Fastening of the conventional types of rods in the boreholes is carried out by wedging of the lock parts. Expansion of the lock requires mechanical efforts, and sufficient fixation of the lock in the rocks is not always possible.

The application of rod support to combat rock heave in mine workings in Donbass mines has shown that conventional rod locks do not provide reliable anchoring in clayey rocks. Their pull-out forces during tests did not exceed 1–1.5 tons, which is completely insufficient for metal rods. Therefore, to combat clay heave in workings of mines in the Moscow Basin, the authors have proposed a metal tubular rod support.