The founding ceremony and the first plenary meeting of SAC/TC 605, Rock and soil mechanics, was held on February 26 at the Northeastern University (NEU) in Liaoning province.

The meeting was presided over by Feng Xiating, President of Northeastern University and Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and addressed by Gao Tao, Deputy Governor of Liaoning, Wei Hong, Deputy Director- General of Standards Technical Management Department of SAMR, and Guo Hai, Party Secretary of NEU. The meeting was attended by Zhen Jie, Director of Liaoning Administration for Market Regulation, Chen Jiabiao, Director of Shenyang Bureau of Market Regulation, Academicians of CAE including Pan Yishan, He Chuan, Zhang Jianmin, Du Shigui, and Du Xiuli, as well as experts in different fields of rock and soil mechanics.

Geotechnics utilizes rock and soil mechanics to solve technical issues in the field of building and civil engineering, which is an important component of national economic and social development. SAC/TC 605 is responsible for the development and revision of national standards for foundation, experiment, monitoring, evaluation, disaster prevention and control, and other aspects of geotechnics, with NEU holding the secretariat. There are 47 committee members, 10 of whom are CAE Academicians, with the largest number among national TCs.

Liaoning will vigorously support NEU to serve the work of SAC/TC 605, said Gao Tao. He expected NEU to give full play to its professional and technical advantages, strengthen research on key technologies, improve the standards system on rock and soil mechanics, build up China’s strength in this field, and contribute to the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and the overall revitalization of Liaoning.

The establishment of the technical committee marks the new chapter of China’s standardization work on rock and soil mechanics, which responds to the demands of high-quality sectoral development, stressed by Wei Hong.