State Administration of Cultural Heritage has announced the winners of 2009 National Cultural Heritage Preservation Science and Technology Innovation Award. Fulin Bai-He-Liang Original Site Underwater Preservation Program partly contributed by IRSM(Wuhan), CAS win the first prize. According to the notice, there are three programs winning the first prize, in which Chongqing Bai-He-Liang Original Site Underwater Preservation Program ranks first.
Bia-He-Liang Inscription is located in Yangtze River of North Fulin city in Chongqing, it records the water level of 72 years with low water, which is within the 1200 years from the primary Guangde year of Tang Dynasty, it is called the First Ancient Hydrological Station and Underwater Forest of Steles. Bia-He-Liang Inscription is the only national major cultural heritage preservation program of Three Gorges Cultural Relics, it is of high value in science, history and art. After the normal pool level of Three Gorges reservoir area reach to 175m, Bai-He-Liang Inscription is submerged underwater forever.
The primary contributor, academician Ge Xiurun from IRSM(Wuhan) proposed the conception of Unstressed Container to build underwater original site preservation program in 2001, which saved the World's First Ancient Hydrological Station from desperate situation. During the construction period of Bai-He-Liang Preservation program, academician Ge Xiurun, in his 76's, showed great responsibility as a scientist, he went to the construction site in Fulin Bai-He-Liang to guide the construction, he participated in person in the scheme propose, availability research, underwater construction company selection, underwater visitors corridor construction and underwater lighting photograph system selection, Ge also gave specific guide to the construction. He made significant contribution to the successful program construction.
Bia-He-Liang Inscription Original Site Underwater Preservation Program consists of underwater protection body, transportation and visitors corridor, ground museum, the total construction area is 8433m2, invested 190,000,000 yuan in total. The program build an Unstressed Container to keep underwater preservation structure and cultural heritage in internal and external hydraulic balance, this helps to avoid unfavorable factors facing cultural heritage original site preservation, such as geology, safety and shipping, it also maintain the relationship of Bai-He-Liang and Yangtze River, reserve the authenticity and integrity of Bai-He-liang Inscription preservation. The Museum construction includes 11 subjects of high technology and 12 systems, about 20 visiting windows in underwater corridor are made of double aerial glass with the thickness of 4cm, it could not only resist water pressure, but also be replaced immediately after broken. To make sure that visitors could see the inscription clearly, underwater museum adopts water circulating system, which allows water to go through purification device into preservation body, ensuring that visitors could see through clear water.
The program began on February 13, 2001, opened on May 18, 2009, it is the world's only culture site underwater museum, providing a successful program example to original site preservation of underwater cultural heritage.
