The 11th National Engineering Geology Congress, sponsored by the Geological Society of China (GSC), cohosted by the Engineering Geology Commission of GSC and CUG, and supported by 54 organizations including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), took place in Wuhan from October 16 to 18. The Congress was held both online and offline with over 300 experts and scholars attended the event in-person.
Prof. TANG Huiming from CUG is elected the Director of the 11th Engineering Geology Commission of GSC
Prof. WANG Yanxin, CUG President and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), welcomed the attendees. He introduced CUG and its Engineering Geology, and said that the Congress would promote academic exchanges and cooperation among peers, sharing of innovative research results, and new breakthroughs in theories and practice of engineering geology.
LIU Yu, Director of Environmental Earth Sciences Office, Department of Earth Sciences, NSFC, emphasized the significance of holding the Congress in Wuhan. The pandemic was a wake-up call for people to care about the ecology and health of Earth. It has also brought more challenges to our aim of building a Habitable Earth. She appealed to the rest of the engineering geology world to move with the times and promote interdisciplinary researches.
Prof. PENG Jianbing from Chang’an University, member of CAS, Director of the 10th Engineering Geology Commission of GSC, and Honorary Director of 11th Engineering Geology Commission of GSC, briefly reviewed the course of China’s engineering geology as well as the work and achievements of the Engineering Geology Commission of GSC in the past four years. He pinned high hopes on the 11th Engineering Geology Commission of GSC that it would attach greater importance to the innovative development of engineering geology as well as talent discovering to serve the national strategies in the next four years.
Prof. TANG Huiming said that new breakthroughs should be made in exploitation and effective use of geological environment, spatio-temporal evolution and control of geological disasters, and evaluation of multi-scale disasters and disaster chain effects of major projects.
With the theme of “Engineering Geology and a Habitable Earth”, the Congress focused on engineering geology and global change, engineering geological disaster prevention and control, geotechnical structure and engineering geological properties, engineering geology issues such as marine, transportation, urban and environmental protection in major construction projects, engineering geology and ductile engineering construction, artificial intelligence and big data in engineering geology.
There were 20 specially invited reports, including “Building a Harmonious Earth: New Tasks for Earth Scientists” by HUANG Runqiu, Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environmental, “Disaster Risks of Sichuan-Tibet Railway and Prevention” by CUI Peng, member of CAS, “Water Quality Effects of Ground Settlement” by WANG Yanxin, “Surface Control Mechanism of a Habitable Earth” by PENG Jianbing, and “Basic Studies on Prediction and Forecast of Major Landslides” by TANG Huiming.
(Edited and translated from the Chinese version)
