Page 12 - IAV Digital Magazine #510

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
85-Year-Old 5-Story Building In Shanghai 'Walks' To A New Location
An 85-year old 5- story building in Shanghai was lift- ed off the ground and moved 200 feet away as to prevent it from demolition. China, in its latest efforts to preserve his- toric monuments,
literally made a nearly century-old primary school building in Shanghai’s east- ern Huangpu dis- trict ‘walk’ to a safe distance. Using a new tech- nology dubbed ‘the walking
machine’, where supports act like robotic legs, the school building inched laboriously along, one tiny step at a time.
In the walking machine, robotic legs are distrib-
uted into two groups: One moves up, where- as the other moves down. There are sensors attached that help govern the posi- tion of specific structural compo- nents at a given
time, in turn, allowing for the building to ‘move forward’.
The building, which belongs to the Lagena Primary School was constructed in 1935 by the municipal board of Shanghai's for- mer French Concession. Its original spot will now be used to build a new com- mercial and office complex, which will be completed by 2023.
The Lagena Primary School building was moved 62 meters away over a course of 18 days. About 200 robotic leg sup-
ports were employed for the operation, which also involved rotating the build- ing 21 degrees clockwise from its original direction.
The Lagena Primary school will soon undergo a comprehensive renovation. It will subsequently be transformed into an institute inte- grating cultural education.
The project marks the first time this "walking machine" method has been used in Shanghai to relocate a his- torical building, the government statement said.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine