Finally at Rest

Home at last! Margaret Brent (built in 1951) is lowered onto her new foundation, located across Route 5 from her original address. W.M. Davis, Inc. now begins renovations to the interior. The building will have a classroom and offices for the department of philosophy and religious studies  when it opens in January.

The timber cribbing that temporarily supported the building is loaded onto Expert House Movers‘ trailer (bottom photo). Don’t you wonder what they’ll be moving next?

Interesting fact from Expert House Movers website: The average home relocated saves approximately 45 tons of debris from being piled in landfills.

Poised Above the Ground

The dollies are removed, a set at a time, and replaced with hydraulic jacks. The timber cribbing supports the building along with the jacks. Once all the dollies are removed, Expert House Movers crew will slowly lower the building by repositioning the jacks and removing cribbing timbers bit by bit until the building sits at the correct height. In this photo, the building is about 6′ higher than its final elevation.

View the Move in a Hurry

Thanks to St. Mary’s student Chris Paige, you can watch Margaret Brent move in a hurry with his nighttime video. Paige also answers the question, “Why did Margaret Brent cross the road?”

 

Almost There

Crew from Expert House Movers use chains to move the dollie wheels into position for the last leg of the two-day trip which has moved Margaret Brent Hall (built in 1951) from one side of Route 5 to the other. The building will be rolled across the steel sheets that lie atop of timber supports.

Margaret Brent Has Crossed the Road!

The move onto and down Route 5 went off without a hitch; not a single pane of glass broke from the building’s many windows. It took two hours to travel down the driveway (top photo), then 20 minutes on Route 5 (middle photo), then another hour to get to its current site in Mill Field. About 200 students were on hand to watch. It rests temporarily in the field and will be on the move again soon, across the parking lot to its waiting foundation (bottom photo).

Tonight’s the Night!

Tonight’s the night! Margaret Brent moves across Route 5 to her new home adjacent to the Campus Center sometime after midnight tonight. It’s been reported that she’ll be dressed in lights as she makes the trip.

This afternoon, Expert House Movers crew are finishing placing a timber support structure (shown here) in the new foundation. Sheets of steel will be laid on top of the timbers and the building will be slid across them. Imagine sliding 240 tons!

Up and Over She Goes

This morning between 10 a.m. and noon, Expert House Movers crew lifted Margaret Brent Hall up about 12 feet in the air (top photo) and moved it, using a system of dollies, into position for its upcoming roll down Route 5 (scheduled for the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, September 14).

Meanwhile, across the street, workers from W. M. Davis, Inc. continue to prepare a new foundation for the building (bottom photo).