Huang Wei, Undersecretary of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and Member of the Party Leadership Group of Chinese Communist Party, You Qingzhong, Director of the Transportation Department of Jiangsu Province, Tang Boming, President of Chongqing Jiaotong University, Wang Rengui, Vice General Manager of CCCC Highway Consultants CO.,Ltd, Liu Xiaodong, Vice General Manager of island tunnel project of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and many well-known elites in the field of Bridge Engineering are all students of a distinguished teacher: Professor Shao Rongguang.

Shao Rongguang was born in 1934 in Changzhou. He graduated from Bridge & Tunnel Engineering in Tongji University in 1955. Later he started his 40-year teaching career in Southeast University, dedicating himself in the field of bridge engineering.

In site selection of Jiangyin Bridge, the first steel-box-girder suspension bridge in China, Shao Rongguang has made his efforts. There was already a high-voltage electrical transmission tower on that site and administration department of both sides conflicted on this issues. The design group of the bridge hoped to establish a bridge tower and required to set a 300-thousand extra-high voltage cable on the bridge tower. Prof. Shao, the consultant expert of Jiangyin Bridge, was firmly dissenting in risking life of construction crews on the deck. Although Electric department assured that they can finish outage within 0.3s, Prof. Shao was still strongly defending his perspective. It was after a deadlock of both sides that the extra-high voltage electric tower was removed.

A 235m main span flying-bird-type arch canal bridge in Pizhou City was not directly designed by Prof. Shao but participated in the process of steel arch’s entering in site. Prof. Shao was invited to examine the condition of the bridge. At that day, arch rib concrete in side span of this newly built bridge severely cracked. Accompanied by two colleagues, Prof. Shao got on to the arch rib and found the crack was due to fault during calculation of spatial bent lever stress condition. Then expert team led by Prof. Shao gathered to discuss solution. First two mending solution that pasting carbon fiber sheet and utilization of reinforced enhancement were brought out but soon declined by Prof. Shao. After a research time, Prof. Shao determined to use steel box assembled by 4 steel plates with 1.2cm thickness to wrap up the arch rib then rivet it and pour epoxy resin to finish enhancement. It was Prof. Shao’s expertise and determination that made arch canal bridge of Pizhou City still sound.

Prof. Shao has taken part in several famous large-scale bridges in China and provided technical support for over 6,000 bridges within Jiangsu Province. He was awarded Mao Yisheng Bridge Award in Spring, 2016.