The Yangtze Estuary No. 2 ancient ship reappeared after more than 150 years. The ancient ship was salvaged as a whole and will be transferred in due course in the near future. It is one of the largest ancient wooden shipwrecks discovered in China and even in the world.
At 0:40 on November 21, the Hengsha waters of the Yangtze Estuary witnessed a new historic breakthrough in China's underwater archaeology. The 22 giant curved beams are 48 meters long, 19 meters wide, 9 meters high and weigh about 8,800 tons. The old caisson was loaded with the ancient ship. After more than 4 hours of continuous underwater lifting, the moon pool in the middle of the salvage engineering ship "Fenli Ship" slowly emerged from the water. The mast of the ancient ship was clearly visible.
The reporter learned from the State Administration of Cultural Heritage that in a few days, the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River will be brought into the No. 1 dock at the former site of the Shanghai Shipyard in Yangpu by the "Fenli Ship", starting a new stage of cultural relics protection and archaeological excavation.
survey and exploration
It took 7 years to find out that the ancient ship had 31 cabins
In 2015, under the guidance of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage organized the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Cultural Relics Protection Research Center and other units to carry out key underwater archaeological investigations in the waters of Hengsha, Chongming, Yangtze River Estuary, through sonar scanning, etc. Technology discovered an ancient wooden ship, the archaeological number is "Yangtze River Estuary No. 2".
In order to further understand the nature and age of the Yangtze Estuary No. 2 ancient ship, since 2016, domestic professional institutions such as the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Shanghai Cultural Relics Protection Research Center have conducted underwater archaeological investigations and multidisciplinary research on the ancient ship every year. Research.
After 7 years of underwater archaeological investigation and exploration, the basic situation of the No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River has been ascertained.
The ancient ship No. 2 at the mouth of the Yangtze River is a wooden sailing ship, which was confirmed to be in the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1862-1875). The depth of the waters is 8-10 meters. 9.9 meters, has been proven to have 31 cabins.
According to reports, the structure of the upper part of the ancient ship, such as the bow, cable piles, main mast, left and right sides, etc., is complete. Judging from the current survey situation, it is speculated that it is most likely to be a sand ship that was widely used in Shanghai in the Qing Dynasty.
Through the small-scale cleaning of four cabins, neatly stacked Jingdezhen kiln porcelain and other exquisite cultural relics were found in the cabins.
In addition, a large number of cultural relics such as purple sandware, Vietnamese hookah tanks, wooden bucket remnants, masts, large ship materials, iron anchors, palm cables, pulleys, and building materials were also found in and around the hull.
In particular, the book on the bottom of the green-glazed cup that came out of the water has the inscription "Tongzhi Year System", which provides an important basis for the dating of ancient ships.
In 2021 and 2022, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics organized underwater archaeological institutions twice to conduct underwater surveys on the No. The complete bean-green glazed blue-and-white vase and other large-scale complete vessels, as well as a batch of kiln ceramics produced in Yixing, Jiangsu.
salvage work
The first curved beam salvage technology designed and built "Fenli wheel"
The muddy water environment is an extremely difficult bottleneck in the development of underwater archeology in China and the world.
At the beginning of the underwater archaeological work, the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage organized archaeological workers and scientific and technological workers from the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanghai Cultural Relics Protection Research Center, Shanghai University, and the National Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Ningbo Base to carry out Cross-border cooperation, independently developed the "Underwater Imaging Device in Muddy Waters" that won the national patent, developed the "Key Technology and Application of Robotic Underwater Archaeological Equipment" that won the second prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Award, and comprehensively used unmanned boats , Multi-beam sonar, side-scan sonar, shallow strata profiler and magnetometer and other marine geophysical equipment, carried out underwater surveys in the waters of the Yangtze River Estuary, and the integration and development of scientific and technological innovation has become the most important factor in the discovery of the Yangtze River Estuary No. 2 ancient ship.
After the State Administration of Cultural Heritage agreed to adopt an overall salvage method to protect the ancient ship No. The world's first "curved beam non-contact cultural relic overall migration technology" was formed to salvage this ancient ship.
This technology is a brand-new salvage solution proposed on the basis of bold scientific research and technological innovation. It creatively integrates nuclear power arc beam processing technology, tunnel shield tunneling technology, immersed tube tunnel butt joint technology, and uses hydraulic synchronous lifting Technology, integrated monitoring system, etc. are currently the most advanced high-tech in the world.
In addition, in order to smoothly and safely lift the caisson formed by the curved beam and escort it to the dock, a special salvage engineering ship "Fenli Wheel" was creatively designed and built.
The main scale of "Fenli Wheel" is 130 meters long, 34 meters wide, 9 meters deep, and the design draft is 6 meters. There are synchronous lifting devices at both ends. It opens in the middle of the ship and has a moon pool with a length of 56 meters and a width of 20 meters. .
The curved beam caisson loaded with the ancient ship after the completion of the beam penetration is directly lifted from the seabed to the central moon pool by the "Fenli wheel", and then transferred and unloaded to the dock. One ship has completed the three tasks of lifting, transporting and unloading, which is safe High performance, strong operability, high technological content and many other advantages.
The successful salvage of the ancient ship as a whole also proves the advanced nature, stability and safety of the first curved beam salvage technology.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage stated that these technologies, which were first applied in the field of archaeology and cultural relics protection, fully reflected the integration and development of cultural relics protection and technological innovation, provided new methods for the overall salvage model of underwater archaeology, opened up new ideas, and added new cases. It provides Chinese ideas and Chinese experience for the world's underwater archeology.
significance
Milestone Discovery in China's Underwater Archeology
On September 6 this year, the main operation ship "Dali" of the overall salvage project of the No. 2 ancient ship in the Yangtze River Estuary arrived at the waters where the ancient ship was located, and officially launched the overall salvage and archaeological protection of the ancient ship.
On September 12, the "end plate-longeron" composite frame dedicated to the overall salvage of ancient ships was sunk to the design position.
On September 29, offshore construction entered the stage of installing curved beams, and the first set of 22 sets of curved beams was officially passed down.
On November 15th, the 22nd group of arc-shaped beams was put in place.
On November 17, the special engineering ship "Fenli" arrived at the waters where the ancient ship was located, and the overall salvage entered a critical stage.
On November 21, after 77 days of hard work at sea, the ancient ship was successfully salvaged as a whole.
The No. 2 ancient ship at the mouth of the Yangtze River is another milestone discovery in China's underwater archaeology. It is one of the largest, best-preserved, and rich in cultural relics found in China and even in the world. The study of large wooden sailboats in the late 19th century was blank, and it is a precious cultural heritage.
At the same time, Changjiangkou No. 2 is also the first ancient ship that underwater archaeologists actively discovered and conducted archaeological investigations during the national underwater cultural relics survey. The research on the history of ceramics, ceramics and economics is of great significance.
(The Beijing News reporter Zhang Jianlin)
(Source: Beijing News, November 22, 2022 A09)