AbstractThis paper describes an operational research approach to planning the restoration of an open-cast coal site.No established operational research technique exactly fitted the problem, which was one of planning a large-scale earth-moving operation, where the quantities to be moved were not specified, but had to be planned to conform with stringent restrictions on gradients, continuity, drainage and total volume. A numerical technique was developed, used in conjunction with the dual solutions of successive transportation programmes to reach progressively an optimum solution.The nature of the problem allowed an unusually clear-cut comparison to be made between the previous conventional plan and the operational-research-based plan; the latter showed considerable savings and was put into practice.There would appear to be many other situations where the approach could be applied.