BEIJING, Sept. 12 -- Yuzhen Palace, a group of Taoist palaces in central China's Hubei Province, has had all its foundations raised 15 meters and its buildings restored, the China Daily reported Thursday.

The work was done to prevent the site from being submerged by a nearby reservoir for the south-to-north water diversion project, the newspaper said.

Workers used jacks to lift three stone gates weighing about 7,000 tonnes and built up a new foundation beneath them.

They had to dismantle the buildings before restoring them as close to their original state as possible on top of the new foundation, according to the paper.

The palaces were first built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and are part of the World Cultural Heritage ancient building complex in the Wudang Mountains.