Certificates (Left: CAI Zhengyin; Right: NHRI)
On January 8th, 2018, 2017 National Science and Technology Progress Awards Conference was held at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, China. Prof. CAI Zhengyin and his team were honored with the Second Prize for their study achievements of Key Technology and Application of New Structures of Deep-water Sheet-pile Wharf. The achievements are mainly based on their research of Key Technology Improvements for 200,000-ton Deep-water Sheet-pile Wharf, a topic of 863 Program (also known as the State High-Tech Development Plan), and more than 30 key engineering research projects regarding deep-water sheet-pile wharf.
After their decade’s research efforts in this area, a series of innovative achievements have been made. 4 new types of deep-water sheet-pile wharf structures have been proposed, i.e. half-covered sheet-pile wharf, fully-covered sheet-pile wharf, sheet-pile wharf with separated relieving platform, and sheet-pile wharf with separated relieving platform and ribbed slabs, and successfully applied in the construction of berths ranging from 50,000 to 200,000 tonnage, raising the construction level of sheet-pile wharf from 35,000 to 200,000 tonnage and making the construction of the world’s largest sheet-pile wharf possible. Furthermore, they have perfected the theory system of sheet-pile wharf and proposed 4 computing models of new deep-water sheet-pile wharf structures to solve the problems of complex interaction among foundation, sheet piles and barrier piles. In addition, 5 new techniques for deep-water sheet-pile wharf have been developed, including numerical simulation, centrifuge modeling, on-site monitoring, foundation liquefaction and seismic analysis of wharf structures, and construction techniques of extremely deep sheet-pile wharf, helping solve a number of technical problems of simulation of sheet-pile structures in complicated coastal environment, safety and risk assessment, and construction.
The research has yielded fruitful results, including 26 patents (15 invention parents and 11 utility patents), 3 industrial standards of water transportation, 4 academic books, and 82 papers. These achievements won the Grand Prize of 2011 China Water Transportation Science and Technology Progress Awards, the First Prizes of 2007 and 2015 China Ports Science and Technology Progress Awards, and the Second Prizes of 2004 and 2007 China Sailing Science and Technology Progress Awards. These achievements have also been successfully applied to the construction of large-scale ports at home and abroad, such as the Jingtang Port and Caofeidian Port, Tangshan, Hebei Province, Binhai Port, Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, and a foreign Port, Maldives. At the end of 2015, 57 deep-water sheet-pile berths with 50,000-200,000 tonnage had been completed in Tangshan with a total developed shoreline of 14.7 km and an annual cargo turnover of 258 million tons. The development of new sheet-pile wharf structures has promoted the rapid development of the Tangshan Port and made outstanding contributions to the implementation of the national integration strategy of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, and will play an increasingly important role in the construction of new ports under China’s “One Belt, One Road” Initiative.
Prof. CAI Zhengyin, the first person listed in the project team, obtained his doctoral degree in Geotechnical Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2001. He is now Director of NHRI Geotechnical Engineering Department, and doctoral supervisor. He is also Editor-in-Chief of Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of Rock and Soil Mechanics Committee, Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society, and Director of Chinese Institute of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, China Civil Engineering Society. He has completed more than 70 scientific research projects during his career, and is the chief scientist of Capacity Improvement and Safety Guarantee Technology of Long-Distance Water Supply Projects in High and Cold Areas, a project of National Key R&D Plan and project convener and sub-project leader of Modern Transportation Infrastructure Construction and Conservation Technology, a project of 863 Program. Prof. CAI has made many important achievements in aspects of the interaction between deep-water port structures and soil foundation, safety assurance of long-distance water diversion projects in high and cold areas, coarse grain soil constitutive theory, and so on. He has won 1 Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Awards, 4 grand prizes and 5 first prizes of ministerial or provincial science and technology progress awards. He has a total of 24 national invention patents and more than 150 papers published in various international and domestic journals, and has co-authored eight books.
