On August 25, 2020, under the leadership of Prof. Cheng Xiangju from the Department of Hydraulic Engineering, the junior students of Grade 18 in hydraulic engineering and some graduate students set off from Wushan Campus of South China University of Technology to visit and study at the Scientific Experimental Base of the Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute. The Pearl River Estuary Riparian Engineering Technology Research Center and the Key Laboratory of Pearl River Estuary Dynamics and Associated Engineering of Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) are located in the test site.
After an hour’s drive, they arrived at the destination. At the entrance of the base, they were warmly received by Mr. Wu Xiaoming (the chief expert of thePearl River Hydraulic Research Institute) and Dr. Zhang Yanyan, the leaders of this internship. They first introduced to the students in detail the basic situation of the Pearl River Basin, the construction of the test hall of the Lishui base, and some representative physical test models of hydraulic engineering projects. The students benefited a lot from thefascinating explanations given by Mr. Wu and Dr. Zhang.
Introduction to the general situation of the Pearl River Basin
After understanding the basic situation of the Pearl River Basin, the students visited and studied the various engineering projects in the base one by one. Mr. Wu and Dr. Zhang introduced that the construction of the base had received financial support from the state and had engaged in a lot of major engineering pre-consultation and demonstration work, and that many physical model tests done were at the world leading level. When the students heard these words, they were surprised and admired, and felt proud and honored to be engaged in the Hydraulic Engineering profession.They were determined to study their professional courses well and contribute to the construction and development of water resources in China in the future.
Physical test model of a water retaining dam
Construction diversion physical test model of a tidal gate engineering in an inner harbor in Macao
River model for physical test of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge
From the retaining dam model, deep tunnel drainage system model, Macau inner harbor tidal barrage model, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge model, fishway model to the overall physical model of the Pearl River estuary, Mr. Wu and Dr. Zhang explained each detail of the project one by one. Prof. Cheng Xiangju supplemented with course knowledge and her own research experience, and inspired the students’ divergent thinking, which stimulated their curiosity, and they enthusiastically asked questions and gained a deeper knowledge of the engineering physical model.
A group photo to mark the occasion at the test base
After nearly three hours’ visit, the students benefited greatly from the visit. They appreciated Mr. Wu and Dr. Zhang for their dedicated guidance and Prof. Cheng Xiangju and Lishui Test Base for providing this internship opportunity. They believe that this learning experience will definitely be of great help to the students in their subsequent study and become a valuable wealth of knowledge.