Moving Methods
Vertical Approaches to Moving
Vertical moves involve having the house picked up with the use of either one or more cranes, requiring the house to be structurally sound enough to withstand being elevated and then repositioned. As stated previously, the easement around the house must be large enough for a crane to be able to be positioned and the ground must be flat enough to stabilize the crane. This flat section must be close enough to the house to be able to lift it but far enough away to allow the boom to swing to set the house upon the new foundation. One of the environmental impacts of this method is that a road must sometimes be built in order to allow access for the crane or a concrete pad must be poured to provide a sufficiently stable platform for the crane.
Lateral Approaches to Moving
One type of lateral moving that was considered for this property was to ‘skid the house’,[i] which involves several lateral moves of about 10-15 feet at a time. Using a system of cribbing, which are stacked piles of four by four planks, the house would gradually be moved down the hillside. The house would be balanced on a steel plate and then using winches and a bulldozer, be skidded onto the next pile of cribbing onto a different steel plate. The environmental impact of this method is primarily in having to dig out sections of the hillside to erect the cribbing as well as the clearing of vegetation to be able to allow heavy machinery to access the house.
The house would be balanced on a steel plate between cribs 1 and 2, and then skidded forward, jacked up and crib 2 would be lowered so that it would balance between crib 2 and 3.
Another lateral method that exists but was not considered for this house because of the slope of the hillside, but one that that Mike Winkler has implemented numerous times uses Hillman rollers. These rollers work similar to caterpillar legs and have the capacity to be able to move up to six tons per roller. If a house weighed only 24 ton it could be moved simply by placing just one of these rollers under each corner of the house.
Hillman rollers used to roll houses by Winkler Crane and Co.
Choosing a Moving Method
Weighing these different moving methods, there were two major concerns identified with moving the house that dictated the way that it would need to be moved. Lee Weishar, from the Woods Hole Group identified these two problematic conditions for Maxine and Sharon:
First, the limited area on the seaward side of your house reduces the options available for moving the house because the confined space available dictates the types of equipment that can get to the house to complete the moving operation.
Second, the steep topography (land elevations) on the landward side of the house create additional limitations on how the house can be moved. The slope behind the house poses difficulties on the move because the house has to be moved on a level surface; otherwise the structural integrity of the house could be jeopardized causing the structure to collapse.
The fact that was that there was not enough room to get the proper equipment in place prompted the need to build a new driveway, which would provide a level site for the crane to operate. The complication with this was that the boundary of the lot was already being strained by moving the house back, without having room to reroute a new driveway up to the house. This new driveway would also provide a replacement for the former fragmented driveway and the stairs that had formerly existed. In order to construct the new driveway they had to appeal to the National Seashore for a deed tuck to be able to build on Seashore property that was partially off their lot in exchange for surrendering the land that had been the site of their former driveway.
The final decision was to move the house vertically, using a crane to place it on a new foundation. It was determined that this would have the least environmental impact and would be the most stable way to move the house, considering its structural integrity. Additionally, while neither technique would cause instability to the seaward side of the slope, moving the house with a crane would cause fewer disturbances to the landward side both structurally and in appearance.[ii]
While moving the house vertically was determined to have the least harmful environmental impact, the cumulative effects of moving a house should to be accounted for in order to tabulate the true cost of moving a house. The secondary and tertiary effects like the removal of habitat to be able to get equipment onto the site or where construction crews might indiscriminately park their cars should be included in the assessment of the move. Analyzing a move and all of the additional factors comprehensively will give a more accurate sense of the true cost and toll on the environment. If these true costs were determined, they might reveal that the alternative of beach replenishment is better environmentally because it allows such structures to remain where they are for longer.
