UM holds International Symposium of Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground
澳大舉行軟土地基地下工程岩土問題國際研討會

The 11th International Symposium of Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground (IS-Macau 2024) was held at the University of Macau (UM). The symposium was jointly organised by UM, Technical Committee 204 (TC204) of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE), the Civil Engineering Laboratory of Macau, and the Macau Association for Geotechnical Engineering. More than 150 delegates from 15 countries and regions, including the UK, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Dubai, Singapore, Japan, mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao, attended the symposium to exchange views and promote cooperation on geotechnical aspects of underground construction in soft ground.

Xu Cheng-Zhong, dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) at UM, said in his opening remarks that the development of smart cities has received significant attention and has been promoted around the world in recent years. The development and utilisation of underground space is of great significance in increasing urban carrying capacity, optimising spatial layout, and improving operational efficiency. As one of the organisers of the symposium, UM hopes to take the lead in strengthening cooperation, technical exchanges, and talent development for scientists from different countries and regions in the relevant fields, while providing solutions for various aspects of underground construction and related fields, so as to make promote the development of smart cities.

Themed ‘Tunnelling and Underground Construction for Smart Cities’, the four-day symposium featured a Fujita Lecture, an ISSMGE Bright Spark Lecture, 5 keynote lectures, 6 plenary sessions, and 18 paper presentations. During the symposium, prominent scholars and experts from home and abroad shared their latest achievements in the geotechnical aspects of the analysis, design, construction and maintenance of deep excavations, tunnels and large underground structures, as well as the applications of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence in the smart construction and maintenance of underground infrastructure, thereby promoting the exchange and cooperation within the international academic community on the geotechnical issues of underground construction in soft ground. The symposium also included a roundtable discussion, a poster session, and the presentation of the poster award. In addition, Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground, the proceedings of the tenth edition of the symposium, was launched to stimulate further technical development and innovation.

The honorary chairs of IS-Macau 2024 are Ao Peng Kong, president of the Board of Directors of the Civil Engineering Laboratory of Macau, and Giulia Viggiani, chair of ISSMGE TC204. The general chairs are Zhou Wanhuan, associate dean of FST and head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UM, and Xu Tao, associate professor in the School of Transportation at Southeast University. The opening ceremony was also attended by Lyesse Laloui, vice president of ISSMGE Europe; Adam Bezuijen, former chair of ISSMGE TC204; Wout Broere, chair of the National Structural Integrity Research Committee on Immersed Tunnels of the Netherlands and editor-in-chief of the journal Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology; Chen Renpeng, vice president of Hunan University; and Wu Wei, editor-in-chief of the journal Acta Geotechnica.

The first International Symposium on Geotechnical Aspects of Underground Construction in Soft Ground was held in 1994 in New Delhi, India. The subsequent nine editions were held in London, UK (1996); Tokyo, Japan (1999); Toulouse, France (2002); Amsterdam, Netherlands (2005); Shanghai, China (2008); Rome, Italy (2011); Seoul, South Korea (2014); Sao Paulo, Brazil (2017); and Cambridge, UK (2022), respectively.