UCD Secures Three More Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prizes

 Recently, the results of the 21st China Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prize were officially announced. Three projects involving Beijing Urban Construction Design & Development Group (UCD) made the prestigious list: Changchun Rail Transit Line 6 (where UCD served as the general contractor for survey and design), Phase I of Xiamen Rail Transit Line 1 (where UCD participated in design), and Phase I of Jinan Rail Transit Line R3 (where UCD participated in design). To date, UCD has secured a cumulative total of 23 Tien-yow Jeme Civil Engineering Prizes.

 Changchun Rail Transit Line 6

 With a total length of 29.6 kilometers, Changchun Rail Transit Line 6 serves as a vital east-west infill route in the southern part of the city, providing rapid and convenient public transit services for the southern region. Serving as the project’s survey and design general contractor, UCD developed comprehensive, eco-friendly standards for both design and construction. The team spearheaded a series of independent technological breakthroughs, including the “Theory and Technology for the Full-Process Inheritance of the Cover-and-Cut Top-Down Method.” Furthermore, its “Prefabricated Structural Construction Technology for Subway Stations” has achieved an internationally leading level. The project has won the Technical Innovation Promotion Project Award from the China Civil Engineering Society, the Grand Prize for Progress in Science and Technology from the China Association of Metros (CAM), and the prestigious ITA (International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association) Technological Innovation of the Year Award. This line has now become a comprehensive technical demonstration line in the national rail transit sector. Currently, the major scientific and technological achievements secured by UCD on this line are being successively promoted and applied across rail transit projects in multiple cities, including Qingdao, Shenzhen, and Chongqing.

 Xiamen Rail Transit Line 1

 With a total length of 30.3 kilometers, Xiamen Rail Transit Line 1 serves as the north-south backbone for the city’s rail transit network, widely acclaimed by China Central Television (CCTV) and other major media outlets as the “Most Beautiful Ocean-View Subway.” As a principal design institute for this landmark project, UCD undertook the design of the parking lot, the vehicle depot and its topside integrated development, as well as the network control center and the entire line’s track system. By fully embracing BIM technology throughout the design phase, the project team pioneered the nation's very first rail transit depot and bus terminal complex featuring comprehensive BIM integration. This has accumulated valuable experience for formulating industry-wide BIM standards and advancing green construction practices. Concurrently, the team pioneered a groundbreaking ultra-long structural system for metro depots, characterized by a large-chassis, full-frame supported transfer. This enabled the successful development of 19 high-rise residential buildings directly atop the depot deck, setting a national record for the largest volume among comparable projects. Furthermore, they developed an ultra-short rock-socketed piling technology, effectively solving construction challenges posed by highly undulating rock surfaces, which significantly reduced engineering quantities and shortened the construction period.

 Jinan Rail Transit Line R3 (Phase I)

With a total length of approximately 21.6 kilometers, Jinan Rail Transit Line R3 (Phase I) serves as a vital north-south regional express line connecting the eastern urban part of Jinan. UCD undertook the comprehensive BIM application for the entire line, alongside the Civil Engineering Design Lot II. This extensive scope covers four key subterranean stations—Olympic Sports Center, Dingjiazhuang, Huayuan East Road, and Longao—as well as four underground tunnel sections stretching from Longao Station to Huayuan East Road Station. At key stations such as the Olympic Sports Center, the project team deployed innovative technologies and enhanced designs to significantly reduce construction costs, mitigate engineering risks, and lower operational energy consumption. Concurrently, through the full-lifecycle integration of BIM technology, the project has won seven major awards, including the Gold Award of the 3rd “Youlu Cup” National BIM Technology Competition. The team independently developed an automatic opening-hole program for masonry walls, overcoming modeling bottlenecks to achieve high-precision, refined modeling for both shield tunneling and mining method sections. Furthermore, by expanding the application of lightweight handheld roaming, 3D visual clarification, and virtual simulation technologies, they compressed the construction schedule to the greatest extent. These innovations enabled the entire line to open for traffic 15 months ahead of schedule.