Experts probe public safety issues in earthwork at Xiangshan Science Conferences
Under the theme of "Scientific Issues Concerning Public Safety in Underground Engineering and Infrastructure," a workshop was held recently with the support of the Xiangshan Science Conferences. The meeting was attended by more than 40 experts from such fields as geology, mining engineering, protection engineering, geotechnical engineering, fluid mechanics, safety engineering, hydraulic engineering and explosion mechanics, and was jointly presided over by Prof. ZHOU Fengjun from the Third S&T Institute of Engineering Corps under the PLA General Staff, Prof. LU Yaoru of the Tongji University and Prof. WANG Mengshu from Beijing Jiaotong University. Its main topics included the formative mechanism and evolutionary process of public safety accidents in engineering, the theory for acquiring feature information for environmental and engineering safety and its monitoring technology, science and technology for public safety protection & emergency rescue in environmental and engineering safety, anti-explosion & anti-earthquake safety identification as well as related protective measures.
In his keynote report, Prof. ZHOU made an exposition of the concept framework for the studies of S&T issues concerning public safety in underground engineering and infrastructure; current state of public safety and problems (in the five aspects of mining engineering, public transport, special-use equipment, waterworks and protective engineering); formative mechanisms and development of disastrous accidents; acquirement and monitoring technology on feature information; protective countermeasures and engineering; the assessment system, methods and emergency rescue; and legislative and administrative systems and managerial methods, consultant service.
Prof. ZHENG Zhemin from the CAS Institute of Mechanics pointed out that the public safety concerns not only the institutional snags but also many S&T problems. As the issue involves a wide spectrum of industries and disciplines, it can no longer be addressed only with expertise from a single discipline or theory. Wisdom from various areas should be pooled. He suggested that a learned body be set up for regular academic exchanges and cooperation in the field.
Prof. QIAN Qihu from the Military S&T Committee of the PLA General Staff noted that S&T expertise and scientific management constitute the two wheels necessary for the studies of public safety in underground engineering and infrastructure. The research should address risk management and decision making. In the tunnel and underground engineering in particular a risk analysis and assessment should be conducted so as to understand the incidence of possible accidents, their aftermath and preventive counter-measures. With the aid of quantitative research, the critical S&T posers might be presented and solved.
A total of 21 special lectures were delivered at the meeting, including "Mechanism and Prevention of Engineering Construction Accidents and Geological Disasters" (by Prof. LU Yaoru), "An Assessment System on the Risk and Reliability in the Construction of Highway Tunnels" (by Prof. WANG Mengshu), "A Technical Analysis in Response to A Mining Pit's Disastrous Events" (by Prof. ZHANG Tiegang), and "A Study on the Control of the Vibrating Environment on A High-speed Railway" (by Prof. LEI Xiaoyan).
The participants made following suggestions:
1. To set up a national office of public safety for coordinating public safety affairs, data sharing, key R&D projects, emergency rescue operations, and for supporing technical exchanges and training.
2. To make public safety a first-class academic discipline, so as to help produce a large number of qualified experts and managers from institutions of higher learning.
3. To launch a national society of public safety for academic exchanges and exploration. It should promote the rapid development of the related scientific disciplines, such as engineering management of public safety, disciplinary developments, new techniques, new materials and new methods.
4. To start a national research center for disaster control, with an objective of monitoring, predicting and assessing the disasters by mustering related experts in prevention, rescue and mitigation. In line with the regional characteristics, systematic studies should be carried out in a selective way, including the analysis of the causes, evolutionary conditions and concrete steps or measures for coping with these disasters.
5. To raise the financial input into the field. By coordinating universities and research institutions and through launching a special fund for public safety research, efforts should be made to elevate the research level so as to catch up with the world advanced level.
6. To standardize the national management on public safety. The problems of mutual support and bilateral reliance between S&T research and engineering administration must be properly dealt with through the introduction of legislation, and regulations and norms.
7. To strengthen professional training programs. Workers at mining pits, railways, civic management and security equipment must receive special training for dealing with accidents, and preventive and rescue measures.
8. To introduce a risk assessment system for all underground and infrastructure engineering, intensifying the pre-construction risk assessment and providing scientific grounds for safe construction. By developing a theory on feature analysis of engineering accidents and risk assessment, a complete set of practical technical supports is devised.
9. To enhance geological studies. Geology is the fundamental discipline for handling all safety issues in a subterranean or infrastructure projects. They are the precondition for the management and control various types of geological disasters and the mastery of their formative laws, which will provide needed grounds for disaster reduction related efforts.
10. To give more attention to preventive technology studies, so as to reduce the damages caused by engineering accidents to a minimum, and dramatically decrease the casualties and economic losses. Priority should be placed on accidental explosions, seismic isolation, anti-flooding embankment, anti-atomic attack, and related prevention technology.