A mine tunnel ventilation control device and method for constructing same quickly with an easily transportable matrix material to provide a rigid flame retardant barrier wall. The air flow stopping includes a peripheral frame extending about and across a tunnel opening to which is secured a matrix material, preferably in the form of a composite including a sheet of very strong grid material, such as a biaxially oriented integral geogrid or the like, bonded to a sheet of a textile material, such as a non-woven, needle punched, geofabric or the like which spans the apertures of the geogrid. At least one side of the matrix material, and preferably both sides, are covered with a sealant composition to prevent passage of air through the mine stopping and to develop structural rigidity.
An arrangement for screening off a ventilated space (5) in a floor construction arranged on a subfloor (2) and having joists (6) that are supported by a plurality of level-adjusting spacer screws (8) resting on the subfloor (2) to create a free passage (9) between the joist and the subfloor as well as said space, which includes said passages, between the subfloor and the floor construction. In accordance with the invention, the arrangement comprises an elongate plate-shaped body (116) with a flat waist part(117), a foot part (118) and a top part (119), which foot and top parts extend along the long sides of the waist part and are flexibly connected to the waist part by means of joints (122, 123) that are parallel to each other. The plate body is arranged to be anchored with its top part to a vertical side of one of said joists by means of attachment elements (12) anchored with its foot part to the subfloor by means of attachment elements (121).
A light weight foam block being substantially rectangular in shape, having horizontal and/or vertical pairs of tongues and grooves around its perimeter enabling it to interlock with horizontally and/or vertically adjacent blocks to construct a mine stopping wall.
A support device (8) for a rib (14) between a floor (18) and a roof (16). The device includes an expansion means (10) and a pair of resilient members (12a, 12b). Each of the resilient members (12a, 12b) have a proximal end (27a, 27b) adapted for connection to the expansion mean (10) and a distal end (28a, 28b) curved away from the expansion means (10) and adapted for engagement with the floor (18) and roof (16) respectively. When the device (8) is positioned towards or against the rib (16) and the expansion means (10) is activated to drive the members (12a, 12b) apart, the member's distal ends (28a, 28b) are driven substantially vertically into engagement with the floor (18) and the roof (16) and a portion of the device (8) is driven substantially laterally (32) into abutment against the rib (14).
