###### Abstract
Using this method, the former mingate for the second panel serves as a tailgate. To ensure stability in a maintained roadway, wooden or friction props are commonly used behind the longwall face, as well as steel hoisting joists and wooden ribs filled with aggregate or bags filled with binding material [8]. The line of cribs or concrete columns built along goaves is commonly referred to as \"artificial protective pillar\" [9]. The methods for maintaining roadways behind the longwall face are also based on experiences of working in various mines [10]. Therefore, maintaining roadways behind the longwall face is carried out based on an individual design relying on empirical relationships to estimate the load acting on the roadway support. The most crucial aspect of the technology of maintaining roadways behind the longwall face is the design of appropriate support, taking into account reinforcements at different stages of the existence of the roadway. The applied support elements should ensure the stability of a roadway against stress concentration caused by advancing longwall  
Figure 1: Longwall system with: (**a**) a pillar between gates, (**b**) no pillar between gates—the double use of the same gateroad. face and the influence of goat. Maintaining the gateroad behind the longwall face in an independent rockbolting support requires additional reinforcement with hydraulic props and a protective pillar of flexible concrete on the goat side [11]. The rockbolting support scheme requires proper design, which has to take into consideration the entire lifecycle of the roadway [12; 13; 14; 15]. Years of experience in Polish coal mines show that it is challenging to identify a universal support scheme. This is due to the considerable depth, usually \(800\div 1300\) m, as well as the complex system of tectonic disturbances and the occurrence of numerous mining edges of higher mined coal seams. However, various steel arch and rock bolt support variants are vital in designing roadways. Modifying the steel arch and rock bolt support usually considers the spacing of steel frames, the load-bearing capacity of support elements and the contact between the rock mass and frames. In the case of rock bolts, modifications include the type, length, distribution, and method of rock bolt installation. The maintenance of roadway stability behind the longwall face over the designated period is a subject that has undergone numerous numerical analyses [16; 17], as well as field studies and physical modelling [18; 19]. In international references, one can find measurement results of stress changes, considering the advancing longwall face [20], movements of the rock mass [21] or roadway convergence, both ahead and behind the longwall face [22]. However, comprehensive monitoring of the gateroad in natural conditions, encompassing observations of the rock mass and the performance of the steel arch and rock bolt support, has not yet been encountered in the relevant literature. This article presents a comprehensive approach to designing and monitoring roadways maintained behind the longwall face. Initially, geomechanical studies were conducted, which were then used to develop numerical models and forecast the stability of excavations, based on empirical indicators developed by authors. The use of empirical indices allowed for the selection of appropriate support and its reinforcement and the assessment of challenges in maintaining roadways behind the longwall face. The numerical analysis aimed to estimate the extent of the fracture zone around the tested roadways, both ahead and behind the longwall face. These results were utilized to design the final support schemes. Subsequently, fully automated monitoring stations were designed in tested roadways, monitoring the steel arch, rock bolt support, and surrounding rock mass around the roadway, ahead and behind the longwall face. The test area comprised two main gates in two Polish hard coal mines. Both contained three sections of a specially designed support scheme.