International Conference on Underground Space Technology Technical Papers CM - 05 - 1 17 – 19 January 2011, Bangalore, India Selection of Powered Roof Supports – 2-Leg Shields vis-à-vis 4-Leg Chock Shields B Ramesh Kumar CGM, Corporate Project and Planning,, U Siva Sankar Under Manger, Project Planning, VNS Prasad, Deputy Manager, Corporate Project and Planning SCCL, AP, India ABSTRACT The success of a longwall face depends to a large extent on the type and capacity of the Powered Roof Supports. In India, different types of Powered Roof Supports of various capacities were tried earlier, but the four legged chock shields have been the most widely used supports. An extensive literature review on Indian longwall mining scenario over the last few decades suggests that majority of the downtimes and or failures were mainly due to ground control problems and inadequate capacity and type of powered roof supports. In India several mines Kottadih, Churcha and Dhemomain had experienced catastrophic failures of longwall faces. In this paper, a case study was presented, summarizing the experiences of working Longwall faces with IFS, 4-leg chock shields under varying contact roofs, viz; coal and sand stone. Based on the field observations, conclusions were drawn regarding the suitability of 2 leg shields over 4-leg chock shields under Indian geo mining conditions in general and particularly regarding longwall mines of Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL). Key words: Longwall, Powered Roof Support, Contact Roof