Abstract: Comparing to the roof and floor,the two ribs of coal mine roadways are relatively weaker and have more de- formability. The large deformation of the coal-mass in the ribs have significant effect on the roadway stability. Based on the practical case of severely deformed ribs and by considering its deformability,an analytical model of roof beam with Winkler foundation is built. Hereby the characteristics of bending moment and reflection have been studied. The foun- dation rigidity of coal mine roadway is revealed and the rib-control support principle is proposed. By employing rein- forcement in the ridirectly controlled by the reinforcement. The stability of roof and floor is reinforced via the foundation rigidity effect. The foundation rigidity and the rib-control support principle of coal mine roadway are analyzed and validated by means of numerical simulation and field tests. The results show that under the effect of the vertical concentrated stress over ribs,the coal-mass is notably compressed and the roof strata bend and sag along with it. The foundation rigidity has great effect on roof deformation which makes it the key influencing factor. Under the conditions of identical roof sup- port,the reinforcement in the ribs will not only reduce the convergence and failure extent of the ribs during roadway development and retreat mining,but also effective control the deformation and failure of the roof and the floor,which makes it an effective method to improve the roadway stability. This study has improved the understanding of the impor- tance of rib support in roadway ground control,and revealed the support mechanism of rib-control.bs,the foundation rigidity of the ribs will increase,and the deformation and failure of the ribs will