Entrepreneur finds pay dirt in marshland soils
Print Edition
TECHNOLOGY has yet to become a strong point of Chinese exports, but one company is working hard to show it can be done with patience and perseverance.
Shanghai-based Geoharbour Group, which compacts soil in marshlands to ready sites for construction, has already found markets overseas for its patented process. The technology, compared with the traditional practice of filling mushy soils with cement or lime, reduces project costs by 30 percent and shortens construction time by half.
The process, in simplest terms, removes air and water from soil without adding chemical compounds.
Xu Shilong, chairman and founder of Geoharbour, developed the process and is now anxious to sell it to the world.
“Give me a chance to start one project with it in one country,” he said, “I am confident I will conquer the whole market there. I want to prove to all that it is an innovative process that can not only save money and time, but also can do good for the environment.”
The technology, known as the “high vacuum densification method,” has been used in hundreds of landmark projects in China, including construction of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Lingang Harbor, Qingdao Grand Refinery in Shandong Province, Ningbo Port in Zhejiang Province, Caofeidian Industrial Park in Hebei Province and Wuhai Railway in Hubei Province.
For a private firm founded as recently as 2000, the company’s achievements might be viewed as remarkable.
Xu worked for years in construction, observing and becoming interested in soil composition.
One day he watched the effect on subsoil as a heavy truck drove over it, squeezing out the air and water and leaving compacted land.
Xu, intrigued by the thought that this discovery could be developed, borrowed millions of yuan to do research and development. After years of studying construction sites in marshland of Waigaoqiao in the Pudong New Area, Xu applied for the patent in 2001.
The technology was proven to work. But at the time, some in the construction industry thought it was too advanced and too far from traditional practices to be worthwhile.
The turning point came in 2003 when Shanghai decided to expand the second runway of the Pudong airport. The local authorities allowed Geoharbour one chance to demonstrate the competitiveness of its technology. The company ended up first in five of the six key indicators in the test.
Geoharbour won the contract, saved nearly 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million) and avoided the use of 1.7 million cubic meters of concrete mix.
Word spread. The third and fourth runways in the airport were also constructed using the process and interests poured in from other coastal cities with similar soil conditions.
In 2008, Geoharbur went beyond the Chinese mainland market for the first time with a project in Indonesia to compact soil for the construction of the Teluk Naga power plant.
“Indonesian engineers were originally skeptical about how a Chinese firm could come up with such an innovative technology,” Xu said. “But we turned them into believers after demonstrating success with so many projects in China.”
When Teluk Naga was completed in 2011, top political and business leaders of Indonesia attended the opening ceremony, giving Geoharbour a lot of media coverage that helped catapult the company further into overseas markets.
Geoharbour today has business operations in 12 countries, including Japan, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Brunei and the United States. It has eight overseas branches and one listed firm in Vietnam.
“When we enter a new market, the most difficult part is explaining our technology,” Xu said. “But as soon as we start construction, rivals go away.”
In 2012, Geoharbour received awards for its invention from the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Federation of Investors’ Associations and the World Association of Invention.
Xu has also been honored. He serves as president of the China Institute of Innovative Soft Soil Improvement and the vice president of the China Association of Inventions. He is participating in the compilation of a new standard for the improvement of soft soil.
Xu is quite confident about the future. He said the company has applied for patents in nearly 40 countries.
“Owning technology is the way to make money,” Xu said.
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