AUTHOR=Ling Yang , Ying Xu TITLE=Pressure relief for drilling (trenching) and support technology in deep soft rock tunnels JOURNAL=Frontiers in Earth Science VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2024 YEAR=2024 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/earth-science/articles/10.3389/feart.2024.1501420 DOI=10.3389/feart.2024.1501420 ISSN=2296-6463 ABSTRACT=Controlling surrounding rock stability in deep soft rock tunnels solely by increasing the support strength is challenging. The key areas where the surrounding rock of a roadway is prone to “instability” should be treated with comprehensive measures, such as drilling to relieve pressure, grouting of the surrounding rock, floor trenching technology, and secondary support, to achieve overall stability of the roadway surrounding rock. In this paper, based on a typical straight wall semi-circular arch roadway project in the Huaibei mining area of Anhui Province, mechanical parameters, such as cohesion, internal friction angle, Poisson’s ratio, and elastic modulus of the surrounding rock, were measured. Displacement stress distribution in surrounding roadway rock were simulated and analyzed using FLAC 3D, and the key parts of the surrounding rock prone to instability under the original roadway support conditions were determined. A suitable arrangement and parameters of the borehole pressure relief in the side roadway, floor grouting, floor trenching, and floor bolt secondary support were selected. Engineering measurements indicated that the engineering techniques were successful. It provided a significant reference for the comprehensive management and treatment of the surrounding rock stability in deep soft rock roadway on a global scale.