Did you know that entire buildings have been moved in Colombia and the world? Well, structural relocation is the most common way of preserving historic buildings.
These are moved to different locations so that something more modern. Sometimes this technique is also used to place the building in a safe place in case it isthreatened by a natural disaster.
How does a building move?
Moving a building requires planning and coordination. There are different ways to move them, but it’s usually done this way: the builder makes openings in the foundation of the building and installs steel beams that will help provide structural support.
Likewise , hydraulic jacks are installed under the structure. These are connected by a control system that monitors the pressure of each cat and maintains the level of the building.
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Then, the building is raised and rubber dolls are installed under it. This is how the structure starts to moveslowly to its new destination.
Next we will show you the buildings that have been moved from one place to another in the world.
The Shubert Theater
It is the oldest theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It has been open to the public since 1910.
In 1999, the non-profit development agency ‘Artspace’ purchased the building from the city and idealized a plan to move it a quarter of a mile, approximately 400 meters .
Although the movement was not that great, it took five bulldozers, 100 hydraulic jacks to help lift the building, and 70 dollies to act as a temporary base while it moved.
For 12 days, the managers moved the theater, which weighs 2,908 tons. Locating it in its new location at Shubert Center, it was redesigned to better serve the city. In 2008, a theater and classrooms for art education were opened.
TIME LAPSE VIDEO OF BUILDING BEING MOVED!TIME LAPSE VIDEO OF BUILDING BEING MOVED!
The Montgomery Hotel, located in San Jose, California, it was moved 55 meters down the street in 2000. The idea for the hotel to move came from the mayor of the time of San Jose who wanted to save it.
Moving the 4,816-ton, four-story building cost $3 million. The building was moved 182 feet (55 meters) down the street.
For some preservationists, moving the building was not ideal, as the first floor had to be torn down to install the structural supports. In addition, the hotel underwent a renovation to become a more modern one.
Newark International Airport Building 51
Building 51 at Newark International Airport in New Jersey was one of the first passenger terminals inthe United States. Before La Guardia airport, it was one of the busiest in the country, but with the passage of time and modernization, this building served only for offices.
With the aim of expanding the runwaylanding, they decided to move the building. The move took 5 months, as the building had to be divided into three.
The lateral parts weighed 1,200 tons and the central part 5,000 tons. The move cost around 6 billion dollars (26 billion Colombian pesos).
Now, the building is the public entrance for the airport’s administrative offices.
Indiana Bell Building
The eight-story building was purchased by Indiana Bell Telephone Company in 1929 with the intention of tearing it down and making a bigger one. But they had a problem: the structure was of essential service, so they decided to move it to have the space to build a new one.
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The 11,000-ton building moved 16 meters to the south, turned 90 degrees, and then moved 30 meters to the west. Throughout this process, the building never stopped working and the cables and pipes were lengthened to make this possible.
In 1930, the Indiana Bell building was rotated 90° in one month. The 9,979-tonne structure moved 15 inches/hr…all while 600 employees were still working there. There was no interruption of gas, heat, water, sewage, or phone service. pic.twitter.com/Kd1EU0o2sz
– Engineering beasts (@FieraIngenieria) January 31, 2022
Theater Gem
In 1999, the Gem Theater, in the city of Detroit, in the United States, was moved four blocks. To do so, the building needed to be outfitted with steel beams and the structure then erected.
During the 1,850-foot (563-meter) move through the city streets, the engineering team had to navigate the buildings to fit around corners and was held level by a hydraulic system.
The move was successful, earning a Guinness World Record as the heaviest building ever moved on wheels.
On this day in 1997:
The Gem Theater, a 2,750 ton building, is moved several blocks through downtown to make room for @ComericaPark. It sets a new record as the heaviest building moved. pic.twitter.com/K0VjYBvhgs– Ken Coleman (@HistoryLivesDet) October 22, 2020
The lighthouse of Belle Tout
In 1829, the Belle Tout lighthouse was built on the clifftop Beachy Head in East Sussex in England. The building, which was on the edge of the shore, had to be moved as it was already a few meters from falling.
The lighthouse was painstakingly excavated, fitted with brackets and raised with hydraulic jacks to slide it down a computer controlled track.
The building moved 50 meters. It took days to do.
Agecroft Hall
Agecroft Hall is a mansion that was dismantled piece by piece to be shipped across the ocean. It was built at the end of the 19th century in Lancashire, England.
At the end of the decade, the mansion fell into ruin and, over time, would be auctioned off to millionaire Thomas Willims Jr, who decided to move the house .
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Much of the original building and its huge panes of leaded glass windows have been salvaged. Likewise, the materials were sent and the mansion was duplicated in its new location.
El Abu Simbel monument
The Abu Simbel temple was built between 1270 and 1213 BC. C. This piece from ancient Egypt was carved with a series of images from the life of the pharaoh. When the decision was made to move the monument, it was separated into parts weighing 30 tons each.
The temple was moved to the highest elevation at nearly 700 feet (213 meters ) away.
It was moved by blocks and became one of the largest building moves in history.
Today #21September marks the 53rd anniversary of the transfer of the temples of Ramses II in Abu Simbel. pic.twitter.com/6JuUQvEuEu
– The Frustrated Scribe (@EscribaFrustrad) September 21, 2018
Fu Building Gang
The Fu Gang building in China’s Guangxi province is the Guinness World Record holder for the most heavy moved intact.
The multi-story building weighs 15,140 tons and was moved a total of 36 meters.
The process took 11 days to be completed. Few details are known about how the whole move went.
Fu Gang building in China. pic.twitter.com/kc3wdgTJAv
— andraax (@J_M_Grande) March 29, 2020
Cudecom Building
But engineering in our country is not far behind. On October 6, 1974, the Cudecom building was moved 29 meters in the city of Bogotá. The goal was to widen Calle 19.
Engineers managed to move the building, which weighs nearly 7 thousand tons. The mastermind behind this great feat was the engineer Antonio Páez, who shot Cudecom through the streets of the city.
The transfer of the building took nine hours and ended up being awarded aGuinness record, which lasted about 30 years until China broke the mark.
On October 6, 1974, one of the first high engineering maneuvers would take place in Colombia. The displacement of 29 meters of the Cudecom Building, located on Calle 19 with Avenida Caracas, with 8 floors and more than 8,000 tons of cement and iron. pic.twitter.com/ObynSWERaq
— History in Images (@Histor1a) April 3, 2019
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