Saturday, September 4, 2010

1886 NZ building moved a few meters on purpose

Check out video of the old "Rob Roy" hotel, a 1886 building
in Freemans Bay which the NZTA moved it a bit this week.
If you look closely, I drove by while this was going on...
(did you see me? ha ha ha):


Some history:

Originally a hotel, photo above from approximately 1890

It was built when Auckland was really growing
by erecting long lasting brick structures
instead of all timber. Above is from 1925 ...

Spruced up by 1960, you can see new motorway behind on left

... and finally this week, a close up of the preparation prior
to the big move of the old Rob Roy (now known as 'the birdcage')
to accommodate the new Victoria Park Tunnel...

2 comments:

  1. There is so much to comment on about this! I love old architecture like that. It's great the building was preserved and moved rather than torn down to make way for the new tunnel.

    I don't see what the power source was to move it. And I'm no engineer, but it's impressive they can design a way to move it that far without impairing the structural integrity of the building.

    Finally, I'm amazed at how wide the road is in the pre-auto 1890 photo. Thanks for sharing, that was cool. -- SCOTT

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  2. Apparently they slide the building along cement beams 1.8 meters at a time... I dug the time lapsed video. I think once they complete the tunnel & highway renovations, it will be moved back to its original position (!)...

    Thanks for stopping by Scott

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