Show r kgsaapej: i I Two Amazing Engineering Feats Which Saved Half ' 4 k 7 4 $ it' a Steamship and Shifted a Busy “Central” Bodily I 'i 4 t U i ' i V- v V X V H Without Losing a Phone Call ii 7’ the stern half of the bif ocean Nurtureton AS liner the Dungeness broken op on sends off the coast of England was being towed to Gravesend— a feat of even more gigantic proportions was being performed In Indianapolis Indiana Both tasks were undertaken only a few weeks ago In the midst of this great engineering age Yet they were both “impossible” before they were done Of the two the Indianapolis undertaking is probably the closer to the hearts ana understanding of most And the purpose of this arreaders ticle Is to make clear just how the eight-stor- y eleven thousand ton telephone building of Indianapolis was lifted turned around and moved a whole block to face north instead of east without the imposition of a single handicap on either the six hundred employes or the public! Other more or less sizable buildings have been moved in different cities But from time to time to be sure this building besides being a moderately high skyscraper happened to house apparatus controlling all local telephonio communications within a radius of many miles as well as live hundred and twenty-fou- r long distance 5 ) 'V' While the Building Was Being Moved Across the Indianapolis Block the Hundred SwitchSix Y Girls board Operators and Other Employes Wore Unable to Detect Either Motion or Disturbance Not Only for Local Promptly Routed All Calls Through Long Stations but on More Than Five Hundred Distance Cables ' X Way Without Losing a Telephone Tho Big Indianapolis Connection! “Central” Formerly Faced East Toward the Camera Bat Was Swaag About to Face North Con-A Temporary Walk for tho venience of the Public Wat -Maintained Throughout the as Wero All Operations Wire Water Heat Light Power Sewerage and Other At Right a Connections Mas of the Telephone Wire-End- s Signifying Chaoa to the Untrained Eye but an Orderly System to the Expert Oa Iu T As to the moving itself here briefly are the details of the plan followed: A concrete mat was laid at basement level over the entire area over which the building Over this were was to be moved fir timbers and on placed top of the timbers steel railroad rails apart It (were laid about five inches was in this surface that the building was moved On each of the fifty- nine steel columns supporting the building there were riveted to carry the load of ' each column to the rollers The rollers were placed under two steel rail shoes on each side of the $ ht View of the Stem Half of the n Being Towed to Steanuhip Nurtureton 'Gravesend England After She Broke At Dungeness lip on the Sands Off the Seme Half-BoRight a Side View of With Accompanying Tugs Ilead-O- at circuits While the building was being moved across tho block service went Elevators were on uninterrupted steam heat water kept running gas electric power and sewerage facilities '—all functioned and those who were within the structure during the course of its Journey wero able to perceive no motion In commenting on the project Vance Cathout chief engineer of the telephone company said: "The move may seem spectacular from a layman’s standpoint but it was the common sense answer to a buildLarge economies have ing problem The resulted from the action taken full service life from the present in ivestment in buildings end equipment has been assured Space has been a W of a available for the initial portion badly-needed new building which will give us Our new additional space building may be added to in an orderly manner as tbs company needs require without disturbing present investments a amounting to more than threeOfand mov- half million dollars The cost was about ing the present building three hundred thousand dollars But how you may ask could the structure the size of which is apparent be after merely one look at this page shifted from old foundations to new without disturbing somebody? Surely the telephone wires Intricate as they are must have been strained! But the engineers had an answer to that objection— in advance Flexible connections of the proper length took care of the electric power for elevaton and lighting of the gas steamaa heat weU water and aewerage facilities and as of the great network of cables smaller wires for telephonic communiwere cation These flexible connectionscables type taken care of by submarine two hundred containing more than feet of slack column 75-to- The average number of rollers under each shoe was nine —and a total T CY of some that the columns could not shift positions in relation to each other Some BOO tons of structural steel was necessary for this reinforcement The “big push” on the move south was accomplished by eighteen 100-to- n n ratchet screw jacks placed and construclaterally between the tion on the columns and the north retaining wall and part of the extreme outside basement wail left standing As the building moved the base on which 'tne jacks rested was built up with timber After each foot of movement the jacks were reset Incredible though it may seem eighteen men Jacks working the handles of thethousand eleven moved the eight-etor- y ton structure with ease! To permit the public to come Into the building to transact business and take a little ride quite elaborate a rsngements were made A curved steel and concrete sidewalk was constructed 4000 All were used of the columns were tied together with or latticed trusses and diagonally braced so ? V it i 1 I H ' if X v I ft ft - M x SUM 1 s- Still t5k Jtk :' US £5 (tk tan Cl (lBlv (' tail i and connected to tho main entint-- by a “drawbridge” affair which pivoted as the building moved After the new location haa keen reached the first thing done was the burning out of the steel rails and the cutting of the timbers directly beneath the columns Four 100-to- n jacks were then placed under the needle beams of each column and the pressure relieved so that the rollers could be taken out The central used to face north now million it faces east! A twenty-twdispound skyscraper moved without turbing anyone Not all of us have had opportunity to watch salvage operations on a ship Very few have seen large liners aground on a sandbar But those who witnessed the fight of a Handful of n engineers to save the steamer Nurture-toin the English Channel a few weeks ago would probably testify that they had witnessed a bigger job than the spectators who saw the moving of the Indianapolis skyscraper A storm drove the Nurtureton out of her course and low tide found the seagoing giant helpless on tho Dungeness sands Heavy seas roared and pounded against her sides A breeches buoy was rigged up to take off the crew in case of emermariners worked Meanwhile gency frantically in smaller boats seeking their chance to float the crippled liner Waves drove them hither and yon making each moment a precarious one Toward morning just as it seemed that the seas might abate a series of lashing mountains of water hit the y she Nurtureton amidships darted to crack up- - And shortly she broke her back and fell apa- -t But the experiThe bow was lost enced marine engineers saw a chance to save the stern naif In a lull in the stoim they hurnedly planked up the ship’s middle calked her roughly and attached a cable Tugboats towed ber up the Thames to the shipyards at Gravesend A half a ship presumably is better than none Besides the saving of the stem half of the Nurturston was truly a brilliant chapter in engineering hisA new forward half is to be tory added to tha salvaged rear half and then the ship will be as good as ever o End-heav- 4 '-T- he Juat Starting on Itt Epoch- the Corner Around Location New to Itt Moling Journey Nolo the Improvised Entrance Big Telephone Lmchangt ‘ at IndianapolU Miwipaper Featur Tho Same Building Trip Sarvfc- - Nettled Across on lu New Foundations After lla 300000 the Block Some of tho Uncut Cables Are Visible - 8 f ‘ I |