Based on the experiences obtained from more than 10 years' monitoring
of tunnel excavation in soft ground, and in order to solve the problem
that the currently-used surrounding rock stability criteria have noth
ing to do with the rockbolts-shotcrete support operation, thus they ar
e hard to be applied by in-situ engineers, the author puts forward a n
ew empirical hypothesis of criterion for surrounding rock stability as
sessment. Then five case histories are described as references. Furthe
rmore, the open complex giant system methodology is introduced to expl
ain the theory and practice of empirical hypothesis.