Contractors in Burlingame, Calif., are wrapping up a tricky maneuver to move an historic 1940s post office approximately 120 ft from its current location to make room for the construction of an underground parking structure directly beneath the building’s footprint. Leading the relocation project is San Jose-based Garden City Construction, a company specializing in rejuvenating and rehabilitating historic properties, along with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Duquette Engineering.
Steven P. Duquette, owner of Duquette Engineering, says the most significant challenge of moving the 1,010-ton post office was the sheer weight of the building’s lobby section. To move it, crews rolled it over a large drainage culvert that ran through the project site. Duquette says the culvert alone could not support the weight of the lobby section.