In the Soviet Union, the anchoring of large cross-section excavations in unlayered and strong, but highly fractured rocks with rod supports was initiated by A. I. Golomolzin in 1955. Under his leadership, a group of engineers (R. E. Vasilevsky, V. G. Dominikov and Y. K. Manenkov) secured several experimental sites in rocks with different degrees of fracturing. However, the theoretical underdevelopment of the issues of interaction between the rod support and rocks in workings conducted in strong, but highly fractured rocks leads quite often to mistrust and, as a result, to the rejection of the use of this new type of support.