Investigation into the deformation of a large span roadway in soft seams and its support technology

We investigated the deformation failure mechanism of surrounding rock from the aspect of engineering support for a roadway in seams with soft roofs and soft floors and observed the large displacement of the roadway in these soft seams. The result shows that the deformation area is quite large, and settlement of the roof is evident and displacement of the side walls is also obvious. We considered rock bolt-cable coupling for roadway support in seams with soft roofs and floors, in which the cable should be fixed at key positions. As well, we designed an optimal scheme to support a roadway in soft seams of the Shizuishan Second Mine in Ningxia, China. Field monitoring results show that bolt-cable coupling support has achieved the aims of roadway stability control and minimizes deformation.