The Great Wall Conservation

How to protect and repair the weathered and cracked rammed earth wall of the Great Wall of China? In Jiayuguan, the westernmost section of the Great Wall of China, after years of exploration and practice, cultural relics protection workers have successfully repaired some of the wall ruins through the “seam repair” of the rammed earth wall, so that this world cultural heritage has been effectively protected .

As an important defense project in ancient China, the existing Great Wall is mainly built in the Ming Dynasty, starting from Shanhaiguan in the east and reaching Jiayuguan in the west. The walls of the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty were both bricked and rammed. The Great Wall around Jiayuguan belongs to the rammed earth. Under the influence of natural and human activities, the existing Great Wall ruins in Jiayuguan have many types of diseases, large scale and severe damage.

In the process of protecting and repairing the rammed earth wall of the Great Wall, the cultural relics department uses materials that are the same as or similar to the ruins of the site to make mending and filling, ensuring that the masonry materials and construction techniques are similar to those of the site. Through measures such as adobe masonry repair, fissure grouting, gully remediation, drainage of the wall top and wall foundation, and weathering and surface strengthening, the roof is partially supported and partially cracked, and the cracks are grouted and restored.

The surface of the site body is drained to prevent water seepage and collapse. Some cultural relics protection workers believe that the protection and maintenance of the rammed earth wall of the Jiayuguan Great Wall has found a way for the protection of similar sites in China.