To address the large deformation and instability of gob-side entry roofs in soft, thick coal seams induced by residual cavities left by hydraulic flushing, the 1609 working face of Jiulishan Coal Mine was selected as the engineering background. Field investigation, numerical simulation, and industrial field testing were combined to investigate the deformation and failure characteristics of surrounding rock and the corresponding control technology for gob-side entries with cavity-bearing roofs. The results indicate that residual cavities created by hydraulic flushing disrupt the stress transfer path within the roof, causing stress field distortion and expansion of tensile stress zones, thereby significantly weakening the roof load-bearing capacity. As the cavity size increases, the surrounding rock deformation and plastic zone continuously expand. When the cavity size exceeds 1.0 m, roof subsidence exhibits a nonlinear increase, and the fractured zone around the cavity connects with the roof plastic zone, forming a continuous failure band that serves as the key factor leading to surrounding rock instability. Based on the deformation characteristics of the cavity-bearing roof, namely shallow fragmentation, deep-seated separation, and structural instability, a collaborative control technology consisting of multi-level cable bolts, steel-beam reinforcement, and grouting through injection pipes was proposed. By establishing a shallow–intermediate–deep hierarchical load-bearing structure and reinforcing the fractured cavity zone through grouting, the technology reconstructs the surrounding rock load-bearing system and optimizes the stress environment. Field application results show that, for a roof containing a 1.5 m cavity, the maximum roof subsidence and separation were controlled within 102 mm and 55 mm, respectively, and the roadway maintained a stable condition throughout the monitoring period. The findings provide both a theoretical basis and engineering guidance for surrounding rock control of gob-side entries with cavity-bearing roofs in soft, thick coal seams.

The spatial distribution of strata under nappe tectonic conditions is highly complex. Conventional approaches, such as dense borehole exploration or intensive in situ investigation, are often costly and difficult to implement for revealing detailed stratigraphic structures. To address this issue, this study focuses on the nappe tectonic setting of the main orebody in the Kambove mining area and proposes a spherical radial basis function interpolation method incorporating spatial anisotropy to construct a three-dimensional resistivity model, thereby providing a data foundation for subsequent intelligent stratigraphic identification. First, the discrete resistivity measurement points were processed through coordinate unification, elevation correction, and data quality inspection. Then, based on radial basis function interpolation theory, a spherical kernel function and anisotropic ellipsoidal constraints were introduced to achieve the three-dimensional continuous representation of discrete resistivity data. Finally, the interpolation performance of the proposed method was compared with that of linear RBF interpolation and inverse distance weighting with $P=2$ and $P=3$ using random holdout validation. The spherical RBF method yielded an ME of −12.2 Ω·m and the lowest RMSE of 299.0 Ω·m, corresponding to RMSE reductions of 13.6–22.0% relative to the comparison methods. These results indicate that the spherical RBF method provides better local interpolation performance within areas covered by existing measurements. The proposed method preserves the continuity and smoothness of the resistivity field and enhances its representation along the dominant geological structural direction, thereby providing a continuous three-dimensional resistivity basis for subsequent intelligent stratigraphic identification.