On August 15, 2026, the chapter draft seminar on the China Association for Engineering Construction Standardization standard "Technical Specification for Inclined Pile Strut in Foundation Pit Engineering" (hereinafter referred to as the "Specification"), jointly chief-edited by Wuhan Survey and Design Co., Ltd. and Hubei Daoze Geotechnical Engineering Co., Ltd., was held at the Wuhan Talent Home in Jianghan District, Wuhan. Industry expert representatives from 34 chief-editing and participating units across the country gathered in Wuhan through a combination of offline attendance and online video conferencing to focus on discussing the provisions of the "Specification" and to advance preparations for the mid-term seminar in parallel.

This standard is a 2025 association standard project of the China Association for Engineering Construction Standardization. It passed project review in April 2025, with Wuhan Survey and Design Co., Ltd. and Hubei Daoze Geotechnical Engineering Co., Ltd. serving as joint chief editors. It brings together 32 units from Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Hainan, and Hubei, covering multiple universities and leading survey, design, and construction enterprises as co-editors. The aim is to establish a scientific, unified, and standardized technical standard for inclined pile strut support, covering design and construction, monitoring, quality inspection, and acceptance. The preparation and implementation of the "Specification" will greatly enhance industry recognition of inclined pile strut technology and lay a solid foundation for the promotion and application of green support technology in foundation pit engineering.

The opening ceremony of this seminar was presided over by Xie Zhaoyu, Chief Engineer of Hubei Daoze Geotechnical Engineering Co., Ltd., who introduced the attending leaders and experts one by one. Shi Mujun, Chairman of the chief-editing unit Wuhan Survey and Design Co., Ltd., delivered remarks, fully affirming the important significance of this concentrated discussion for improving the text of the "Specification." Dr. Mo Yun of Wenhua College gave a comprehensive report on the current progress of the drafting work: since the drafting was launched in March, the team has completed a series of model tests and theoretical derivations, and by early August had formed a complete draft of the "Specification," which was submitted to this meeting for clause-by-clause discussion and optimization.

Liao Xiang of Wuhan Survey and Design Co., Ltd., Mo Yun of Wenhua College, Chen Lü of China Machinery Third Survey and Geotechnical Engineering Co., Ltd., and Wu Biao of Hubei Zhongnan Geotechnical Engineering Co., Ltd. respectively led four groups in chapter-by-chapter and section-by-section discussions of the six major chapters of the specification, with full exchange of views.

At the seminar, experts from various regions offered full suggestions. Peng Weiping, a Guangdong Province Survey and Design Master and Chief Geotechnical Engineer of Guangzhou Urban Planning & Design Survey Research Institute, Yi Li of Shanghai Architectural Design & Research Institute, and Lin Huaguo, General Manager of Guangzhou Wanzhou Geotechnical Technology Development Co., Ltd., among other online experts, put forward many valuable suggestions on the wording of specification provisions and the selection of technical parameter values. Each group summarized all revision comments on site, finalized the responsible persons for clause revisions and submission deadlines, sorted out and formulated a list of key technical items for demonstration at the mid-term discussion meeting, and formed a complete draft of chapter revision comments. This seminar achieved phased results.

At the end of the seminar, Zhang Jieqing, Deputy Chief Engineer of Wuhan Survey and Design Co., Ltd., delivered concluding remarks. He pointed out that the seminar had notable results, comprehensively sorting out the controversial clauses in the draft and forming a complete draft of chapter revision comments, thereby laying a solid foundation for the next stage of standard improvement work.

Inclined pile strut support is a new type of green foundation pit support system that relies on the combined and coordinated load-bearing of vertical retaining structures and inclined pile struts. Compared with traditional horizontal cross struts and pile-anchor support systems, it has differentiated advantages. Compared with traditional horizontal internal bracing, inclined pile struts do not require densely arranged horizontal bracing members, enabling unobstructed excavation and main structure construction inside the foundation pit and releasing a continuous open working face. For large-area foundation pits, it can flexibly adapt to zoned excavation and zoned construction organization modes, support simultaneous construction at multiple working faces, and significantly compress the total project duration. Compared with pile-anchor support, inclined piles are installed from the retaining structure toward the inside of the foundation pit and do not occupy underground space outside the pit. They are not restricted by existing surrounding buildings and structures, underground pipelines, or property lines, avoiding problems such as limited land for anchor construction and neighborhood disputes, and achieving higher land resource utilization efficiency. At the same time, this method does not require large amounts of reinforced concrete bracing and king post piles, eliminating later bracing demolition and blasting clearance procedures, reducing construction waste generation, and balancing environmental protection, safety, and cost advantages. In addition, inclined pile strut support can also achieve single-side support, adapting to special conditions such as foundation pit emergency rescue and disaster relief.

This chapter-specific seminar efficiently integrated the wisdom of geotechnical experts from many regions across the country and focused on solving key and difficult issues in the preparation of the "Specification." Next, all chief-editing and participating units will continue to deepen experimental research, incorporate engineering practice experience from various regions, and complete the entire preparation process with high quality and high standards, providing unified, scientific, and implementable technical basis for the design, construction, inspection, and monitoring of inclined pile struts in domestic foundation pit engineering, and continuously promoting the standardized and high-quality development of the green foundation pit engineering industry.

Source: China.com