Top 5 Removal Jobs In History

Removal jobs come in all shapes and sizes, from the very small (moving a small household item), to the very large (moving a big building). When it comes to moving the bigger items, it is clear removals is not just about sofas and beds. As you can see below, huge objects have been moved that dwarf the average house move. We have profiled 5 of the biggest moves in history on this page. Enjoy!

1. The moving of Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel is a pair of temples in Egypt that stand on the western bank of Lake Nasser.
The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site known as the "Nubian Monuments".
The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th Century BC.
However, the complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan Dam Reservoir.
The Temples were moved to prevent their flooding when the Aswan Dam Flooded part of the Nile Valley to satisfy Egypt's growing need for electricity.
The photo below shows a model of the former and current locations of the Temples.

The structures had to be carefully cut out piece by piece, labelled and individually reassembled at their new locations.
Piece by piece, craftsmen cut the temple, and the nearby temple of Nefertari into massive blocks of sandstone up to thirty tons.
Both temples were carefully reassembled on a new steel and cement "mountain," safe from the water's edge, at a cost of $40 million.
The move is regarded as one of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history.
Abu Simbel remains one of Egypt's top Tourist attractions.

2. The Moving Of London Bridge

There has been a bridge across the River Thames in London for nearly 2,000 years.
The first "London Bridge" was built by the Romans in 43 A.D. They built a temporary pontoon bridge which was planks laid across a row of anchored boats, or they may have used ferry boats.
The 1831 London Bridge was the last project of engineer John Rennie, and completed by his son, also called John Rennie.
This London Bridge was built out of granite which was quarried on Dartmoor. It was a structure of 5 arches, and its overall dimensions were 928 feet long and 49 feet wide.
By 1962, the bridge was not sound enough to support the increased load of modern traffic, and was sold by The City of London
Robert P. McCulloch, founder of Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, submitted the winning bid for $2,460,000 in 1968. McCulloch spent another $7million to move the London Bridge to Lake Havasu City which took a total of three years.
The bridge facing stones were disassembled and each was numbered. After the bridge was dismantled it was transported to Merrivale Quarry where 15 to 20 cm was sliced off many of the original stones. These were shipped to the bridge's present location and re-assembly began in 1968.
Each piece of the granite bridge was marked with four numbers: the first indicated which arch span; the second, noted which row of stones; and the last two indicated which position in that row. It was discovered while dismantling the Bridge, that there were code numbers on each stone when it was originally built: Rennie must have used the same system when the sections left the quarries.
Reconstructing the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City was done in the same manner as the Egyptians built pyramids. Sand mounds beneath each arch were carefully formed to the profile of the original bridge arches, serving the same function as molds. When work was completed the sand was removed. A one-mile channel was dredged and water was diverted from the lake, under the Bridge, then back into the lake.
The original stone was used to clad a concrete structure, so that the bridge is no longer the original after which it is modelled.
The reconstruction took slightly over three years and was completed in late 1971. Today, it serves as a popular tourist attraction for Lake Havasu City.
It is a popular rumour that the bridge was bought in the belief that it was London's recognizable Tower Bridge, but this was ardently denied by McCulloch himself and by Ivan Luckin, who sold the bridge.

3. The Moving of Marble Arch

London's famous monument Marble Arch was moved from its original location at the entrance of newly rebuilt Buckingham Palace to its current location in Hyde Park in 1851.
The arch was too narrow for the state coach - this is why it was moved.
There is still talk of the famous Arch moving from its current location to a more suitable one just down the road on speakers corner.

4. The Moving of Belle Tout Lighthouse

By 1999 the erosion of the cliffs was threatening the foundations of the lighthouse at Beachy Head, Sussex, and drastic steps had to be taken to stop it from falling into the sea.
On 17 March 1999 in a remarkable feat of engineering work the Belle Tout was moved 17 metres (56 ft) away from the cliff face.
The 850-ton lighthouse was moved using a pioneering system of hydraulic jacks which pushed the building along four steel-topped concrete beams that were constantly lubricated with grease.
The Heritage Coast recede an estimated average of about ½ -1 metre a year. Occasionally there will be a larger than average cliff fall, such as that on January 10 1999 when up to 6 metres of cliff edge tumbled away, to a depth of 17 metres over a 70 metre long stretch. As global warming continues and sea levels rise the rate of erosion is expected to increase and falls of this size will become increasingly common.
The site should now be safe for many years and has been designed to enable further moves as and when they are required.

5. Moving the Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair's Oyster Bar

The Old Wellington Inn and Sinclair's Oyster Bar in Shambles Square, Manchester England, two of Manchester's oldest buildings dating from the 16th century and 17th century respectively, have been moved twice.
Originally sited on Manchester's marketplace, they were raised 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m) when the area was refurbished as Shambles Square in the 1960s.
They were in close proximity to the 1996 Manchester bombing and as part of the rebuilding of the area, they were taken apart and moved 100 m North to a position next to Manchester Cathedral in the new Shambles Square.

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