Geotechnical Engineering in the Forefront of Civil Engineering Science and Technology —— 2020 Zhide Cup Geo Wall Competition for Freshmen

The 12th University Extracurricular Sci-Tech Innovation Experiment Competition and the Science Month of 2020, sponsored by the Office of Assets and Labs Management of Southwest Jiaotong University and organized by the School of Civil Engineering of SWJTU, kicked off. Undertaken by the Sci-Tech Innovation Center of Civil Engineering School, the 2020 Zhide Cup Geo Wall Competition for Freshmen upheld the spirit of ambition and devotion and was well geared up for the success of the competition.

Early on the morning of October 31, students of the Sci-Tech Innovation Center of Civil Engineering School started to lay out the competition site aiming to offer best assistance to all competitors.

At 8:30 am, the opening ceremony of the competition took place on time. The distinguished guests present at the ceremony are listed as follows: Mr. Wu Daibing, senior executive director of the Technology and Quality Management Department of Sichuan Zhide Geotechnical Engineering Company, Ltd., Mr. Wang Zhan, head of campus recruiting in Human Resources Administration of Sichuan Zhide Geotechnical Engineering Company, Ltd., Ms. Shiying, Vice Secretary of Youth League Committee of Civil Engineering School in Southwest Jiaotong University, Zhang Jin, head of employment guidance in Civil Engineering School of SWJTU. Student counselor Wang Ruoyu was the host of this opening ceremony.

The speeches by Vice Secretary Shiying and Executive Director Wu Daibing, further motivated the students and they were ready for the competition with full energy and great enthusiasm. Ms. Wang Ruoyu announced the start of the competition.

Next, Li Ce, director of the University Sci-Tech Innovation Center together with Ms. Wang introduced the competition procedures and other details to Vice Secretary Shiying, Mr. Wu Daibing and Mr. Wang Zhan.

At the same time, the competitors already took their models and weighed them. They went to the four-corner court and waited to assemble the models and fill them with sand as soon as the referee began timing.

Back to the site, the competition was ready to go. Students of different teams raced against time to add sand to their models made of outer boards and inner linings against the boards. They were even contracting and flattening the sand with their hands. Their work progressed effectively with clear job division, and students kept shoveling sand into models and spreading reinforcing bars on the bottom of the models. Facial masks were prepared for students to guard against flying dust on the site. After filling the models, the referee and staff cooperated to pull out the boards and then began to score each team. They tested the vertical and horizontal load of the geo wall, observing carefully whether sand would leak through the linings. They also asked the paticipants one by one whether they would add load to their models and what that might result in.

The competition went on orderly until late at night. Though a tough and time-consuming experience, the competition proved to be a big success with the active participation of students and volunteers from the Sci-Tech Innovation Center.