Recently, the 24th Cross-Strait Symposium on Tunnel and Underground Engineering was convened at Northeastern University (NEU). Themed "Smart Disaster Prevention and Resilience Enhancement in Tunnel and Underground Engineering," the symposium was co-organized by the Tunnel and Underground Engineering Branch of the China Civil Engineering Society, the Underground Engineering Branch of the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering, and the Chinese Taipei Tunnelling Association, with NEU serving as the host. Experts, scholars, engineering technicians, and industry representatives from universities, research institutes, industry associations, and engineering entities across the Taiwan Strait gathered in Shenyang to engage in in-depth exchanges regarding frontier theories, key technologies, and major engineering practices in the field of tunnel and underground engineering.
The conference attracted over 220 in-person attendees, including more than 130 scholars from mainland universities and research institutes, 40 experts and scholars from Taiwan, and 50 representatives from industry sponsors. A total of 123 presentations were arranged during the conference, comprising 12 plenary keynote presentations and 111 breakout session presentations. The plenary reports focused on themes such as digital twins for high-altitude permafrost highways, challenges in major tunnel projects, construction risks in water diversion projects, tunnel construction methods in Taiwan, intelligent shield tunneling construction, tunnel construction in complex environments, urban underground space development, and intelligent equipment for underground engineering, collectively showcasing the latest research achievements and practical engineering experience in the field of tunnel and underground engineering across the Taiwan Strait. The conference featured seven thematic breakout sessions: Theory and Technology for Stability Control of Underground Engineering in Complex Geology; High-Performance Materials and Resilient Structures for Underground Space; Resilience Design Theory and Methods for Tunnel Engineering in Extreme Environments; Intelligent Sensing, Prevention, and Control of Rock Mass Hazards in Underground Engineering; Efficient Construction and Operation & Maintenance of Underground Engineering; Urban Rail Transit and Underground Utility Network Renewal; and the Graduate Innovation Forum.
Conference delegates visited the International Exhibition Center Station of the Shenyang Metro Line 10 Phase II project to conduct a technical site visit, gaining first-hand insight into the project's construction status and the achievements in intelligent metro tunnel construction. The site visit covered the application of intelligent construction technologies and equipment, including intelligent segment assembly robots, tunnel quality inspection robots, intelligent transport equipment, and mechanically excavated connecting passages. Through the technical site visit, the attending experts gained a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of digital-intelligent technologies in quality control, construction efficiency enhancement, and safety risk prevention and control for metro tunnel construction, thereby promoting the deep integration of academic research and engineering application.
Through various formats including plenary reports, thematic breakout sessions, and technical site visits, experts and scholars from both sides of the Strait conducted in-depth exchanges on industry challenges such as complex geology, extreme disasters, green and low-carbon development, smart construction, and resilience enhancement, further solidifying the consensus on the safe, intelligent, and resilient development of underground engineering. The conference promoted academic exchange, technical mutual learning, and industry-university-research collaboration in the field of tunnel and underground engineering across the Strait, providing a valuable reference for improving the inherent safety level of underground engineering and serving the safe operation of major infrastructure.
