Malan, D.F. (Daniel Francois)Napier, J.A.L. (John)2022-05-162022-05-162021-05Malan, D.F. and Napier, J.A.L. 2021 A review of the role of underground measurements in the historical development of rock engineering in South Africa. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 121, no. 5, pp. 201–216. DOI ID: http://dx.DOI.org/10.17159/2411-9717/1443/2021.0038-223X (print)2225-6253 (online)10.17159/2411-9717/1443/2021https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/85213This paper describes some important aspects associated with historical underground measurements in South African gold and coal mines. Deformation measurements were used to confirm the use of elastic theory to simulate the rock mass behaviour in the Witwatersrand gold mines in the 1960s. Although a prominent time-dependent component of stope closure was measured as early as the 1930s, it was ignored owing to the benefit of adopting elastic theory. Neglecting the time-dependent response of the rock for many decades resulted in important aspects such as the effect of mining rate, the effect of advance per blast, and the need for enhanced design criteria not being explored. Recent work is only now starting to address this gap in knowledge. In-situ measurements of large coal specimens in the 1960s and 1970s indicated that a linear formula may possibly be a better approximation of coal pillar strengths. This alternative formulation was never adopted, however, as the power law strength formula was already deeply entrenched in the industry at that stage. In spite of these apparent failures to continuously generate and adopt new knowledge, a key lesson learnt is that major advances in rock mechanics will not be possible without careful monitoring of the rock mass behaviour in experimental sites. Areas requiring further research, such as pillar strength formulae for the Bushveld Complex and enhanced design criteria for the gold mines, can only be developed using extensive underground monitoring programmes.en© The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 2021Rock engineeringUnderground monitoringElastic theoryTelastic theoryPillar strengthEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-04SDG-04: Quality educationEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-08SDG-08: Decent work and economic growthEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-09SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructureEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-15SDG-15: Life on landEngineering, built environment and information technology articles SDG-12SDG-12: Responsible consumption and productionArticle