The College of Engineering, Shantou University has adopted the CDIO Initiative. One of the aims of the reform is at cultivating creative engineering graduates with CDIO competencies. Students of the 2006 intake is the first cohort adopting the CDIO curricular. This paper introduces the implementation of the cornerstone project taken by the program of civil engineering. Discussions are given to curriculum objectives, contents, teaching methods and evaluation methods. Analyses are also given on the impact of the practice to the ability, knowledge and personality of the students. Based on the process and observations problems are discussed and future improvements are proposed.