5 ms·

Indiana Bell moved a functioning building in 1930

102 points by sogen 7y ago

henridf 7y ago
A timelapse of a building being moved in 2012 in Zurich: https://vimeo.com/42984680 https://vimeo.com/42984680 It's taken from close up so you see how a concrete platform has been poured under the building, then the whole thing pushed on rails.
- blkhawk 7y ago
  Banner seen at the start of the Video can be translated as "Starting May 22th this Building is going crazy.". Its a play on words that also means that the building is being moved starting May 22th.
pionar 7y ago
The building that it was moved to construct in 1930 is still there and is still owned by AT&T - https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7713545,-86.1579046,3a,75y,230.31h,113.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sB5qYGC4PPTs7_rShcfUsmQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7713545,-86.1579046,3a,75y,2...
krilly 7y ago
I am reminded of that Thunderbirds episode where they attempt to relocate the Empire State Building, with predictably disastrous consequences. [1] It's interesting how in many ways, the future the show predicted was more negative than the present. It seems the hubris of man has calmed down a bit since then. Or is that the spirit of adventure? One of the two. https://youtu.be/i4qfSrN27qo https://youtu.be/i4qfSrN27qo
jefftk 7y ago
Yeah, yeah, people move buildings, that's a thing... Wait, what!? >All utility cables and pipes serving the building, including thousand of telephone cables, electric cables, gas pipes, sewer and water pipes had to be lengthened and made flexible to provide continuous service during the move Moving a building and rotating it with active gas service is incredible.
tallanvor 7y ago
The source that Kottke used seems like it would have been better to link to since it contains the same information and has more pictures of the move. https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/10/an-incredible-move-indiana-bell.html https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/10/an-incredible-move-ind...
matthewmcg 7y ago
"inch by inch 16 meters south" Moving a building while it's in use: impressive. Switching to a different unit system in the middle of a sentence: confusing.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
code_duck 7y ago
Very cool! My grandfather owned a house moving business. At some point, I wondered, how exactly did he do this? From what he said, pretty much as described in the article. They would put jacks under the house and lift it 1/4 inch on every corner until they could fit supports under it.
- sogen 7y ago
  cool! do you have any pics to share or more info?
  - code_duck 7y ago
    I wish I did, but I don't have much to add. He operated the business from about 1940 to 1980, so he was retired for all of my life. I imagine that my mother has some photos.
joezydeco 7y ago
Pshaw! Back in 1855 we took entire blocks of downtown Chicago and raised them up 4-14 feet to make room for sewers. https://chicagology.com/prefire/raising/ https://chicagology.com/prefire/raising/
- Grimm665 7y ago
  The Wikipedia article for this, the Raising of Chicago, is one of the funniest articles on the site. I don't know exactly what makes it so funny other than how clear it is that the author had a really fun time writing about an event that seems so absurd and unbelievable. "In January 1858, the first masonry building in Chicago to be thus raised—a four-story, 70-foot (21 m) long, 750-ton (680 metric tons) brick structure situated at the north-east corner of Randolph Street and Dearborn Street—was lifted on two hundred jackscrews to its new grade, which was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) higher than the old one, 'without the slightest injury to the building.'" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago
- yodon 7y ago
  Seattle left the buildings where they were and raised the ground to what had been the 2nd floor level, creating buried tunnels underground to the old entrances[0]. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground
  - js2 7y ago
    Atlanta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Atlanta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Atlanta Sacramento: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-original-street-level-of-sacramento-sacramento-california https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-original-street-leve...
  - joezydeco 7y ago
    Yeah I should have clarified. The buildings downtown could afford to be lifted to the new street level. Homes outside of downtown that couldn't or wouldn't do the lift had to build new entrances on their upper floor. Many of these homes still exist today. http://chicagopatterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/damen-8-900x600.jpg http://chicagopatterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/damen-...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
kolinko 7y ago
Lubomirski Palace in Warsaw in 1970s, was also moved to line it up with a park. But it wasn't functioning during the move. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomirski_Palace,_Warsaw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomirski_Palace,_Warsaw
jake-low 7y ago
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20901264 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20901264

102 points by sogen 7y ago

A timelapse of a building being moved in 2012 in Zurich: https://vimeo.com/42984680 https://vimeo.com/42984680 It's taken from close up so you see how a concrete platform has been poured under the building, then the whole thing pushed on rails.

blkhawk 7y ago
Banner seen at the start of the Video can be translated as "Starting May 22th this Building is going crazy.". Its a play on words that also means that the building is being moved starting May 22th.

pionar 7y ago

The building that it was moved to construct in 1930 is still there and is still owned by AT&T - https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7713545,-86.1579046,3a,75y,230.31h,113.77t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sB5qYGC4PPTs7_rShcfUsmQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en https://www.google.com/maps/@39.7713545,-86.1579046,3a,75y,2...

krilly 7y ago

I am reminded of that Thunderbirds episode where they attempt to relocate the Empire State Building, with predictably disastrous consequences. [1] It's interesting how in many ways, the future the show predicted was more negative than the present. It seems the hubris of man has calmed down a bit since then. Or is that the spirit of adventure? One of the two. https://youtu.be/i4qfSrN27qo https://youtu.be/i4qfSrN27qo

jefftk 7y ago

Yeah, yeah, people move buildings, that's a thing... Wait, what!? >All utility cables and pipes serving the building, including thousand of telephone cables, electric cables, gas pipes, sewer and water pipes had to be lengthened and made flexible to provide continuous service during the move Moving a building and rotating it with active gas service is incredible.

tallanvor 7y ago

The source that Kottke used seems like it would have been better to link to since it contains the same information and has more pictures of the move. https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/10/an-incredible-move-indiana-bell.html https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/10/an-incredible-move-ind...

matthewmcg 7y ago

"inch by inch 16 meters south" Moving a building while it's in use: impressive. Switching to a different unit system in the middle of a sentence: confusing.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

code_duck 7y ago

Very cool! My grandfather owned a house moving business. At some point, I wondered, how exactly did he do this? From what he said, pretty much as described in the article. They would put jacks under the house and lift it 1/4 inch on every corner until they could fit supports under it.

sogen 7y ago
cool! do you have any pics to share or more info?
- code_duck 7y ago
  I wish I did, but I don't have much to add. He operated the business from about 1940 to 1980, so he was retired for all of my life. I imagine that my mother has some photos.

joezydeco 7y ago

Pshaw! Back in 1855 we took entire blocks of downtown Chicago and raised them up 4-14 feet to make room for sewers. https://chicagology.com/prefire/raising/ https://chicagology.com/prefire/raising/

Grimm665 7y ago
The Wikipedia article for this, the Raising of Chicago, is one of the funniest articles on the site. I don't know exactly what makes it so funny other than how clear it is that the author had a really fun time writing about an event that seems so absurd and unbelievable. "In January 1858, the first masonry building in Chicago to be thus raised—a four-story, 70-foot (21 m) long, 750-ton (680 metric tons) brick structure situated at the north-east corner of Randolph Street and Dearborn Street—was lifted on two hundred jackscrews to its new grade, which was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) higher than the old one, 'without the slightest injury to the building.'" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago
yodon 7y ago
Seattle left the buildings where they were and raised the ground to what had been the 2nd floor level, creating buried tunnels underground to the old entrances[0]. [0]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground
- js2 7y ago
  Atlanta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Atlanta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_Atlanta Sacramento: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-original-street-level-of-sacramento-sacramento-california https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-original-street-leve...
- joezydeco 7y ago
  Yeah I should have clarified. The buildings downtown could afford to be lifted to the new street level. Homes outside of downtown that couldn't or wouldn't do the lift had to build new entrances on their upper floor. Many of these homes still exist today. http://chicagopatterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/damen-8-900x600.jpg http://chicagopatterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/damen-...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

kolinko 7y ago

Lubomirski Palace in Warsaw in 1970s, was also moved to line it up with a park. But it wasn't functioning during the move. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomirski_Palace,_Warsaw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomirski_Palace,_Warsaw

jake-low 7y ago

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20901264 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20901264