Recently, the "Carbon Sequestration/Low-Carbon Subgrade Engineering Technology," led by Professor Liu Songyu of Southeast University and jointly completed by the Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Construction Bureau, the Nanjing Modern Comprehensive Transportation Laboratory, and Nanjing Forestry University, was successfully selected as one of the "Top Ten Scientific and Technological Advances in the Civil, Hydraulic, Transportation and Construction Fields of Jiangsu Province in 2024".

Guided by the national "14th Five-Year Plan" and the "dual carbon" goals, this technology focuses on the carbon-reduction needs of engineering construction and independently developed a series of carbon sequestration/low-carbon innovative technologies, including integral carbonation, carbon-sequestering composite piles, carbon-sequestering lightweight soil, and alkali residue lightweight soil. The integral carbonation technology mixes Mg-based materials with soil and then injectsCO₂for carbonation, achieving strength of up to 4 MPa within 3 to 6 hours; carbon-sequestering composite piles offer advantages such as high strength, high toughness, good bearing stability, and large carbon sequestration capacity; carbon-sequestering lightweight soil features low density, environmental friendliness, thermal insulation, and vibration isolation, achieving the goal of synergistic utilization of solid waste consumption andCO₂sequestration; alkali residue lightweight soil replaces 70% of cement with alkali residue, reducing costs by 30% and carbon emissions by 60%. The above innovative technologies have broad application prospects in projects such as soft foundation reinforcement, subgrade filling, and backfilling of underground structures and utility corridors. The project results have won 26 invention patents in China and the United States, published more than 60 SCI/EI papers, and three technologies have been appraised as reaching the international leading level, won two first prizes from national first-level societies, and were included in the Ministry of Transport's Green and Low-Carbon Technology Promotion Catalog.

This selection was initiated by the Joint Association of Societies in the Civil, Hydraulic, Transportation and Construction Fields of Jiangsu Province, covering eight major fields, and aims to promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and industry technological progress. The achievements led by Professor Liu Songyu of Southeast University have produced remarkable results in environmental, economic, and talent cultivation aspects, led by interdisciplinary integration, provided a new path for achieving the "dual carbon" goals, and helped society move toward resource-saving and environment-friendly development. This honor highlights the team's innovative strength in green development in the civil, hydraulic, transportation and construction fields; in the future, the team will continue to promote the low-carbon transformation of transportation geotechnical engineering construction and the high-quality development of the industry.