editions, Coal Mine Ground Control, Surface Subsidence Engineering, and Ground Control Failures: A Pictorial View of Case Studies,) 320 journal and proceedings articles, and 230 research reports in the areas of longwall mining, ground control and surface subsidence.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and has received numerous national and international awards, including the SME Rock Mechanics Award, the PCMIA Donald S. Kingery Memorial Award, the AIME Erskine Ramsey Medal, the IMMM Medal for Excellence (UK), and R&D Magazineâ??s R&D 100 Award.

Peng's next book Surface Subsidence Engineering, 2nd edition, is scheduled for publication in late 2009. For more information on any of Peng's work or to order copies of his books, email Peng at syd.peng@mail.wvu.edu.

09/30/2008