Real time monitoring of cultural relics a success

Songjiang District has launched a cutting-edge system for the preventive protection of cultural heritage, integrating real-time monitoring with the district's urban operation center platform.

This innovative system displays crucial data about cultural relics, such as the angle of inclination, displacement of cracks in the structure and environmental indicators like temperature, humidity, lighting and wind speed/direction, simply with a click of a mouse on the urban operation center platform.

The system is designed to issue safety alerts when predefined warning levels are reached, prompting staff to take necessary actions to ensure the structural integrity of the artifacts.

Songjiang is home to 303 immovable cultural relics, which require extensive and high-standards of protection.

Traditional manual monitoring methods are no longer sufficient to meet these demands.

In recent years, the district has been pioneering the use of intelligent, scientific and non-destructive methods to track the health of these cultural buildings.

The district began experimenting with this approach as early as 2020, installing sensor systems on three cultural sites: Xingshengjiao Temple Pagoda, Yuan Ying Pagoda and Li Pagoda.

By 2022, sensor equipment was installed at 20 more sites, including the Jingzhuang Tower (a Buddhist architectural structure to enshrine scriptures), Sheshan Observatory, Brick-carving Screen Wall, Tianfei Palace, Huzhu Pagoda, Yunjian First Pavilion, Du's Carved Building, Shi Liangcai's Residence, Wang's House, Sheshan Geomagnetic Observatory, Ma Xiangbo's Residence, Baolun Hall, Zhou Bosheng's Residence and others.

Over the past two years, the real-time monitoring system for the preventive protection of cultural heritage in Songjiang has been conducting continuous "health check" monitoring on key cultural buildings, playing a crucial role in preventive protection.

This system is one of the first 15 benchmark application scenarios on the district's urban operation platform.

By intensifying monitoring efforts and effectively overseeing the protection of key cultural relics, the system significantly improves efficiency in addressing safety issues and promotes effective interdepartmental coordination for the safeguarding of cultural heritage.