HISTORIC HOUSE MOVE PART II – YOU DON’T SEE SOMETHING LIKE THIS VERY OFTEN

If you’ve been following our house move story from our last blog post, you’d know we were tasked to move a historic Edmonton home that was over 100 years old. While the preparation was epic, the move itself was nothing less than a well choreographed ballet performance.

Here are some highlights.

First, the house was loaded onto dollies with the efforts of at least a dozen skilled workers while crews from SHAW, EPCOR, City of Edmonton, Edmonton Police Service and Davey Tree assisted to remove any barriers that might interfere with the operation along the relocation route. This was a tricky operation as the home was moved from an alley to a very narrow street with old growth trees, street signs, overhead powerlines, and crosswalk signs. All this taking place in the middle of the night to minimize traffic disruption.

Next, the arduous task of transporting the fragile building began, ever so carefully and ever so slowly making the trek down the narrow residential street. Making the trek even more complicated were street-dividing concrete boulevards, requiring the watchful eyes of Shield staff to watch for anything that might upset the precious load. Meanwhile, curious residents watched in awe as the massive structure creeped down the street on its way to the new location.

As the structure approached the main street where the home was to be placed, trees were pruned, and overhead crosswalk lights had to be removed to make way. The watchful eye of helpful police officers kept traffic at bay and spectators out of danger as the rolling land-ship made its way around the corner approaching the destination, just a few houses away. Seeing the huge rig make the turn was a spectacular sight in itself.

Finally, the rig backed up gracefully onto the new foundation. Not an easy task in the dead of night, but the Shield team managed the placement with the precision and expertise of a NASA mission team. And not a single pane of glass was disturbed!

Shield workers finalized temporary supports and soon, with the eye only a master of his craft can have, Tim Wilcox, our Operations Director, gently placed the structure with slide-rule precision.

This was an extremely rewarding project. We were able to keep another home out of the landfill and preserve some of Edmonton’s heritage. To pull something like this off, you need expertise, experience, and the right equipment.

Shield Foundation Repair checks all those boxes.

If you have a structure that needs relocation, call us today. We would be happy to discuss your project with you.