Government Offices, Whitehall Gardens. The Special Problem of the Re-Siting of an Historic Building. (Includes Plates).

Abstract

Synopsis. The Paper describes in some detail the operation of underpinning and lowering a mediaeval building, constructed of masonry and vaulted brickwork, which was part of the Tudor Palace of Whitehall and used by Henry VIII as a wine cellar. The structure, which is 62 feet long, 32 feet wide, and 20 feet high, and which weighs approximately 1,000 tons, was moved 43 feet 6 inches laterally on to a staging; it was then lowered by screw-jacks through a height of 18 feet 9 inches and rolled back to a position beneath its original site. The building as it stood was in the way of the construction of important new government offices, but was of such historic interest that it was decided to preserve it intact. The task of lowering it into the basement of the new building was carried through within scheduled time without damaging the irreplaceable brick vaulting or extending any of the cracks in the old walls. This operation, although not new in kind, is probably unique in reapect of the age, nature, and size of the structure involved.