On Mon, 9 Aug 1999, Michael Davidson wrote:

> 82 feet up in the air on a free standing tower taking down over a 125 tons of
> beaux arts column on a lean is not my cup of tea;
>  the first stone to come off was a torchere' with massive eternal flame
> that weighs over 14,000 lbs and went  almost off the computer scale on the
> 180 ton crane making the pick.
> The stone dogs(lift pins) are counter sunk and rated for 9 tons; the enormous
> pressure of the pick makes them groan, and literally smoke as the pull is
> made from century old lime mortar putty and failed  ferrous pins binding them
> in pressure and time.
>  There is a pregnant moment as the dogs dip and tighten causing worrisome
> micro cracks than you watch helplessly meander in a wild craze across the
> face of the pin location ..puffing little puffs of smoke of  crushed granite
> dust like a miniature run away choo choo  that raises the hairs on the back
> of your neck in a cold sweat until finally the lifting dogs  settle and find
> their bite of greatest strength thus   enabeling the raising of  the stone in
> a sudden give of shattered joints and falling debris re-birthing a sleeping
> giant airborn once again in 80 odd yrs
>    ...or ....and this is its  more deadly option .....that the enormus
> pressure of the lift will find a small un seen void thus  splitting the stone
> through an unknown fault...causing the stone to lift and fall ....taking you
> and the scaffold down with it..
> .Micro cracks in such work that are not visible are the curse in all stone
> work..
> ..they are rare..but the possibility of them there is real .
>  You can break the joint; and get it to wiggle with heavy bars; but the dogs
> do the real work; and when 3 to 7 tons pull from its source it can bounce and
> "kiss" its sister stones in the neighboring  entablature with deadly results;
> a skilled crew must be ready to move fearlessly into the pull and " catch"
> the stone at the moment of birth in mid air with in place lariats ; hooked
> bars and cushioned wood preventing the deadly kiss that can push the whole
> mass over.
>  While all this is going on the dogs groan ; smoke ; spall and hopefully find
> their mark and crucial bite.
> .The strain on the men at the moment of the pull is so intense as it is one
> of those moments where in a twinkling of the eye it can all go wrong very
> quickly....
>  there is no where to go if the column goes down we all go down;
> simple as that.
> We have done our homework ; sound testing and rocking the set where we can;
> but still our shirts are soaking wet with sweat of the small percent of the
> unknown; the ellusive one missed detail ;the overlooked condition that we
> have trained lifetimes for race through our minds as we affirm our readiness
> for the pick.
> Each pick is organized with military precision ; with every step ; each
> station is checked and rechecked; before the crane is radioed and skillfully
> led through a calculated pull the operator cannot see
> Once the pick is made it can be set back down on 4x4 's  where heavy basket
> straps can lift the mass in a choker through the chute of the scaffold.
>  Working from an independent man lift would be impossible and not an option
> concerning site conditions;
> Each drum is made of 4 parts ; each part weighs 6,000 lbs there are 9   7ft
> drums 5 ft wide 2ft thick set in lime ; the lime did not fail the pins and
> the base failed plus it was struck by lighting several times.
> The interior of the column has a small hollow core that   was infested with
> thousands of red wasps; and spiders you could put a leash on; to make matters
> worse as the drums came down a large 5 ft snake was observed at the base of
> the interior of the column feeding on small rodents that may wander in thru
> the large displaced joints.
>
> We found a 1905 newspaper at the 60 ft level and there are known time
> capsules buried in the base which we hope to get to next week
>
> for professional reasons I would like to let the  project be nameless; as my
> description above is about the work and unknown conditions that can face even
> the most seasoned investigator;and nothing else ... contact me privately
> should you wish for  any further query ....
> the men involved were all former Cathedral builders; and several crane
> companies declined the work citing concern over the lean and displacement of
> stone; there were some great engineers that confirmed our calculations that
> all that mass was still in compression although they declined to be on
> scaffold  at the time of the pick; sucess has a thousand fathers ;failure is
> an orphan..best Michael

During my recent encounter with the preservationeers in lower Manhattan, a
a certain tall building was pointed out, on which you, Michael, had done
extensive work.

Ken commented that all the scaffolding had to be supported by the narrow
ledge at the base of the roof.

Having seen that, and imagined the difficulties and dangers, I was not
surprised to read your message quoted above.

But still -- wow.

---
Lawrence Kestenbaum, [log in to unmask]
The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com