In 2004, 2005 and 2006, these three years became the "collapse years" of Pingyao ancient city wall. June+10/October 65438+July 2004, an external wall with a length of17m, a thickness of 3m (the total thickness of the wall is 5m) and a height of10m suddenly collapsed, and thousands of Qingcheng bricks with a history of 100 years fell. On September 22, 2005, the exposed rammed earth in two sections of city walls and parapets fell off in a large area. On the morning of March 5, 2006, the exposed rammed soil layer in a section of city wall fell off.
After the collapse of the ancient city wall in 2004, Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics instructed Shanxi Institute of Ancient Architecture Protection to conduct on-the-spot investigation on the collapsed city wall, worked out a restoration plan, and invited experts from China Cultural Relics Information Consulting Center to demonstrate the restoration plan on the spot. According to the design plan approved by National Cultural Heritage Administration, the restoration of the collapsed city wall was completed in 2005. However, this 6000-meter wall is not only in danger. Except the part that collapsed in 2004, there are cracks and holes in many places.
In July 2005, Dan Jixiang, director of National Cultural Heritage Administration, made a special trip to inspect the ancient city wall of Pingyao, and immediately decided to allocate 654.38 million yuan for the protection of the city wall.
In August, 2005, the investigation report was completed and submitted to National Cultural Heritage Administration, and 52 potential safety hazards were found, including 26 key danger points. Experts put forward to hang danger warning signs, set up monitoring points for potential safety hazards, and put forward emergency protection measures such as temporary roof support, enclosure, closed entrance and limiting the number of tourists for 26 major hidden dangers.
It is understood that Pingyao county government entrusted relevant qualified units to formulate a comprehensive maintenance and protection plan for Pingyao ancient city wall at the end of 2005, which is expected to be completed and reported to National Cultural Heritage Administration by the end of 2005. However, a few months later, the city wall collapsed again, and the Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau is still asking the relevant departments and the government to "instruct the design unit to deliver the overall maintenance plan of the city wall as soon as possible".
It is understood that in the tourism development plan of Pingyao County, it is estimated that the number of tourists visiting Pingyao will increase to 2 million every year in the next five years. It is worrying whether the ancient city wall can bear such a heavy burden. In the interview, the reporter found that the local government pays more attention to tourism development in the development and protection of Pingyao ancient city wall, and the protection of the ancient city wall is far from enough.
The city wall collapsed for a few days, and most Pingyao people still don't know that the city wall collapsed. In the hearts of local people, the news of the collapse of the city wall is negligible, and no one will go into the cause of the collapse. However, some local residents even said, "The key is that the wall of the south gate collapsed, not the north gate, the west gate and the east gate. The south wall has not been developed into a scenic spot at all, and there will not be many tourists coming. " For them, the existence value of the ancient city is intuitive. Tourism/kloc-the money earned in two golden weeks in 0/4 days is equivalent to the income of half a year at ordinary times.
The collapse of the city wall exposed the problem of cultural relics protection in Pingyao, Shanxi. First of all, the city wall was badly damaged. Although the collapsed south city wall is the weakest place in the protection of the ancient city, it is an indisputable fact that the whole ancient city wall is in disrepair. 199 1 year, wall repair. After 14, traces of peeling, weathering and cracking can be seen everywhere on the wall, and some cracks are so big that the palm of your hand can easily reach in, and the hidden danger of collapse is shocking. Although quite a few media reports blamed the collapse of Pingyao ancient city wall on the ancient "tofu dregs" project, why did the city wall that stood for more than 600 years collapse at this time?
1997, the ancient city of Pingyao, Shanxi Province was included in the World Heritage List. At present, it is the only ancient county in China that has successfully declared the world cultural heritage on a city-wide basis. The ancient city wall is also called the first of Pingyao's "three treasures" (the ancient city wall, Zhenguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple are collectively called Pingyao's "three treasures"). The task and goal of the government is to maintain the style of the ancient city for a long time and protect the heritage. Pingyao ancient city covers an area of 2.25 square kilometers and has a population of 45,000. Experts believe that the reasonable upper limit of Pingyao ancient city is 22,000 people. The planning of government departments will move half of the residents in the ancient city into the new city, control the residents in the city at a reasonable density, and "reproduce the life scene of the small society in Ming and Qing Dynasties". However, people have been coming in and out for many years, and the population of the ancient city has not reached the expected reduction. After 78 years, the population of Pingyao ancient city is still 45,000.
The root of the "city wall crisis" is that the virtuous circle mechanism of the protection and development of the ancient city has not been formed. Compared with other external walls, the collapsed external wall is obviously steep, but this obvious hidden danger has not been repaired. If there is a complete daily inspection, the massive collapse of the ancient city wall can be predicted and prevented in time.