Shanxi's high-tech solutions safeguard ancient structures

The Shanxi Earthquake Administration has deployed a Structural Health Monitoring and Vibration Risk Perception System at Xuankong Temple on Hengshan Mountain, providing a high-tech solution that protects millennia-old structures.

Workers deploy the Structural Health Monitoring and Vibration Risk Perception System at Xuankong Temple. [Photo/Yellow River News Network]

As one of China's earliest and best-preserved wooden cliffside structures, Xuankong Temple faces significant challenges in earthquake protection. Monitoring adheres strictly to the principle of "no alteration to the original state of cultural relics", so a distributed fiber-optic sensor network has been installed at key structural points, such as beams and walkways, enabling comprehensive, real-time, and high-precision detection of structural vibration responses.

Through fiber-optic technology, this system enables precise monitoring of natural earthquakes, vibrations from construction operations, and changes in human loading. By integrating multi-source data, it quantitatively assesses the building's load-bearing capacity and stability, identifies weak points, and provides scientific support for risk warnings, daily management, and crowd control.

The Shanxi Earthquake Administration plans to further integrate earthquake monitoring technology with cultural heritage protection, using digital and intelligent methods to safeguard ancient structures and support the sustainable preservation of cultural heritage.