For many people, lifting a house and transporting it via semi-truck to another part of Vancouver Island may be a rare sight. But for Cory Belton, itB次元官网网址檚 just another day on the job.
Belton is the house moving foreman with Belton Bros. Structural Movers, a family-owned company that specializes in moving homes and other structural buildings from point A to point B.
During the past 25 years, Belton has been involved in transporting dozens of houses. Most recently, he moved a house from Langford to Goldstream Provincial Park, over the Malahat, to the companyB次元官网网址檚 storage lot in Cobble Hill and finally to Chemainus.
B次元官网网址淚 sure sleep good,B次元官网网址� said Belton about completing a move. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a big sigh of relief when we finally get it into the place where we park it.B次元官网网址�
But moving the home, which took place in multiple stages, beginning last Thursday and was completed earlier this week, wasnB次元官网网址檛 a walk in the park. It was the result of months of work, planning and co-ordination with various parties.
The company originally purchased the four-bedroom, two-bathroom home on Walfred Road from a developer. As part of the move, the company put 12-inch steel beams that are 60-feet long under the house. Then they jacked up the 31-feet wide and 57-feet long house using a hydraulic system, and slid it off its cement foundation onto the truck for transportation over the Malahat.
But before the move, Belton had to get the green light from different parties, including B.C. Hydro, to ensure the house was able to safely pass under wires, as well as contractors doing construction on the Malahat.
In the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 31, Belton drove the house slowly up the Malahat, along with help from two spotters who watched the corners of the house as it was being transported. Pilot cars that were radio-controlled let them know what was going on around them.
But that wasnB次元官网网址檛 the only problem.The house also had to be transported over two bridges in Duncan that were undergoing seismic work. Belton had to arrange for the bridges to be shut down early Tuesday morning to transport the house over them.
While moving homes from one place to another is a challenge, itB次元官网网址檚 one Belton welcomes.
B次元官网网址淭he fact that you can pick something up so large and so heavy and move it around like itB次元官网网址檚 nothing. ItB次元官网网址檚 a challenge, but itB次元官网网址檚 satisfying,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd the fact that youB次元官网网址檙e keeping 90,000 pounds of waste out of the landfill. Once itB次元官网网址檚 on a new foundation, itB次元官网网址檚 still good for another 70 years.B次元官网网址�
The house has been sold and will be transported to Old Lake Cowichan Road off of Highway 18, and will go to its forever home there.
Over the years, Belton has moved a number of houses over the Malahat.
The one that sticks out for him involved moving a six-bedroom and three-bathroom house from Sidney, putting it on a barge and shipping it to the Sunshine Coast. The entire move took more than 10 days.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e done some big houses in my career, but that was probably the longest move of my career,B次元官网网址� Belton said.
Like us on and follow us on
