Abstract
Water seepage is the primary cause of stone carvings corrosion in karst caverns, which is typically treated with cement-based grout intervention. In this paper, long-term monitoring (more than 1 1/2 years) was carried out in Qinglin cave and Yanxia cave in Hangzhou, China, to quantitatively evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of ordinary Portland cement- and superfine cement-based grout intervention. Results showed that both materials were efficient in preventing water seepage, reducing it by half after the grout interventions. Grout intervention had obvious efficacy in blocking off the strong water seepage points, at the same time decreasing seepage differences among seepage points. Ion Chromatography results suggested that the concentrations of Ca2+, Cl− and SO42− in the seeped water in both caves increased after intervention, and the concentration of SO42− in the seeped water after superfine cement application in Qinglin cave was much more than that in the seeped water in Yanxia cave, where ordinary Portland cement was applied. Therefore, using superfine cement may bring more potential risks than ordinary Portland cement. However, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and conductivity analysis results presented that these ions seemly did not deposit on rock surfaces of the caves during the monitoring period.
Highlights
Many paintings and stone carvings were created in caves like Elephanta Caves, Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟), and Bmyn Caves
Water seepage (a) Qinglin cave Figure 3 presents the complete data for water seepage and rainfall before and after grout intervention in Qinglin cave
This work presented the results obtained from the longterm monitoring of Qinglin cave and Yanxia cave before and after cement grout intervention between 2017 and 2018
Summary
Many paintings and stone carvings were created in caves like Elephanta Caves, Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟), and Bmyn Caves. Chen [15] summarized the water seepage treatment methods applied in the Double kilns (双窑) in Longmen grottoes since 2004, and found that water seepage was effectively reduced by changing the water transportation channel in the cracks through grout intervention. In view of the fact that a large number of caves in China have adopted or may continue to adopt cement-based materials to deal with water seepage in caves, quantitative evaluation on the long-term effects of cement grout intervention is necessary. In this work, monitoring data on cement grouts gathered over a time span of 1 1/2 years from two karst caves (Qinglin cave (青林洞) and Yanxia cave (烟霞洞)) in China was quantitatively analyzed, and the advantages and disadvantages of applying cement-based materials for water seepage treatment were discussed
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
