Moving the Indiana Bell Telephone Building

This article on how the Indiana Bell Telephone Building was moved back in 1930 came across my news feed a few days ago. Sort of a CSB, I guess.

A new building was needed at the site, but the existing structure couldn't be demolished since it would disrupt telephone service for all of Indiana. So, the Bell engineers figured out a way to move the entire 8 story building out of the way with no disruption to services:

quote:

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The relocation of the headquarters building of Indiana Bell Telephone Company in Indianapolis remains one of the most fascinating moves in the history of structure relocation.

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The massive undertaking began on October 1930. Over the next four weeks, the massive steel and brick building was shifted inch by inch 16 meters south, rotated 90 degrees, and then shifted again by 30 meters west. The work was done with such precision that the building continued to operate during the entire duration of the move. 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. A movable wooden sidewalk allowed employees and the public to enter and leave the building at any time while the move was in progress. The company did not lose a single day of work nor interrupt their service during the entire period.

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Interestingly, the power to move the building was primarily via hand-operated jacks.




I stumbled across the story via an old telephone man FB group, but the website ( amusingplanet.com ) is a worthwhile read in its own right.

Yeah, I know, CSB.