In 2010, the National Key Laboratory for Bridge and Tunnel Projects in Mountainous Areas Jointly Built by Chongqing Municipality and the Ministry of Science and Technology was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Since the approval, the Lab has carried out basic research on and applied basic research to construction, curing and management of bridge and tunnel projects in mountainous areas based on the state’s major strategic need for transportation construction, aiming to solve important scientific issues on geographic and spatial uncertainty and the structural behavior of bridges and tunnels in mountainous areas. The Lab has determined three main directions of research—structural behaviors and control of bridges in mountainous areas, intellisense and maintenance of bridges in mountainous areas and mechanical behaviors and operational safety of tunnels in mountainous areas, aiming at solving key scientific issues related to construction, management and maintenance of transportation infrastructures in China’s mountainous areas. The Lab has also inspected and reinforced more than 4,000 bridges and recovered billions of yuan in economic loss. The Lab’s research achievements have been applied to the world top 10 bridge and tunnel projects, maintaining the leading role of China in the construction, operation and maintenance of large-span arch bridges. After nine years’ development, the Lab is continuously growing with a stronger platform, reinforced teamwork and more influence at home and abroad. In March 2020, the National Key Laboratory for Bridge and Tunnel Projects in Mountainous Areas Jointly Built by Chongqing Municipality and the Ministry of Science and Technology was approved for operation by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Chongqing Municipal People’s Government.

   The Lab is directed by Professor Zhou Jianting, a Changjiang scholar and winner of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and has set up an academic committee chaired by Zheng Jielian, Yang Yongbin, Du Yanliang and Lai Yuanming, all academicians of high standing. In the past five years, the Lab has undertaken nearly 280 vertical scientific research projects, including fifty-eight national projects, with research grants totaling more than CNY 250 million. The Lab has published nearly 1450 academic papers (including nearly 280 SCI and EI retrieval papers), obtained authorization for 153 invention patents and published fifty-three monographs, specifications and textbooks. Its research achievements have successively won nine first and second prizes of the National Prize for Progress in Science and Technology and fifty-six outstanding, first and second prizes of provincial and ministerial prizes for progress in science and technology.