After spending more than five years of my life in Aotearoa New Zealand, I have rooted a deep connection with the great nature, te mana whenua (the power from the land), and the aboriginal Māori culture. I am the co-founder of our tramping club among PhDs; I am a regular performer of Haka (the Māori “war dance”) that connects the invincible and externalized Māori spirit with the tenacious life force of Chinese ethnic; I am helping other people to understand the Chinese philosophy that creates harmony, not confrontation, in the world; just like water.

Our recent paper, entitled “Experimental study on local scour at complex bridge piers under steady currents with bed-form migration“, was accepted for publication in Ocean Engineering. This study experimentally investigates live-bed local scour at complex bridge piers under the influence of bed-form migration. The results show that the variation of the mean scour depth as a function of flow intensity depends on the pile-cap elevation and is significantly different to single piers. When the pile-cap is completely buried by the original bed but can be exposed during scour, approaching bed-forms tend to keep their individual features and cause larger scour fluctuation at pile-cap’s leading edge. The enlargement is due to the concurrence between the enhanced (or weakened) scouring capacity and the decreased (or increased) upstream sediment supply. The scour predictor proposed by previous studies is extended to live-bed range and performs better than existing predictors. Use this link for more details. (12 June 2021)

Our latest research paper, “Dynamic Morphology in a Bridge-contracted Compound Channel During Extreme Floods: Effects of Abutments, Bed-forms And Scour Countermeasures“, was recently accepted for publication in Journal of Hydrology. This study investigated flood-related dynamic sediment processes around bridge sites in a compound channel with different abutment/embankment configurations. The behaviours of channel bank erosion, bed scouring, bed-form migration, and riprap rocks as scour countermeasures are presented and discussed in detail. Furthermore, a practical analysis framework was proposed to evaluate the scour-related risks at a relatively large area. It is found that those hazards may go beyond individual sites, affecting each other and then the morphological evolution at a catchment scale. This study is also an extension of the NCHRP Project 24-37 and is partially sponsored by the  American  Association  of  State  Highway  and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). This paper is available online: Link. (22 December 2020)

Our latest research paper, “Effect of streamwise contraction length on clear-water scour at setback bridge abutments in compound river channels“, was accepted for publication in Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (ASCE).This paper highlights the scour and erosion mechanism in compound river channels during extreme floods with an emphasis on the effect of streamwise abutment length. Our work also brings new insights into the methodology of scour protection design that needs to be significantly modified. This study is an extension of the NCHRP Project 24-37. A preview of the paper can be found on ResearchGate: Link. (12 October 2020)

Our paper, “Flow redistribution at bridge contraction in compound channel for extreme hydrological events and implications for sediment erosion“, was accepted for publication in Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (ASCE). This study investigates the flood flow characteristics in a compound channel subject to both lateral contraction (caused by bridge abutment / embankment) and vertical contraction (caused by bridge deck submergence) at bridge sites. An focal point of this paper is the distribution of turbulence features and the corresponding potential of inducing sediment scour. A  portion  of  this  work  was sponsored  by  the  American  Association  of  State  Highway  and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and was conducted in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 24-37) in collaboration with Georgia Institute of Technology. A preview of the paper can be found on ResearchGate: Link. (11 October 2020)

Recently, the Ministry of Water Resources of China issued the first national guideline for evaluating freshwater (river and lake) health under the framework of the River Chief System (Link). Our team, working in collaboration with Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, participated in the preparation works of the guideline and helped build an operational framework of both practicality and theoretical significance. The unique administrative hierarchy and accountability system in China make it necessary to create an innovative approach that is more effective than the existing experience of western countries in the past decades. Our research output is also available online: Link. (20 September 2020)