The Department of Road & Bridge Engineering and Underground Engineering at Hefei University of Technology has a nearly 40-year history of academic excellence. It originally started in 1984 with the establishment of the Highway and Urban Road Engineering program. In response to the growing demand, the Department of Road and Bridge Engineering was established in 2004, and in June 2021, it was renamed the Department of Road and Bridge Engineering and Underground Engineering. This department boasts a strong faculty and well-equipped teaching and laboratory facilities.

As of the end of June 2023, the department has 40 full-time faculty members, including 8 professors, 18 associate professors, and 14 lecturers, with various academic qualifications, including Ph.D. advisors (7) and master's advisors (23).

The department plays a significant role in the education of students in the Civil Engineering program with a focus on Road and Bridge Engineering and Geotechnical and Underground Engineering. It offers essential courses for various majors across the university, covering subjects like Structural Mechanics, Elasticity, Soil Mechanics, Foundation Engineering, and more. The primary teaching responsibilities include courses such as Structural Mechanics, Elasticity, Civil Engineering Construction Technology, Road Survey and Design, Soil Mechanics, Road and Pavement Engineering, Engineering Geology, Hydrology of Bridges and Culverts, Foundation Engineering, Bridge Engineering, Bridge Construction Technology and Organization, Railway Engineering, Civil Engineering Project Management, Engineering Supervision, Engineering Cost, and other core and specialized courses.

The department has been involved in publishing or contributing to several textbooks, such as Bridge Engineering, Road and Pavement Engineering, Soil Mechanics, Foundation Engineering, Advanced Soil Mechanics, Study Guide for Structural Mechanics, Guidance for Graduation Design in Civil Engineering: Road Engineering Volume, Guidance for Graduation Design in Civil Engineering: Bridge Engineering Volume, Special Structures, Foundation Pit and Slope Engineering, and Rock Mechanics, among others.

The Department of Road and Bridge Engineering and Underground Engineering primarily focuses on the following research areas:

1. Bridge Structure Health Monitoring and Control Theory.

2. Vibration Control Technology for Large-Span Bridges.

3. Seismic Theory and Vibration Reduction Control Technology for Bridges.

4. The Earthquake Resilience and Enhancement Theory of Road and Urban Bridge Network Systems.

5. Bridge Construction Monitoring Technology.

6. Bridge Reinforcement and Maintenance Technology.

7. Road Material Performance and Material Recycling Technology.

8. Pavement Structure Design Theory and Methods.

9. Maintenance Technology for Expressway Pavements.

10. Construction Control Technology for Asphalt Pavements on Expressways.

11. Multifield Coupling Theory of Geotechnical Bodies, Model Experiments, and Numerical Calculation Methods.

12. In-Situ Protection Technology for Urban Excavation Engineering.

13. Design, Calculation Methods, and Construction Technology for Underground Structures.

14. Theory and Methods for Foundation Pit Support Structure Design Calculation.

15. Slope Stability Analysis Theory and New Support Technologies.

The Department of Road and Bridge Engineering and Underground Engineering places great emphasis on the integration of industry, academia, and research. It undertakes various research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation, Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation, Ministry of Science and Technology Public Welfare Projects, and provincial and ministerial-level research tasks. The department has received several provincial and ministerial-level awards for scientific and technological progress, as well as national first-level association awards.

This discipline is supported by platforms such as the Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Structures and Materials, Anhui Provincial Laboratory for Infrastructure Safety Inspection and Monitoring Engineering, and the Anhui Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation. The department aims to become a high-level, high-quality talent cultivation base for China's transportation infrastructure development. It takes on significant research projects at the provincial and national levels in the fields of highways, bridges, tunnels, and contributes to education, science, and construction in areas like roads, bridges, and urban underground spaces.

Leadership:

- Director: Zhiliang Wang

- Branch Secretary: Huimin Hu

        - Vice Directors: Yixian Wang, Nailiang Xiang