A Farmer Lifts And Moves His Three Storey Building Backward

Impossible: Farmer Lifts And Moves His Three-Storey Building 40 Meters Backward

Ever heard of a building moving from where it was originally built to another location. Unbelievable you might say, right. Unbelievable is the right word. But it did happen. It happened in southern China province of Jianxi. A farmer managed to move his entire house 40 metres away from the site of a road construction by using an impressive system of wooden sleepers and winches.

The farmer Gao Yiping and his family had just recently moved in to his three-storey house in Zhouxi Town and had lived there for just over a year when local authorities notified him that it was standing right in the middle of a new road construction and needed to be demolished. The state would offer some compensation, but Gao, who had spent around 1 million yuan ($160,000) and several years building his dream home, just couldn’t bare the thought of seeing it demolished so soon. After hearing about his predicament, one of Gao’s friends suggested he contact a company specialized in moving houses over short distances. With no other choice than having his new house demolished and rebuilt somewhere else, the farmer contacted the company and hoped for the best.

The farmer expected to receive over 400,000 yuan ($63,000) in compensation from the Chinese government, for relocating, and he decided that he would gladly pay all of that to the moving company, if it meant avoiding demolition and having to build his house all over again. Luckily for him, the company said the move was feasible and would cost him less than he had anticipated.In September 2017, the farmer hired a professional construction team to basically detach his house from its foundation, while at the same time preparing the land around it for the tricky moving operation. When everything was ready, it was time for the professional building moving company to earn its high fee.

40 meters may not sound like a lot, but considering Gao’s three-storey house weighed a reported 1,000 tonnes, moving it all that distance was never going to be easy or quick, the entire moving process lasted a month and a half, and required around 1,000 wooden sleepers.

I’m no expert, but judging from the photos taken during the operation, the large house was raised from the ground and placed on the wooden sleepers. It was then slowly pulled using several strong ropes and winches, an eye witness narrated.

In the end, Gao Yiping ended up paying 220,000 yuan ($35,000) to the moving company, as well as another 110,000 yuan ($17,500) on having the house detached from the foundation and renovating the entire floor. That’s a total of 330,000 yuan ($52,500), less than he had anticipated, and way less than he would have spent on rebuilding the whole thing from the ground up. To top it all off, he received a generous compensation of 680,000 yuan ($108,000), so he not only kept his house intact, but he actually turned a nice profit.

Despite the apparent success of the monumental moving operation, many were skeptical that the house was still safe to live in. They claimed the move must have certainly weakened the structure and caused the walls to crack, not to mention the detachment from the original foundation.

Gao, however, claims otherwise, He told reporters that he and his family have lived in the relocated house for three months now, and so far there are no crack in the walls. Furthermore, since he built an even better foundation for it than before, he is sure that the house is even sturdier now.

The farmer said that he would recommend this process over demolition to anyone, It saves money, time and effort, and also reduces environmental pollution.

His success story has no inspired one of his neighbour's, whose house – built in 2016 – is also located on the new road construction scheme. His home has to be moved 120 meters, but after doing the math, he too figured that it would cost less to have it moved than to have it demolished and rebuilt somewhere else.

How two brothers died inside a deep freezer

How two siblings played their way to the grave inside mum’s apartment – Eye witness

 Emmanuel Okogba

1 day ago

By Dayo Johnson, Regional Editor, South-West

TONGUES are wagging over the mysterious death of two brothers inside a deep freezer in Akure, Ondo State capital.

To lose two out of three children at a go and in such a tragic manner is not only sorrowful but also pitiable.

The deaths unsettled Akure as the sad news swept through the metropolis like harmattan fire.

Residents raced to the area to catch a glimpse of the brothers who died inside the freezer in their mother’s flat.

Some residents, however, believed that the death of the two brothers and primary school pupils, Olufemitan Olaitan, 9, and Oluwafifunmi Olaitan, 7, who appeared to have suffocated when they mistakenly shut the door of the faulty freezer against themselves while playing, was suspicious. They argued that the freezer was not a giant size and that, with their ages, they should have been able to open the door of the freezer if it actually mistakenly closed on them

The deceased brothers, according to findings, had been locked inside the house by their mother, Olubunmi, who went to the market to buy foodstuff on Monday at about 3pm. Sunday Vanguard learnt that she lived with her three children alone in the flat.

She was said to have taken the youngest child, aged three, to the market only to return after about an hour later to meet the two boys stone dead inside the freezer at the house located at No 6, Road 1, Eyin Ala, Akure.

A family source said the mother, on getting back home, initially could not find the boys and she became worried.

She was said to have searched all the rooms and still could not find the boys only to raise the alarm which attracted neighbours and a search party was organised.

Nobody in the search party thought the boys could be inside the faulty deep freezer kept at a corner in the house.

It learnt that after it was discovered that the door was not tampered with when their mother returned from market, one of the neighbours reportedly opened the freezer only to discover the boys inside, dead.

The siblings were removed and taken to hospital with the hope that they could still be revived.

A police source said the boys may have been playing inside the freezer and its door shut against them and that, because of the weight of the door, the boys could not free themselves.

The source added that if their mother or anybody was at home, the cries of the deceased would have attracted her/him and they would have been saved.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the boys, after struggling to free themselves, may have died as a result of suffocation inside the freezer.

However, another police source alleged that the kids might have been murdered before they were dumped inside the freezer by their assailant.

The source said that the assailant may have dumped their lifeless bodies inside the freezer to give an impression that they suffocated after being trapped inside the fridge.

According to the source, the two boys, with their ages, should have been able to force the freezer open if actually it mistakenly closed up on them.

Also, he said that the freezer was a small one that could be easily opened by the boys if they were actually playing inside the freezer as suspected.

But the same source hinted that the door of the flat was intact when the mother of the deceased boys arrived from the market. However, he added that investigation into the death of the minors was still in progress and that all avenues would be explored to unravel the mystery behind their death.

The source said, “Anything can still come up during our investigation. Don’t be surprised if we come up with something fresh in the course of our investigation”.

He added that autopsy will bring to the open the cause of the death of the two brothers.

“All we have been told was that the boys were left alone in the house and that when their mother returned they were found inside a freezer that had not been working for over a year”, the source stated.

“How they got inside the freezer is unknown. We are only suspecting that they may be playing inside and the door of the freezer closed on them and in the process they were suffocated”.

It was gathered that when the boys were discovered inside the freezer, one of them had blood in his mouth while the other was alleged to have defecated on himself.

The parents reportedly buried the boys last Wednesday.

Contacted, Ondo State police spokesperson, Femi Joseph, said no arrest had been made as nobody was suspected to have murdered the boys.

Joseph said that the father of the boys, Olusegun Olaitan, reported the matter at a police station.

He described the death of the two minors as sad and unfortunate.

“There was no trace that the boys were killed and so far we have not made any arrest on the matter”, the spokesperson said.

“We did not suspect foul play because it appeared as if the kids were playing inside the deep freezer and the door locked on them when there was nobody at home to help them open the door. It is really a sad and unfortunate incident”.