I feel that we’re all lighthouses, and my job is to shine my light as brightly as I can to the darkness.
Jim Carrey
At Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, a marker shows where the Cape Hatteras lighthouse stood from 1870 until it was moved in 1999. To save it from the waves that now buffet the marker, this beautiful lighthouse was moved with mind boggling techniques!
At the time, the lighthouse was dangerously perched only 15 feet from the shoreline and despite attempts to protect the it from the might of the Atlantic Ocean and the storms that batter the Outer Banks, the ocean grew closer and threatened to gobble up this historic landmark. With limited options and ongoing concerns that the lighthouse would not survive the move, The Cape Hatteras Light House Station Relocation Project or, “The Move of the Millennium,” was taken on by General contractors, International Chimney and Expert House Movers.
The amazing process meant that the lighthouse was lifted from its foundation by hydraulic jacks and moved 5 feet at a time along roller dollies, rails, and push jacks, along a 2,900 foot pathway carved through thick beach brush, which is still evident today. The movement started on June 17 and the lighthouse was placed on its new foundation on July 9, 1999. Thankfully, the lighthouse now sits safely at 1,500 feet from the current shoreline.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse remains one of the tallest masonry structures ever moved. Thank goodness there were talented experts out there who were able to move a 198 foot, 4,830 ton brick lighthouse!!
Have you ever visited Cape Hatteras?
Let’s Just Go! 