BLAST PATTERN DESIGN SOFTWARE

Blast Pattern Design Software for Bench Drilling

STREAM lays out a drill pattern on a bench you have surveyed. You set burden, spacing and the rest of the geometry; STREAM reads each collar elevation from the DEM, works out depth and inclined length, checks the pattern against the free face in three dimensions, and gives you the hole table, drawings and a report.

What is a blast pattern?

A blast pattern is the layout of blastholes on a bench: how far each row sits from the one in front of it (burden), how far apart the holes are within a row (spacing), and how the grid is placed relative to the free face.

The geometry decides the result. Too much burden in front of a hole and the rock does not move; too little and it throws. Because the bench surface is never flat, the depth of every hole depends on the ground above it — which is exactly what a terrain model can tell you.

Blast Pattern Design Software in STREAM

Pattern on a real bench

Draw the block boundary and the face line, then set staggered or square layout, burden, spacing, front offset and grid rotation. The row nearest the face follows the face line rather than the grid, so the front burden stays even along an irregular crest.

Depths from the terrain

Each collar elevation is read from the DEM and the design floor can be derived from the surveyed ground, so hole depth and inclined length follow the real bench instead of an assumed flat top.

Burden relief in three dimensions

Plan distance to the crest is not the same as the rock actually standing in front of a hole. STREAM measures the relief along the hole axis at every elevation, which is where an inclined hole on a battered face gets tight.

Compare against as-drilled

Load the collars the crew actually drilled and STREAM reports the difference against the design. Measured values are kept separate — they never overwrite the design, so you can see the deviation instead of losing it.

Volume, tonnage and hole table

Get the blasted volume and tonnage for the block, and a hole-by-hole table with collar, depth and length, exported to Excel or CSV with the same row lettering used in the drawings.

Geometric checks

Holes too close to the block edge, depth or burden outside the range you set, and the other geometric conditions are flagged with the value and the limit before anything is drilled.

Supported formats

DXF
Pattern plan and bench section drawings for CAD
Excel / CSV
Hole table with collar, depth and length
PDF
Blast design report
GeoTIFF
Source DEM the bench and collars are read from

Frequently asked questions

What does STREAM's blast pattern module do?

It lays out a drill pattern on a surveyed bench, takes each collar elevation from the DEM, computes hole depth and inclined length, checks the geometry including burden relief against the free face, and exports the hole table, drawings and a report.

Does STREAM design the charge and the delay timing?

No. The module covers pattern geometry and hole elevations only. Explosive charge design, initiation and delay timing, vibration prediction and fragmentation modelling are outside its scope and remain the blasting engineer's responsibility.

How are hole depths calculated?

The collar elevation of every hole is read from your terrain model and the design floor can be derived from the surveyed ground. Depth is the collar elevation minus the floor plus the subdrill you set, and the inclined length follows from the hole angle.

What is burden relief and why measure it in 3D?

Burden relief is the rock standing between a hole and the free face. Measured on plan it is just the horizontal distance to the crest, but an inclined hole behind a battered face has a different amount of rock in front of it at every elevation — STREAM measures it along the hole axis.

Can I compare the drilled holes against the design?

Yes. You can load the as-drilled collars and STREAM reports the deviation from the design pattern. The measured data is kept separate from the design so the difference stays visible.

Try Blast Pattern Design in STREAM

Free beta for Windows x64. Works fully offline with GeoTIFF, LAS/LAZ and DXF.

Download STREAM free