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James Kazak's unusual mission: Transport a 400-ton building 2 blocks. Here's how he'll do it
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Jun 29, 2008
Imagine a grown man with a remote control device in his hands.
Now think of that man using the remote to gently guide a 400-ton, three-brick-thick, dinosaur of a building through downtown Akron.
And that is what will happen Monday, the day of the most anticipated Akron move since LeBron James first tore down the basketball court in a Cavs uniform.
On Monday, the Richard Howe House — a home built by the resident engineer of the Ohio & Erie Canal — will be moved by a high-tech remote control device two blocks west from the spot it has occupied at Exchange and High Streets since 1836 to a new home at Water and Exchange Street.
The building, which was erected when Andrew Jackson was president, will eventually become home of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition.
James B. Kazak, 65, of Broadview Heights, president of AA House Movers, the Euclid company that will move the structure, promises that the 21/2-story structure is solid.
Q: The first question has to be, will the building fall apart when it moves?
A: This building is really fragile. What they did was they added to the building and cut holes in it. It took some stability out of the building. It is three bricks thick. That is the way they built them in those days. That adds a lot of weight. The way it is sitting there, even with all the walls missing, it probably is in the area of 365 to 370 tons, without the steel and our equipment under there. By the time you jack it and
put steel in, you're working with about 400 tons. I take all the precautions necessary to hold it intact. There is hardly any movement. The steel is large beams. We build a good steel framework. That is the key to the operation.
Q: You are saying there is not much risk?
A: In all my years, we've had a few instances where you either have equipment failure or something, but we've never lost any buildings.
Q: Is this the oldest and biggest building you've moved?
A: No. We moved a barn built in 1832.
Q: So this doesn't set any records for you?
A: No. It's just part of my resume. We did a 500-ton building in Painesville last year built in 1858.
Q: Can you talk about how you are going to actually move the building?
A: There are hydraulic dollies. They are hydraulically steered, raised and lowered from a little remote control box. A diesel unit powers it. You can make it move, steer, raise, lower, everything with this little remote box.
Q: How does the control system work?
A: There are hoses that run into the dollies and they have air brakes and are steered hydraulically . . . The control box is about the size of an 8-and-a-half by 11-inch sheet of paper with joy sticks, like children use, to run the power unit.
Q: So nobody will actually drive or pull the Howe House when it is moved?
A: The man will be walking with the remote control box. He can start it up and can make it move and can steer the building with the box. He will be walking along with it. It is wireless. So it sends a signal to the brain and it moves . . . There will be a yellow power unit with a diesel motor that runs the hydraulic pumps that has a brain in it. It will be mounted on the front of the building. The little remote box just sends a signal to the brain and it tells the dollies what to do. . . . The thing about moving this type of building is pulling out on the road. Once it is on the road, you will probably go at regular walking pace. It will go a little better than four hours.
Q: Why are people so fascinated with this building and this move?
A: A lot of people have never seen buildings moved. They get excited for that reason. And there are the pessimists who think the building will fall apart. Everybody is anxious to see something happen.
Jim Carney can be reached at 330-996-3576 or jcarney@thebeaconjournal.com.
Imagine a grown man with a remote control device in his hands.
Get the full article here.
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