From urban subways and underground garages to land reclamation and cultural relic protection, geotechnical engineering is quietly supporting the technical backbone of national construction. What is little known is that behind these major projects concerning national security and the lifelines of cities, there is an active group of people who work deep underground anddare to innovate. With the earth as their paper and rock and soil as their pen, they carve out the foundation of urban development with wisdom and sweat. Fu Zhibin is one of them.

Fu Zhibin is a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a "National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents Program" honoree, a "Young and Middle-aged Expert with Outstanding Contributions," a "National Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker," an expert "receiving special government allowances from the State Council," a "Beijing Science and Technology Expert with Outstanding Contributions," and one of "Beijing's Most Beautiful Scientific and Technological Workers." As the chief engineer of the Construction Comprehensive Survey Research and Design Institute Co., Ltd. and director of the Geotechnical Engineering Research Institute, under his leadership he and his geotechnical team have not only solved one technical challenge after another but also made important contributions to the improvement of the industry's technical capabilities and the establishment and promotion of technical standards.

From petroleum drilling to geotechnical engineering, Fu Zhibin completed a remarkable cross-disciplinary transformation over more than 20 years, growing into a leading figure in the field of geotechnical engineering.

During university, Fu Zhibin studied petroleum drilling. An accidental reading of some literature sparked a strong interest in geotechnical engineering. In 1994, when the Three Gorges Dam project began, he keenly recognized the key role of geotechnical mechanics in major infrastructure construction, resolutely decided to change his field of study, and successfully passed the entrance examination for a master's degree in geotechnical engineering at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, embarking on a path of deep cultivation in geotechnical engineering.

Through years of study and practice, Fu Zhibin developed profound insights into geotechnical engineering. He pointed out that the objects of geotechnical engineering cover all kinds of engineering related to rock, soil, and water, ranging from conventional engineering investigation and foundation treatment to the protection of rock-and-soil cultural relics and large-scale land reclamation projects—a broad scope indeed. "Geotechnical engineering is scattered in form but not in essence." Fu Zhibin explained that although project types are diverse and requirements and environmental conditions vary greatly, making it appear very "scattered," the core always revolves around rock, soil, and groundwater. This requires practitioners to deeply understand geological provenance and the characteristics of rock, soil, and water, firmly grasp this "thread," closely combine theory with practice, and continuously accumulate engineering experience in order to solve practical problems efficiently and accurately.

After graduating with his master's degree, Fu Zhibin joined his current organization and participated in numerous frontline research and engineering projects. After more than 20 years of diligent work, he now serves as chief engineer of this large national institute. Among the many projects he has completed, leading the formulation of national standards related to island reclamation in coral reef areas has had the deepest impact on him. Island reclamation projects in the South China Sea and elsewhere have successfully carried out large-scale engineering construction on the vast ocean using the innovative method of hydraulic filling with coral sand. However, because coral sand is formed from the broken cementitious material of coral remains, it is a calcareous sand with special texture, different from the yellow siliceous sand sources seen on land. Research on and application of the engineering characteristics of coral sand and investigation and evaluation methods are extremely lacking in the engineering community, making it very difficult to compile geotechnical investigation and design standards to guide reclamation in coral reef areas and construction in coastal coral reef areas. After taking charge of editing the two national standards "Geotechnical Investigation Standard for Coral Reef Areas" and "Geotechnical Design Standard for Coral Reef Areas," Fu Zhibin well understood their importance for subsequent island reclamation and related engineering construction. He devoted enormous energy and effort, organizing the Chinese Academy of Sciences, port and waterway authorities, and many other research, reclamation design, construction, and investigation units to work together in unity, analyzing test data, summarizing engineering experience, and forming the foundational results for standard compilation. He innovatively proposed working guidelines and quantitative evaluation methods and indicators for investigation and design in coral reef areas, and carried out highly effective summarization, refinement, and innovation in many aspects, includingevaluation of coral soil bearing capacity, seismic evaluation, foundation treatment engineering, and pile foundation engineering design, providing scientific and standardized guidance for future island and reef engineering construction.This work not only made Fu Zhibin deeply appreciate the importance of thorough and solid work to professional expertise, but also gave him a sense of pride in serving the country with professional knowledge.

Fu Zhibin's work has also extended abroad. He has led teams to participate multiple times in investigation and design work for overseas projects. He once led a team to Barbados, an island nation in South America, contributing foundational geological and geotechnical engineering analysis and evaluation data for the renovation and expansion of the largest stadium in the Caribbean region. This project attracted great attention from the Caribbean and South American countries. Its successful construction and friendly cooperation with the local country not only greatly improved the Caribbean region's lack of large safe sports facilities but also excelled in enhancing China's international reputation in the Caribbean, playing an important role at the diplomatic level and demonstrating the potential contribution of the civil engineering and construction industry to national defense and diplomatic work.

▲Fu Zhibin speaking at the general assembly of the Engineering Investigation Branch of the Architectural Society of China

Fu Zhibin's career in geotechnical and underground engineering has always run parallel with challenges, but he has always been able to rise to the occasion and find the key to solving difficult problems. For Fu Zhibin, the difficulty of each project is both a tremendous test and an opportunity to push himself to new breakthroughs.

In 2008, Fu Zhibin led the deep foundation pit design and construction for the underground garage project of the Beijing Customs Building. The foundation pit was excavated downward immediately adjacent to the important customs building, reaching a depth of 21 meters, while the original basement of the customs building had a burial depth of only 7 meters and rested on natural foundation without pile foundation support, greatly increasing the complexity and risk of the project. Worse still, the groundwater in the sand and gravel layer in this area was located about 12 meters below ground surface, and groundwater was almost continuously gushing from the side walls of the pit, posing a tremendous threat to the safety of the foundation pit and the adjacent building.

In the early stage of the project, the team conducted extensive analysis and research and found that the stratum permeability was very strong and the surrounding environmental conditions were extremely complex. This meant that without effective means of controlling groundwater and stratum deformation, excavation of the foundation pit could cause settlement or even collapse of surrounding buildings. Moreover, the construction schedule was tight, and no delay was permissible. Facing this series of problems, the pressure on Fu Zhibin and his team can well be imagined.

"At that time the pressure was truly overwhelming," Fu Zhibin recalled. "During foundation pit excavation, any small mistake could bring catastrophic consequences. We not only had to ensure the stability of the foundation pit but also guarantee the safety of surrounding facilities."

To solve this problem, Fu Zhibin and his team decided to adopt an innovative water level control technology at the time—the inter-pile directional jet-grouting water-stop curtain technology—while also using precise analysis of soil layers to utilize an impermeable cohesive soil layer to seal the bottom, comprehensively forming a hollow cofferdam system. This system could effectively isolate groundwater from the interior of the foundation pit, ensuring that water levels no longer affected the construction progress of underground facilities within the pit.

In addition to the water-stop system, Fu Zhibin also proposed a new method for foundation pit deformation analysis in this project, accurately predicting and guiding strict control of the deformation of the foundation pit slopes and surrounding buildings. Ultimately, the entire foundation pit excavation was completed smoothly without causing any adverse effects on surrounding buildings. The project results not only won first prize from Beijing Municipality and the national survey and design industry, but its successful implementation also provided valuable experience for similar projects.

▲Fu Zhibin, a geotechnical engineer

In Fu Zhibin's career, the Yungang Grottoes waterproofing protection project is undoubtedly a memorable classic case. As a precious World Cultural Heritage site, the Yungang Grottoes are a treasure carrying ancient Chinese Buddhist art and carving techniques. However, with the passage of time, the exquisite stone carvings have suffered extensive surface weathering and exfoliation, and the grottoes face serious weathering damage, especially irreversible damage to the grotto sculptures caused by water intrusion. This water damage includes direct erosion by wind and rain, condensation water erosion formed on the surface of the stone carvings by visiting crowds, capillary water action formed by historical accumulated water at the bottom of the grottoes, and salinization, frost heaving, and erosion damage caused by rainwater seeping along fissures from the top of the large mountain in which the grottoes are located. To save these artistic treasures, Fu Zhibin and his team were invited to participate in this historically valuable and highly challenging work.

Fu Zhibin and his team's task was to design a protection scheme that could effectively prevent various types of water damage erosion without damaging the original cultural heritage. To achieve this, Fu Zhibin and his team conducted in-depth on-site investigation. Through detailed investigation and research analysis of the geological environment around the grottoes, they found that the infiltration and erosion of rainfall from the mountain top along fissures was the main cause of the current weathering of the grotto stone carvings and the difficult point of treatment.How to solve it? "Give the cultural relics a comprehensive 'physical examination'!" Fu Zhibin and his team boldly innovated, exploring the comprehensive application of geological mapping, drilling, ground-penetrating radar, cross-hole CT, borehole imaging, tracer methods, and other means to mutually verify and obtain stratum information. They then conducted comprehensive analysis and seepage process simulation to study the sources and migration patterns of the water damage causing stone carving weathering, ultimately revealing the seepage mechanism by which precipitation from the top caused damage to the grottoes, providing a scientific basis for the weathering protection of the Yungang stone carvings. The diversity and comprehensiveness of investigation techniques explored in this cultural relic protection project, as well as the degree of quantitative analysis of results, were the first of their kind in domestic geotechnical cultural relic investigation, and are of very important guiding significance for future investigation work on similar large-scale rock-and-soil cultural relic protection.

To ensure that the designed anti-seepage treatment scheme would not cause any damage to the grottoes, Fu Zhibin innovatively proposed the use of a reversible engineering material—bentonite waterproof blanket—for large-area anti-seepage and water isolation design under complex terrain conditions on the grotto roof. Together with research teams from Tsinghua University and other institutions, he carried out experimental research under various environmental conditions such as slope conditions, freeze-thaw cycles, and aging, and formulated the Yungang Grottoes anti-seepage protection design scheme. This design scheme was highly recognized by cultural relic protection experts and also provided reference experience for other cultural heritage protection projects at home and abroad. At present, this technical approach has been widely applied in anti-seepage projects for large-scale rock-and-soil cultural relics such as the Goguryeo Tombs in Jilin and the Tongnan Great Buddha.

"The protection of the Yungang Grottoes is not just an engineering issue but also a scientific issue of cultural relic protection; one must hold a sense of reverence for precious cultural heritage," Fu Zhibin said. "Every detail must be carefully considered to ensure that our technical scheme can both solve practical problems and preserve the original appearance of the cultural relics to the greatest extent possible."

This innovative protection scheme not only won valuable time for the preservation of the Yungang Grottoes but also opened up new ideas for the field of cultural heritage protection investigation and design. Through the combination of technology and cultural relic protection, Fu Zhibin and his team successfully brought the collaboration between cultural relic protection and engineering measures to a new height.

In addition to his outstanding contributions in the technical field, Fu Zhibin has also played an important role in social affairs. As a member of the Beijing Municipal CPPCC, he cares not only about professional technical issues but also about social livelihood and the safety and sustainability of mega-city development. As a scientific and technological worker, Fu Zhibin realized that although pure technological innovation is important, if it cannot effectively solve social problems, it loses its significance in promoting the development of human society.

"As a CPPCC member, my mission is not only to speak for the industry but also to closely combine technology with people's livelihood and provide feasible solutions for the high-quality and sustainable development of cities," Fu Zhibin said. Over the past few years, he has put forward proposals on urban disaster prevention and mitigation, groundwater level management, and underground pipeline network safety, which have received attention and follow-up from relevant departments.

In his proposal on "Mega-city Response to Urban Disasters under Extreme Climate Conditions," he pointed out that with the acceleration of urbanization, urban density continues to increase, and the frequency of extreme climate events has also been gradually increasing in recent years. How to improve the "resilience" of cities in responding to disasters has gradually become a core issue.He said that so-called "urban resilience" refers to a city's ability to quickly recover from and resist disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and strong winds.

Fu Zhibin believes that as a modern city, it should possess stronger disaster resistance and post-disaster recovery capabilities, and all of this depends on science and technology, especially the safe design and construction of geotechnical engineering and underground spaces. In his view, only by fundamentally strengthening the planning, construction, and protection of underground infrastructure can cities effectively respond to sudden urban disasters.

Moreover, Fu Zhibin also paid attention to the issue of rising groundwater levels. He noted that in recent years, groundwater levels in Beijing have generally risen, causing prominent problems in many aspects, including basement seepage, subway leakage, and facility damage. In response to this problem, he also proposed specific improvement measures, including scientific analysis and assessment of groundwater level changes, coordinating water resource allocation and ecological environmental protection needs, and carrying out effective management and regulation of groundwater extraction and recharge when necessary to avoid safety hazards caused by excessive groundwater accumulation.

These proposals and suggestions not only had a broad impact among fellow CPPCC members but also attracted great attention from relevant municipal government departments. Fu Zhibin's voice has become a bridge connecting professional technology with urban safety and people's well-being.

Throughout Fu Zhibin's career, he has always maintained a strong sense of responsibility and mission. Geotechnical engineering is not only his professional field but also the cause to which he has devoted his life. In his view, geotechnical engineering work may appear simple, but behind every detail lie extremely complex geological and mechanical problems. Whether it is foundation pit design or cultural relic protection, every project requires high-precision technical means and a meticulous working attitude.

Fu Zhibin has always believed that geotechnical engineering is not an isolated technical challenge; it concerns the overall safety of society and the continuity of civilization. "The success of a geotechnical project is not the credit of any single person but the result of teamwork and knowledge accumulation," he said.

Today, the geotechnical team he leads is gradually forming a comprehensive platform integrating scientific research, design, construction, standard formulation, and international cooperation.Through the joint efforts of his team and fellow experts, China's geotechnical engineering capabilities in responding to complex environments are continuously strengthening, and China is demonstrating increasingly strong influence on the international engineering stage.

Fu Zhibin's story is a microcosm of the broader portrait of Chinese geotechnical engineers. He and his team measure the earth with their feet and connect history with the future through science and technology. They may not be in the spotlight, but they have always silently safeguarded the safety and stability of the land beneath our feet.