The 16th Joint Seminar between China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR) and Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) was held on May 28, 2019 in Beijing. Headed by Vice President Chung Moon-Kyung, the KICT delegation visited IWHR and was warmly received by IWHR President KUANG Shangfu, Vice President WANG Xiaogang and Vice President PENG Jing.

Dr. Kuang reviewed the active role the seminar has played since 2004, and the effort the two institutes have exerted to improve and develop this bilateral exchange mechanism. He highlighted the two sides’ practical cooperation to carry out projects in accordance with the agreement signed in 2002, which has brought their cooperation and friendship onto a more in-depth and extensive level. He hopes to see further exchange and cooperation between the two institutes through joint endeavors in a bid to drive global technological development and bring wellbeing to people.

As the chair of the opening ceremony, Dr. Wang said that such exchange has been maturing and getting deeper. He also briefed the visitors on the new development and management concept of water resources in China, based on which he proposed suggestions for future cooperation.

Dr. Chung Moon-Kyung congratulated the 60th anniversary of IWHR, and recognized water resources and hydropower as pivotal issues concerning both China and Korea. For Korea, challenges posed by climate change and industrialization dictate that cooperation must be strengthened. He believes that intelligence and big data remain the key to the innovation and development of all industries. Thus, he looks forward to the sharing of research achievements and win-win development through joint discussion and cooperation.

This year, the seminar features four keynote speeches co-chaired by Dr. Peng and Dr. Chung. With the theme ‘Smart Water Management and Smart City Construction’, the keynote speeches echoes hotspot issues of the day and acts as a prelude to further discussion with KICT on smart water grid, smart city construction, intelligent hydraulic engineering system and big data application. The speeches were well received by audiences for its great informativeness and rich cases.

First, in his speech, ‘Smart Water Grid Project: the engine driving China’s water conservancy strategy 3.0+’, Dr. ZHAO Yong, Deputy Director of the Department of Water Resources of IWHR, introduced Smart Water Grid’s role as the integrated carrier of Water Conservancy 3.0+ Strategy, the connotation and characteristics of Smart Water Grid Project, key technologies and the conception of Chinese Smart Grid Project Construction. Second, Dr. Kim Won, Director of the Department of Land, Water and Environment Research of KICT, reported on ‘Smart Water Management Technology for the Smart City’. He analyzed crisis facing urban development, the concept and application of smart water management and trends of smart city development. Third, Dr. WANG Yujie, Deputy Director of the Department of geotechnical Engineering of IWHR, presented on ‘Intelligent Monitoring System for Construction Quality Control of Hydropower Projects’. He briefed the audience on cloud platform for construction and management of water, intelligent monitoring system for dam filing construction process, dam intelligent rolling system based on unmanned technology and intelligent monitoring system for the whole process of grouting construction of water conservancy project. Fourth, Dr. Park Ki-Tae, Head of Sustainable Infrastructure Research Center of KICT, delivered a lecture on big data driven preventive maintenance technologies for infrastructure. He talked about performance-based maintenance system, preventive maintenance concept, and building and utilization of big-data platform, and provided suggestions on maintenance technologies for old facilities and equipment.

Keynote Speech

Two technical sessions were held respectively in the afternoon at the Research Center on Flood and Drought Disaster Reduction and the Department of Geotechnical Engineering. On the Water Resources and Urban Flooding Management session, three lectures were delivered by researchers of IWHR, namely, Spatiotemporal Pattern of Rainfalls Based on Clustering Algorithm of High-dimensional Data (RTS) in Beijing by Dr. LIU Yuanyuan, Research on Stormwater Management and Drainage Master Plan of Tenom District in Malaysia by Dr. HAN Song, and Coupled 1D-2D Hydrodynamic Model for Urban Flood Inundation by Dr. YU Haijun. Another two lectures were given by KICT researchers, including Urban Flash Flood Forecasting Using Rainfall Radar by Dr. Hwang Seok-Hwan, and Water Security for Radioactive Exposure Emergency Assistance by Dr. Kang Sung-Won.

Then on the Geotechnical Engineering, Structures and Smart City Construction session, three lectures were delivered by researchers of IWHR, namely, A Case Study of the Implication of subsurface flow on Rainfall-induced Landslide by Dr. LI Weichao, Research and Application of Key Technologies of Intelligent Earthwork Filling based on BIM Technology by Dr. ZHAO Yufei, and Recent Centrifuge Modelling Offshore Geotechnical Problems at IWHR by Dr. ZHANG Zitao. Two lectures, Physical Modelling of Suction Bucket Foundation for Offshore Structures, and Promotion Strategy of BIM-based Smart Construction in Korea were delivered by KICT researchers Dr. KIM Jae-Hyun and Dr. Moon Hyoun-seok.

Water Resources and Urban Flooding Management Session

Geotechnical Engineering, Structures and Smart City Construction Session

The delegation also visited the Laboratory of Materials and Structures for Waterproof & Waterstop, laboratories of  Water Environment, the Laboratory of Centrifuge Modeling and the Yanqing Experimental Base. On May 29, the delegation headed for Yichang, Hubei, and visited the Three Gorges Project.