Thomas MacMillan Photo
A century-old house on Chapel Street moved 20 feet Friday morning, inch by painstaking inch.
The old house is on the move to make way for a new mixed-use building at the corner of Chapel and Howe. The house is to be renovated and made into the new home of a Yale secret society.
The 1890s house has to move about 60 feet west and two feet down. Moving west is easy, said Joe DeNicholas, whose New York-based company is in charge of the shift. It’s the moving down that’s hard, because it requires DeNicholas and his crew to build a road, using wooden “cribbing,” for the house to roll on.
DeNicholas explained how the process works. First, his crew put holes in the house’s foundation and slid huge metal I‑beams underneath. Then it jacked up the house and placed it on piles.
On Friday, the crew began moving the house by placing it on huge dollies.
The dollies roll on the cribbing “road” as they are pulled by winches on two trucks.
The work stops periodically so that workers can pull up the road behind the dollies and build it up in front.
It’s a slow process, if you watch closely, you can see the wheels moving.
“Like watching grass grow,” said DeNicholas, pictured.
Once the building is in place, it will be placed on piles and a foundation will be poured beneath it. Finally, the house will be lowered into place, having completed its 60-foot voyage.