Project Description
Awarded the “Most Innovative” job of the year in 2008
This building was moved in order to make way for future development of condominiums with river views. The 40 foot wide x 45 foot long x 36 foot tall building weighing 240,000 pounds was moved 80 feet horizontally and lowered 37 feet vertically over a new basement. What made the project more challenging was the severe slopes and unstable soil. The hillside was excavated in a stair-step manner creating two tiers. The first tier had an eight foot vertical drop and a 30 foot horizontal run. The second tier had a 29 foot vertical drop and a 50 foot horizontal run. One of the most challenging and time consuming parts of the project was that 32 crib towers had to be laid out and built within ¼ inch of tolerance to keep the skate beams parallel before the building could be skated over the hillside. To safely skate the building over the unstable hillside and to keep the weight of the building on the basement floor, 37 feet below, 1500 crib blocks and 18 steel beams were used to tie together an elaborate cribbing layout that would precisely support the skate beams and allow NWSM to lower the building once it had cleared the hillside. This project was recognized by the International Association of Structural Movers and was awarded the “Most Innovative” job of the year in 2008.