The large rheological deformation of surrounding rock caused by the high ground stress is an important factor that affects the safety and stability of deep soft roadways. Deformation and failure mechanism of weak surrounding rock at the west roadway of Coal Mine of Yangquan Coal Mining Group No.1 are analysed. A finite element model is developed which can address the local geological conditions and the initial design scheme. Based on the field monitoring deformation data and rock borehole results

the mechanical parameters and creep parameters of the surrounding rock are obtained through a back analysis. A new support scheme

which consists of double cacheable and gradually variable supporting shells

is proposed for deep soft-rock tunnelling. The scheme is implemented through hierarchically grouting reinforcement according to the damage condition of the surrounding rock and setting up a U-steel support in the external area to form deformable buffer layer. Finite element method for simulating the new support scheme is developed. Using the parameters obtained from the back analysis

deformation of surrounding rock is predicted. By comparing the numerical results with the field monitoring data

the effectiveness of the new support scheme is verified.