Unique design requirements forcivil engineering structures on the surface of mining and post-mining areas threatened by flooding: A case study of a large-scale highway project

The subject of this article is a detailed location analysis of the Silesian section of the A1 Highway crossing the artificially drained “Bytom - Centrum I” mine subsidence area and the impact of this location on changes in the aquatic envi¬ronment caused by mining. Ore and hard coal mining has result¬ed in significant hydrogeological and hydrological transforma¬tion of the mine subsidence area. Over 200 years of drainage of the deposits and the land surface has led to the formation of a deep depression cone resulting in the dewatering of many mining and post-mining areas throughout the entire Upper Sile¬sia region. These artificial water conditions of the mine subsid¬ence area environment are often treated as natural. However, mining entities and/or their legal successors are obliged by law to restore the original natural water conditions in the process of mine closure. This may lead to flooding of post-mining areas threatened by flooding. This article assesses the impact of the location of the highway right-of-way on the scale and extent of current and projected (after the complete cessation of drainage operations) flooding of the land surface. In the final part of the article the authors analyse and assess legal provisions that con¬stitute a legal basis for the design of civil engineering structures in mine subsidence areas.