He noted that one deep rock crevice in Zigui County, central China's Hubei Province, extends more than 110 meters deep. Over 50 crevices cut through the mountain massif, forming an unstable rock body with a total volume exceeding 3 million cubic meters.

　　The engineer further explained that the upper section of the dangerous rocks consists of hard rock, while its lower section comprises relatively soft coal-bearing strata. The unstable rock body sits right next to the main navigation channel of the Yangtze River.

　　"Should it collapse and plunge into the river, the surge wave generated instantaneously would pose a severe threat to the safety of passing vessels," Li said, adding this dangerous rock mass is currently stable thanks to multiple engineering measures.

　　Various devices installed on the cliff face are providing round-the-clock precise monitoring of subtle deformations in the rock mass, summarizing data once every hour and uploading it in real time for monitoring and early warning, Li said.

　　To address the challenge of dangerous rock masses in the reservoir area, the center has developed a specialized technology by fixing such rock masses with lightweight anchor cable and explored an ecological restoration technique for rock crevices using microorganisms combined with fiber filling, according to Dai Zhenwei, who takes charge of the center's geological disaster monitoring and early warning.

　　The technological explorations are similar to putting a "safety belt" on the unstable rocks. They provide a new approach to solving the challenge of poor durability of traditional protective structures in water-rich environments, Dai said.