At the invitation of FENG Xiating, Director of State Key Laboratory of Geomechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Doctor Nick Barton, the Müller Prize winner and famous expert in rock and soil mechanics, is visiting the laboratory from May 16 to May 21. Doctor Barton is also present at the High-end Forum of Scientific and Technological Developing Strategy of International Engineering Projects.

During his visiting period, Doctor Barton gives an academic report with the topic From Empiricism, through Theory, to Problem Solving in Rock Engineering. He begins the speech with mottos of three famous British philosophers Hume, Berkeley and Locke, explaining the philosophy basis in his research. Doctor Barton then continues with the introduction of 10 lucky breaks in his research of rock and soil mechanics. The meeting room is filled up with staffs and postgraduates, some of them are standing at the back row; the report ends in warm atmosphere.

On May 18 and 19, the High-end Forum of Scientific and Technological Developing Strategy of International Engineering Projects-Safe Construction and Risk Management of Major Underground Engineering Projects is held in Wuhan. Doctor Barton is invited to give the speech of Reducing Risk in Long Deep Tunnels by Using TBM and Drill-and-Blast Methods in the Same Project – the Hybrid Solution. He analyzes and compares the advantages and disadvantages of TBM and Drill-and-Blast Methods under different geological conditions. Doctor Barton then puts forward the solution of combining TBM and Drill-and-Blast Method and explains the selection principle of the combination solution. This is a precious suggestion for reducing construction risks in major underground engineering.

Doctor Nick Barton was born in England in 1944. He got his Doctor’s Degree of Rock and Soil Mechanics in Imperial College. In 1974, Doctor Barton began to build and develop the world-renowned Q-system for the rock mass classification. He has worked in rock and soil mechanics for more than 40 years, participating in many rock and soil engineering projects in 35 countries around the world, and he has published more than 270 papers. In consideration of his achievement in the field, Doctor Barton was awarded the Sixth Müller Prize by ISRM in 2011.