What is a scaling bar?

A scaling bar is a long metal bar with a hardened point and chisel end, used to locate and pry loose rock from the back, walls, and face of an underground working. The job has a few names — scaling, barring down, ground control — but the goal is always the same: make the ground safe before anyone works under it.

Scaling is a feel-and-listen task as much as a prying one. You sound the rock first: a solid back gives a clear ring, while loose or drummy rock gives a hollow, dull sound. Once you find loose material, you bar it down from a position of safe, already-scaled ground — never directly beneath what you're removing. That's why bar length, balance, and weight matter as much as point hardness.

Madido scaling bars are used across:

• Underground hard-rock mining — routine scaling of backs, walls and faces after each round
• Tunneling and civil excavation — making headings safe as they advance
• Quarrying — clearing loose rock from faces and benches
• Slope and rock-cut remediation — manual purging of unstable rock on escarpments and cuts