OsEIP: The Oil Sands - Equipment Interactions Program

CIM Bulletin, Vol. 95, No. 1064, 2002

T.G. Joseph

The Oil sands-Equipment Interactions Program (OsEIP) is a collaborative research venture between Syncrude Canada Ltd., James Progithin International Ltd. (JPi), the University of Alberta, P&H MinePro, and Caterpillar Inc. The objective is to better understand the behaviour of oil sands as it interacts with mining equipment, in particular, large trucks and shovels. With a move to ever larger equipment, mining oil sands of highly variable bitumen content, ground stability comes into question. This paper outlines this aspect of OsEIP and provides some insight into how some of the findings enable an improved understanding of oil sands behaviour that may impact large equipment design, operational and maintenance strategies.

Keywords: Oil sands, Underfoot stiffness, Shovel stability, Truck stability, Oil sands-Equipment Interaction Program (OsEIP).