Amidst the serene beauty of Baiyangdian Scenic Area, few would know the connection between its clear waters and the efforts of a female engineer, Tianjin University alumnus Tian Huijing, and her colleagues.
Leading a dedicated team, Tian is on a mission to restore the purity of oceans and rivers. Her expertise and passion have driven her to work tirelessly, from detailed water quality analysis to innovative environmental planning.
"Working for environmental dredging has given me a compulsion - to restore the ocean to its azure beauty and the rivers and lakes to their clarity. Because of this, we seek to work wherever the water is dirty and foul. The satisfaction of seeing improved water quality is beyond words," said Tian Huijing.
In 2017, following the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area which held a world vision with international standards, and aimed at high-level development with Chinese characteristics, Tian Huijing, brought her outstanding technical skills and an excellent technical team to the planning and design of the environmental governance of Baiyangdian in the Xiong'an New Area. Though missing her family, she kept working continuously for three months in Beijing to collaborate with the Chinese Academy of Sciences on the "Baiyangdian Ecological Environment Governance and Protection Plan."
She later participated in concentrated planning and design in Beijing, Baoding, and Xiong'an, being responsible for six key stages of critical work, including the application for the Baiyangdian mountain, water, forest, field, and lake pilot site, receiving suggestions on the Beijing Crab Island planning scheme, further on-site designing of the Beijing Guoyi planning scheme, strategy construction of the Beijing Connection Project, reporting of the Baoding planning scheme, and the fourth planning work camp in Beijing. She provided a detailed interpretation of the current status of the 362 square kilometers of Baiyangdian's nine underlying surface habitats, completed the investigation, sampling, and analysis of the polluted bottom sediment in Baiyangdian, and located the polluted bottom sediment. She then proposed a complete set of technical solutions including bottom sediment pollution analysis, determination of dredging space scale, selection of dredging techniques, selection of dewatering techniques, and utilization of bottom sediment resources, and came up with the "Preliminary Technical Plan for Comprehensive Dredging and Treatment of Baiyangdian." She also completed works including "Hebei Xiong'an New Area and Baiyangdian Upstream Basin Mountain, Water, Forest, Field, And Lake Ecological Protection and Restoration Project Pilot Implementation Plan," the "Report on The Special Planning of Baiyangdian Dredging Area Comprehensive Dredging Project," and the "Comprehensive Dredging Pilot Project Proposal", succeeded in restoring the beauty of Baiyangdian, the "Northern Pearl."
In Tian Huijing's memory, the work was quite arduous. "We had to ensure that the current status data of the 362 square kilometers of water area in Baiyangdian was detailed to the depth of feasible study. We were uncertain about completing such a large amount of work within one month," recalled Tian Huijing, who worked in a Xiong'an hotel room as a temporary discussion room for the hard battle with her colleagues. "To complete the task on time, we had to work day and night, taking only short breaks when tired and then continuing to work out a plan."
After the project, Tian Huijing was to see further engagement with Baiyangdian. In 2018, considering the excellent application prospects of BIM technology in environmental dredging, China Communications (Tianjin) Port Engineering Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd. decided to establish the BIM Technology Research and Application Center. Faced with a new department and a burgeoning field, Tian Huijing took on the heavy responsibility of formulating processes, regulations, and leading the team. While optimizing management processes for the department, she actively carried out talent cultivation, leading employees to participate in various professional courses and training in BIM technology. Within just two months, all employees in the department obtained BIM qualifications. Since then, Tian Huijing has formed an indissoluble bond with the Xiong'an New Area.
Tian Huijing said: "BIM technology can be simply understood as a visualization information technology. For example, when controlling equipment to dredge the mud at the bottom of a lake from a ship, we used to know only the type of mud under the borehole, but not the type of mud being dredged at the moment. With BIM technology, we can build a model of a piece of land based on borehole data, with a real-time display showing the mud being dredged. Is it clay, silt, or sand? Thus personnel on the ship is provided with an endoscope during dredging. This technology is highly malleable and flexible, applicable to numerous scenarios. However, due to this, its technical threshold is relatively high, and takes time for proficient application."
The hard work finally paid off. When the three-dimensional construction structure diagram of the entire sewage treatment site was presented on a large screen through BIM technology, everyone was amazed, "This is like equipping Baiyangdian with a 'super X-ray eye'!" Furthermore, this technology filled the gap in the application of BIM technology in the domestic environmental dredging field, creating the first management model of ecological dredging with BIM in the Xiong'an New Area.
In November 2020, the "BIM Technology Research in the Design Stage of Dredging Engineering" led by Tian Huijing was recognized by the China Water Transport Construction Industry Association as being at an internationally leading level. Tian Huijing has been kindly referred to as the "Goddess of Baiyangdian".
"Those of us engaged in ecological environmental protection have a creed: 'Purity knows no bounds.' Protecting rivers, lakes, and seas is our lifelong pursuit. This great cause cannot be achieved solely by me and my team. Now, one of our key focuses is to introduce BIM technology into more frontline projects and cultivate more talents proficient in using this technology," said Tian Huijing.
After more than six years of project tempering, the team led by Tian Huijing has rapidly expanded from only 4 members at the beginning to 12 members now, with an average age of less than 29 years old. They have become the digital backbone of China Communications Port Engineering Co., Ltd., successfully implementing more than 40 digital applications in water conservancy, municipal, and water transportation business areas such as Baiyangdian governance, Yibin municipal pipe gallery, Lianyungang sewage treatment plant, and Panjin high-pile wharf. They have created records such as rapidly completing the construction of a management platform for 92 projects and 384 video surveillance in China Communications Port Engineering Co., Ltd. within ten days, demonstrating the team's response speed and technical strength in digital construction. The "China Communications Group Dredging Engineering BIM Sub-center" led by Tian Huijing has obtained many prestigious titles, including the China Communications Group Labor Model (Craftsman Talent) Innovation Studio and the China Communications Group May 1st Women's Model Post.
Tian Huijing, born in 1982, is a member of the CPC, a master's graduate from Tianjin University, a senior engineer, registered civil engineer, and a registered first-class construction engineer. She began working in 2007 and currently serves as the Deputy Chief Engineer of the China Communications (Tianjin) Ecological Environmental Design Research Institute Co., Ltd. and the Director of the Dredging BIM Center, mainly engaged in the research and application of environmental dredging and digital technology.
By Cui Hanfei
Editor: Sun Xiaofang
