The grottoes occupy a high face of relatively loose sandstone conglomerate. The Maijishan institute records repeated earthquake damage, with rock peeling and collapse leaving fractured cliff sections and large unstable blocks above caves and paths. The problem involved more than a scenic wall: a falling fragment could threaten the cave fabric, surviving sculpture and people below. Stabilization had to begin with an inventory of the damaged mountain and the caves it carried.
From the journal
Earthquake Damage and the Stabilization of Maijishan
A documented sequence from 1941 walkway collapse and 1952 repairs to the 1977–1984 cliff-stabilization works and later surveys.
In the same city · Tianshui ↗Earthquakes left a broken cliff face
A walkway’s collapse interrupted access
The historic routes also required repair. Institute accounts recall timber walkways that had collapsed by 1941. A 1952 survey of the west cliff was followed by repairs to more than 100 metres of path; later work connected cave routes again. These records make the walkway part of the site’s modern history. Its reconstruction was a practical response to damage and a condition for renewed documentation and care of the grottoes.
The 1977–1984 project combined four methods
From 1977 to 1984, a major mountain-repair project used a combined approach summarized as spray, anchor, bond and support. Sprayed material limited weathering; anchors secured unstable rock; bonding and crack filling joined fractured surfaces; supports helped stabilize large dangerous blocks. The institute says the project improved cliff stability and protected caves suspended on the face. It also replaced timber paths with reinforced-concrete walkways, so access and rock stabilization advanced together. The four-part phrase describes a combined system rather than four interchangeable fixes. The exact treatment depended on the cliff section: surface weathering, open fractures and a large detached block posed different engineering problems.
The next project began by checking the first
A later phase did not simply repeat the earlier reinforcement. In 2016 the institute commissioned investigation and design work for a second-stage dangerous-rock and seepage project. Teams assessed the earlier works, mapped the cliff and cave sections, studied rock strength and composition, used drone surveys and geophysical tests, and examined water and hydrogeology. The study also evaluated cliff stability under strong shaking and used monitoring to guide design. This diagnostic work shows how conservation changed from a single large intervention toward targeted, measured decisions. Project teams also sampled water and tested repair materials, connecting the cliff’s stability to seepage and the compatibility of bonding compounds.
Stabilization became a continuing record
The 1977–1984 project is a landmark, not an endpoint. Later observation tracks weathering, fissures and moisture, while engineers evaluate how old reinforcement performs under changing conditions. Conservators pay attention to what the cliff’s movement may mean for clay figures and mural layers inside. The visible path is one result; behind it lies a continuing record of surveys, tests and maintenance that helps keep a fragile mountain available for study.