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In 1930 the Indiana Bell building was rotated 90°
- acd 5y agoComputing Workload live migration.
- k1t 5y agoLet's demolish this building. How about we just rotate it 90°? Yes, that seems like a fair compromise. In case anybody was wondering - the important part was that it was moved to an adjacent lot (to clear space for a new building) and happened to be rotated as part of that process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Building_(Indianapolis) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Building_(Indianapolis)
- jlarocco 5y agoThe "why" is what I was wondering about, thank you.
- dylan604 5y ago>Yes, that seems like a fair compromise. For ~30 years, then they tore it down anyways.
- NullPrefix 5y agoIsn't 30 years considered a lifetime for current generation buildings?
- reaperducer 5y agoFor a master-planned tract house built in the 1990's... maybe. Current skyscrapers are designed for a minimum 100-year lifespan. /Source: I actually asked a skyscraper architect this question once.
- dylan604 5y agoWhat would the answer have been from a Roman architect, or medieval times castle builder?
- huffmsa 5y agoThey'd probably laugh at the absurdity of the question and say "for as long as it needs to be"
- jacquesm 5y agoBack then many architects/engineers didn't know enough to engineer 'on the edge' so they tended to massive overkill. Meter thick walls, that sort of thing. But not everybody built like that, there are also many examples of elegance and material economy. Roman stuff spans the gamut from 'wasteful' to 'optimal'. Castles were usually built to deal with attackers so likely far strongly built than they would have been otherwise. This is what always really impresses me about old churches, they go straight up to 100+ meters and it's just square cut stones piled on top of each other lined up with plumb bobs and wires, standing true for 100's of years. Imagine the feat of engineering that the foundation comprises for a building like that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Cathedral,_Utrecht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Martin%27s_Cathedral,_Utre...
- mlyle 5y ago> But not everybody built like that, there are also many examples of elegance and material economy. Roman stuff spans the gamut from 'wasteful' to 'optimal'. And note the survivorship bias. The stuff that was "not quite enough strength to be sufficient"-- or even "just barely sufficient" was removed by time.
- rootusrootus 5y ago> For a master-planned tract house built in the 1990's... maybe. Not even then. 30 years would be ridiculous. Even in the US, all the houses in my area (west coast, so nothing is all that old) back to the late 1800s are still being used as residential housing. Renovated, of course, probably several times, but the bones are the same.
- toast0 5y agoMoving the building rather than demolishing it meant that they could keep telephone services running. I suspect they moved services to the new building sometime in the intervening years before demolishing the moved building.
- earleybird 5y agoAh, zero downtime upgrade.
- KboPAacDA3 5y agoA similar feat was accomplished in Chicago. "During the 1850s and 1860s, engineers carried out a piecemeal raising of the level of central Chicago. Streets, sidewalks, and buildings were physically raised on jackscrews." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_of_Chicago
- Lammy 5y agoSee also: the canceled 1970s plans for taking the "L" underground: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Central_Area_Transit_Plan#Loop_subway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Central_Area_Transit_P...
- reaperducer 5y agoThe Red Line and Blue Line of the L both run underground. I once lived in a building that connected to the pedway, so I was able to dress in shorts and a T-shirt in a Chicago winter, navigate underground through the pedway to the Blue Line, then take the Blue Line to O'Hare for a flight to Tampa. The train part was a bit chilly, but it was better than having to drag a winter coat with me on the plane.
- mixteacoffee 5y agoit was done a few months ago as well to make room for new train tracks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIKjxWcj2Dg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIKjxWcj2Dg
- the-dude 5y agohttps://kottke.org/19/11/the-indiana-bell-moved-a-functioning-building-in-1930 https://kottke.org/19/11/the-indiana-bell-moved-a-functionin... From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21468788 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21468788 ( 2 years ago )
- jasomill 5y agoIncidentally, the architect who proposed rotating the building was Kurt Vonnegut Sr, father of the well-known author.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- subreal 5y agoSimilar thing was done in Poland in 1970: https://tvpworld.com/41981555/lubomirski-palace-moved-to-new-location-49-years-ago https://tvpworld.com/41981555/lubomirski-palace-moved-to-new...
- redis_mlc 5y agoCloser to home in San Jose, around 2004: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Montgomery https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Montgomery
- ChrisArchitect 5y agoThis tweet is from MARCH, come on. And was posted then multiple times.
- version_five 5y agoAlso, it's just a tweet of an animated gif. I wish HN had a way to block Twitter so this kind of content-free stuff could be ignored more easily. Also on the front page now, a tweet about "programming is just for loops and if statements, 244 comments.
- dgivney 5y agoThe context is that John, the father posting that tweet, is a well known hacker and lead programmer on Wolfenstein 3D, Doom & Quake. He is still lauded today for his legendary optimizations to 3D graphics & network programming techniques. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carmack https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carmack
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- ChrisArchitect 5y agoThat is not really the focus of the context and it's barely necessary to explain who Carmack is around here geez. He's right that post is hardly notable despite being a Carmack tweet, ppl are silly
- virtuallynathan 5y agoIt came up on Joe Rogan #1742 last week, probably why it made it here.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mojolozzo 5y agoA similar thing happened in Zurich, Switzerland: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-18168278 https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-18168278
- gattilorenz 5y agoHow do they get a building on the rail?
- colejohnson66 5y agoI’d assume the same way they fix building foundations: powerful jacks that raise the whole building
- Kye 5y agoBy making sure everyone is well-trained.
- thih9 5y agoOther notable examples of structure relocation: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_relocation#Notable_moves https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_relocation#Notable...
- thedogeye 5y agoTIL Kurt Vonnegut was a Wikipedia kid (someone who's dad had/would've had a Wikipedia article about them)
- Ftuuky 5y agoAnd brother too.
- geoffeg 5y agoI'm amazed that buildings tolerate this kind of stress, or maybe I underestimate how accurately they can apply equal pressure to rotate the building safely.
- aaronmdjones 5y agoAssuming it has a properly-designed & constructed foundation (which, if the building tolerates just being there at all, especially for decades, it probably does; but this is something that would be checked anyway), it's just a matter of adequately supporting that and taking everything slow. After all, the foundation supports the entire building, so moving the foundation will move the building. The stresses involved here (this Twitter thread says it was moved 15 inches per hour) are practically nil; it also says the people inside didn't even notice it happening.
- aahortwwy 5y agoThey didn't move the foundation. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74880470/11000-ton-bell-telephone-firm/ https://www.newspapers.com/clip/74880470/11000-ton-bell-tele...
- staplung 5y agoIt's like a matrix applied to a building.
- hereforphone 5y agoWhat are the eigenfunctions
- jimktrains2 5y agonah, now it's just imaginary.
- hereforphone 5y agoSome of the most amazing feats of the 20th century were inflicted by Bell. It was an innovative organization (body of organizations) whose inventions impact our everyday life today.
- itisit 5y agoForgive my word policing, but "perpetrate" is only used in a negative context.
- hereforphone 5y agoSuggest an alternative while the edit button is still warm
- aspenmayer 5y agoPerformed?
- hereforphone 5y agoInflicted it is. Done.
- itisit 5y agoHa, cheers.
- throwawayboise 5y agoI don't think inflicted is much less negative. Achieved would be my choice.
- garaetjjte 5y agoaccomplished?
- dang 5y agoPast related threads: In 1930 the Indiana Bell Telephone Building was rotated 90 degrees - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26534718 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26534718 - March 2021 (2 comments) Indiana Bell Building Move (Of 1930) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26530546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26530546 - March 2021 (9 comments) Indiana Bell moved a functioning building in 1930 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21468788 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21468788 - Nov 2019 (24 comments) Rotating the Indiana Bell Building (2014) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20901264 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20901264 - Sept 2019 (5 comments)
- Wolfenstein98k 5y agoThe amount of stuff people used to just get done in the 20th century constantly boggles my mind. It feels like everything is so hamstrung and bottlenecked today by comparison.
- Railsify 5y ago"hamstrung and bottlenecked", that's called regulation.
- cortesoft 5y agoYeah, back then we didn’t care if lots of people died.
- Wolfenstein98k 5y agoMost of the incidence of regulatory burden is unrelated to risk to human life.
- frutiger 5y agoWhat makes you say that? I believe most of our modern electrical/clinical/construction/etc. standards have saved many lives.
- _ofdw 5y agoDepends. I work in Aerospace and most of our regulations are written in blood, as they say. I prefer to paraphrase A Few Good Men: "We follow rules, or people die".
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y agoWell, we cared, but we also understood that death is part of life, and some things are worth the risk. At least worth it to those doing the dangerous jobs. Don't think for a moment these guys didn't know how dangerous their jobs were.
- Archelaos 5y agoSometimes things can get terrible wrong. On 5th April 1906 more than 50 people died and another 100 were injured, when in the town of Nagold, Germany an attempt was made to lift a building while people were celebrating inside. There is only a German Wikipedia page about the incident, but it has some disturbing before and after photos: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirsch-Katastrophe https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirsch-Katastrophe
- foota 5y agoBuildings are moved surprisingly often it seems. For a unique recent example see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAF9ORqMeVM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAF9ORqMeVM where a building was floated.
- WalterBright 5y agoIt's address is now 240i N Meridian St
- ahmedfromtunis 5y agoDoesn't buildings in America have underground bases to ensure their stability? Because that's the case in my country even though seismic activity is very rare. (We're talking about renforced concrete bases around 2 meters deep for a single story home. Obviously, the higher the building, the deeper the base.) If so, how was this building moved? If not, how did it manage to stay up?
- throwawayboise 5y agoThey excavated under the base, and jacked up the building.
- frosted-flakes 5y agoOf course building have foundations. I imagine they built a new foundation at the new location, then lifted the building off the old foundation and slowly moved it to the new one. This is actually a fairly common thing to happen to houses; less so for large buildings, but certainly not rare. I know several people who had their old houses moved onto a new foundation with a basement within the last 15 years. Also, in the 1960s, my grandparents moved an entire garage several miles onto their farm property. In 2018, the historic Kodak Building 9 in Toronto was moved 200 feet out of the way so a subway station could be built beneath it, then moved back into place on a new foundation above the station. See here for details of how it was done and a timelapse video: http://www.thecrosstown.ca/node/2018 http://www.thecrosstown.ca/node/2018
- willcipriano 5y agoIn the west a few decades prior, buildings would be constructed on gravel, field/paving stones or even the bare ground that would last a couple of decades due to the low moisture, but I don't think they would've done that there or that late.
- martyvis 5y agoThis building would have been brick or stone. Hence the lower bricks would be cemented at best to the foundation. The floor structure, timber or steel could be jacked up, as would any walls to move it.
- nayuki 5y agoI get how they can keep electricity and telephone service running this gradual move. But how do they keep water and sewers running? Did they use temporary flexible pipes, or maybe a rotational joint at the pivot point?
- kQq9oHeAz6wLLS 5y agoI'm not in a place to find the source, but I recall reading that they used long flexible hoses.
- noobermin 5y agoAmerica is no longer a country capable of doing great things other than make a few people rich.
- kingcharles 5y agoHere's a more recent timelapse video of one from a couple of months ago in Chicago: https://twitter.com/CTARPM/status/1422672300365725699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1422672300365725699%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.wttw.com%2F2021%2F08%2F04%2Ftime-lapse-video-cta-moves-1000-ton-historic-building-30-feet https://twitter.com/CTARPM/status/1422672300365725699?ref_sr... They wanted to straighten the subway ("El") track to make the trains faster. The building is historic and can't be demolished, so they moved it out of the way.
- divbzero 5y agoI like how the company is so dedicated to this singular task that their tagline is “House & Building Movers” [1]. It must be a low-volume high-contract-value business. [1]: https://www.wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/ https://www.wolfehousebuildingmovers.com/
- thih9 5y agoI'm sure there are people who see the building on their commute but weren't aware of the move; I wonder if something feels weird to them.
- jspash 5y agoA similar thing happened in my back garden last summer. Not as impressive, but still a feat of engineering for me and a few mates. Similar tech too! We had a couple 2-ton car jacks and a handful of 3 inch fence posts. Lift, lower, push. Lift, lower, push. It took most of a weekend but the result was a 3x4 metre shed being relocated from the south-west to the north-east corner of the garden. Electrics were never disconnected, but shut off at the box. And it's not plumbed in. But it was still quite an effort. I would have a loved to have done a time-lapse of the project, but sadly didn't think of it until after the move.
- jacquesm 5y agoNice one. Determination and a lever is pretty much all that you need to do a lot of major construction. I lifted up the top floor of this building to be able to slide a new support beam underneath, just a 30 ton jack and a lot of patience. It fits like it has always been there :)
- starsep 5y agoIn Warsaw, Poland Lubomirski Palace has been rotated using tracks in 1970. Photo: https://bi.im-g.pl/im/7d/dc/10/z17680509IH,Przesuniecie-Palacu-Lubomirskich.jpg https://bi.im-g.pl/im/7d/dc/10/z17680509IH,Przesuniecie-Pala... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomirski_Palace,_Warsaw https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubomirski_Palace,_Warsaw