The Urban Underground Space Engineering program leverages the strengths of our university's world-class discipline in Transportation Engineering and Shaanxi Province's first-class discipline in Civil Engineering, focusing on the development and utilization of urban underground space to cultivate high-level interdisciplinary intelligent construction talent, serving national strategies such as "New Urbanization" and regional development. The program adopts a broad-based enrollment and streamed training model, offering two tracks: Geotechnical Engineering and Urban Rail Engineering, with emphasis on cultivating students' ability to solve complex geotechnical problems in the development and utilization of urban underground space. The program duration is four years, conferring a Bachelor of Engineering degree.
As urban development gradually shifts from above ground to below ground, how are subways, utility tunnels, and underground complexes reshaping our lives? How is underground space becoming a new frontier for resource development and disaster prevention and mitigation? Professors from the School of Highway Engineering at Chang'an University, who have long been engaged in the field of underground engineering, serve as "guides to the center of the earth," taking us through the mysterious underground world and interpreting the innovative technologies and future blueprint of underground space development! Research Highlights Professor Xie Yongli's TeamThe team has long been engaged in research on soft soil foundation and highway subgrade treatment technology, special soil properties and their engineering applications, and geotechnical engineering in mountainous highway construction. The research team possesses a number of self-developed large-scale experimental research platforms that have played important roles in many major engineering projects. Large-Scale Settlement Test Platform [Representative Achievement 1] Based on the needs of transportation infrastructure construction in loess regions, the team developed loess mechanics theory and formed a systematic and complete engineering technology system, providing important support, guidance, and demonstration for the construction and operation of expressways, high-speed railways, urban subways, and other projects in loess regions. The team's research achievements have received 1 Special Prize, 4 First Prizes, and more than 10 Second Prizes for Science and Technology Progress at the provincial and ministerial levels. [Representative Achievement 2] Serving the national mega-project—the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge immersed tube tunnel project—the team studied the rebound and recompression characteristics of seabed foundation soil, completed model tests using a large-scale foundation settlement simulation platform, and proposed differential settlement control standards and immersed tube tunnel structural requirements. The achievements were incorporated into a national major project and received the "Special Prize for Science and Technology from the China Highway and Transportation Society." [Representative Achievement 3] Focusing on the research and development of soft soil foundation treatment technology, the team participated in the "Composite Foundation Theory, Key Technologies and Engineering Applications" project, which received the First Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. [Representative Achievement 4] The team made important contributions during the construction of the world's longest expressway tunnel—the Qinling Zhongnanshan Extra-Long Highway Tunnel, with a total length exceeding 18 kilometers. The achievements were incorporated into the "Key Technologies for Construction and Operation Management of the Qinling Zhongnanshan Highway Tunnel" project, which received the First Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award. Research Highlights Feng ZhongjuProfessor TeamDedicated to teaching and research in highway bridges and geotechnical engineering, including research on bearing characteristics of bridge pile foundations, special foundation treatment, high-fill subgrade and settlement, and slope treatment. The achievements have received 1 Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, 1 Special Prize, 4 First Prizes, 4 Second Prizes, and 8 Third Prizes for Science and Technology Progress at the provincial and ministerial levels; 5 achievements have been selected into the Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Achievements Repository of the Ministry of Transport. [Representative Achievement 1] Key Technologies for Full Life-Cycle Construction of Large-Diameter Ultra-Long Pile Foundations for Sea-Crossing Bridges in Complex Marine Environments The team constructed a seabed rock-soil mass–pile foundation static-dynamic interaction model, proposed design and calculation methods and key parameter values for bridge pile foundations in marine environments, established a complete standardized technical system for pile foundation construction in marine environments, and proposed rapid damage detection and assessment technologies for pile foundations under accidental actions (strong earthquakes, typhoons, ship collisions, etc.) throughout the full life cycle in marine environments. The research results have been successfully applied to more than ten major domestic sea-crossing bridge projects, including the Xiang'an Bridge and the Haiwen Bridge in Fujian and Hainan Provinces. [Representative Achievement 2] Key Technologies for Intelligent Disaster Identification and Resilient Service Enhancement of Substructure of Mountainous Highway Bridges The team innovated test methods for the working performance of bridge pile foundations in mountainous areas, revealed the bearing characteristics of bridge pile foundations in mountainous areas, proposed design and calculation methods, key parameter values, and resilient design methods for bridge pile foundations in mountainous areas, established construction quality control indicators and standards for bridge pile foundations in mountainous areas, and formed a resilient construction technology system and dynamic safety control technology system for bridge pile foundations in mountainous areas. The research results have been successfully applied to the construction of more than 20 expressways in Shaanxi, Fujian, Shanxi, Shandong, Hubei, and other provinces. [Representative Achievement 3] New Design Methods and Safety Assurance Technology Systems for Bridge Foundation Engineering in Special Geotechnical Environments Regarding the engineering characteristics of collapsible loess, relying on the national major project—the Zhengzhou-Xi'an High-Speed Railway construction project—the team solved the challenge of the first application of multi-span continuous pile-slab structures at home and abroad. Regarding bridge pile foundation engineering in karst areas, the team ascertained the bearing characteristics, load transfer mechanisms, and failure modes of bridge pile foundations in karst development areas, and proposed design and calculation methods, key parameter values, construction technologies, and quality control indicators and standards for bridge pile foundations in karst development areas. The research results have been successfully applied to the construction of more than 20 expressways in Fujian Province (Puyan Expressway), Guangdong, Fujian, Hubei, Yunnan, and other provinces. Regarding bridge pile foundation engineering in alpine saline marsh areas, the team revealed the mechanical characteristics and microscopic corrosion mechanisms of the damage process of bridge pile foundations under the coupled effects of salt, water, temperature, and other factors, constructed a safety evaluation system for bridge pile foundations in alpine saline marsh areas, and developed engineering technologies suitable for bridge pile foundations in alpine saline marsh areas. The research results have been successfully applied to the construction of more than 10 expressways in Qinghai Province, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, and other regions. [Representative Achievement 4] Green Construction and Resilience Enhancement Technologies for Highway Subgrade Structures The team ascertained the types and causes of highway culvert defects, established a culvert–fill–foundation interaction model, revealed the stress and deformation characteristics of highway culverts under the influence of various key factors, proposed calculation methods and key parameter values for vertical earth pressure on highway culverts, and formed multiple design and construction technical guidelines for highway culverts. The research results were incorporated into the "Specifications for Design of Highway Culverts" (JTG/T 3365-02—2020) and the "Technical Specification for Construction of Highway Prefabricated Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts" (DB 14/T 3242-2025); the research results have been successfully applied to major expressway construction projects in Guangdong, Inner Mongolia, Fujian, Xinjiang, Yunnan, and other provinces. In fact, in addition to supporting and serving transportation infrastructure construction, geotechnical engineering plays an equally indispensable supporting role in other fields. For example, it plays an even greater role in the development of modern cities featuring elements such as sponge cities, ecological cities, resilient cities, and smart cities, as well as in the construction and operation of mining, electric power, water conservancy, agriculture, energy, and national defense projects. In recent years, its role in projects such as offshore wind power, offshore oil and gas development, underground energy storage, and large-scale scientific facilities has often become even more important. As a result, emerging interdisciplinary fields such as biogeotechnical engineering, environmental geotechnical engineering, deep geotechnical engineering, marine geotechnical engineering, and intelligent geotechnical engineering have been developed and derived. Finally, a word for the students about to embark on the journey of geotechnical engineering: when I first started my career, I had no interest in geotechnical engineering—I was assigned to this major when I took the graduate entrance examination. But more than 40 years of experience have made me realize that the cost-effectiveness of pursuing geotechnical engineering is very high. Lack of interest in a major may simply mean you don't understand it well enough. Once you become familiar with it and understand it, you may well fall even more in love with it. Trust me, choosing geotechnical engineering will surely make your life a journey well worth taking! Underground space is the "second dimension" of urban development and the crystallization of technology and wisdom. From traditional foundation pits to smart underground structures, the professors' sharing shows us that urban underground space engineering is not only the cornerstone extending underground but also the root system supporting the future. The "Professors Talk About Majors" special series will continue to bring you more professional interpretations. Let us continue to explore the infinite possibilities in the field of transportation infrastructure!
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