Whacky neighborhood construction

Not to be outdone by the people with their own personal crane, let's take a look at another project in our neighborhood.

What happens when you have a small lot, cut up by easements, but you want to build a big house? Well, you could build a tall house, but we have height restrictions that limit your roof line to 27 feet above ground. So, build down.

They hauled off 400 dump truck loads of dirt and rock to make this hole.  Now they are getting ready to pour the foundation walls.  To get a better understanding of the size, notice the two men working (middle, towards the left).  They are at the shallower end of the hole.

Digging this hole and hauling away the soil was no easy task.  There were excavators in the hole, digging dirt and handing it to an excavator on the top, which loaded the dump trucks.  Once they pour those foundation walls, there will probably be 50-100 dump trucks of gravel and fill coming back in.

The part I wished I had photographed was when they finished and needed to get the excavation equipment out of the hole.  They brought in this crane (stolen web photo), which at maximum capacity, can lift 350 tons.  That's 700,000 pounds for those who are math challenged.  It had no problem picking the 57,000 pound excavator out of the hole and setting it on the street.

Building houses back in NC was sure a lot easier.

By the way, the house with the crane and the mystery wall is getting even weirder.  More later....