Structural lifting

Lift rather than tear down

A settled foundation, a building that has to be raised out of a flood zone, a camp that has to come off a site being closed: in each case, lifting the structure costs less than rebuilding it. It also keeps its value and its function.

We lift houses, apartment blocks, mining camps, control buildings, hangars and oversized equipment. The highest lift completed to date reached 21 feet.

When a structure gets lifted

• The foundation has reached the end of its life and has to be rebuilt without losing the building
• The structure has to be raised out of a flood or erosion zone
• A full level has to be added underneath the existing building
• The structure has to be cleared for underpinning
• The structure has to be prepared for a move on site or to another site

How it goes

It always starts with a survey on site. We record the load, the bearing points, the type of foundation, the access and the soil, then the constraints that decide everything else: tides, wind, ice, frost, site window.

The structure is then cleared, supported on a network of beams and raised progressively on jacks, evenly, so no stress builds up in the structure. The equipment is matched to the load and fabricated on site when nothing existing will do.

While the structure is in the air, access to what sits underneath is complete. That is the moment to pour a new foundation, redo the drainage or waterproof, before setting back down.

One crew for the whole job

Hydraulics, structure, machinery and transport are covered by the same crew. That is what removes the grey zones between trades and the blown schedules that come with them.

The price is fixed. There is no meter running while the structure sits on jacks.