Inland Crane picks up, delivers historic steam shovel to ITD for a short video of the steam shovel move, click here Skilled and energetic Inland Crane workers assembled near the URS courtyard at about 7 a.m. Saturday, to prepare the classic Bucyrus-Erie B-3 steam shovel for its transport through downtown Boise. Preparation for the move took longer than the move itself. An Inland Crane operator meticulously removed 30,000-pound counter weights from flatbed trailers and placed them on the deck of the massive crane. At the same time, other workers carefully wrapped the underbelly of the steam shovel with straps and cables to prepare it for a short aerial journey from the courtyard to an awaiting lowboy trailer. It waited patiently as each of the counter weights was removed from the crane and returned to waiting truck trailers. Escorted by Boise police officers, ITD vehicles and an armada of Inland Crane trucks, the semi-truck and trailer maneuvered around corners and busy thoroughfares. The informal parade completed the trip to Headquarters in 45 minutes, arriving at about 3:30 p.m. where the process of adding counter weights was repeated. Ninety minutes later, the crane operator gently lifted the Bucyrus-Erie, carefully swung it around three flagpoles and deposited the steam shovel on a 30-foot by 40-foot concrete pad. A small crowd gathered to watch the precision operation, then hovered around the new resident to admire its condition and pose for photographs. Jerry Whitehead, chairman of the Idaho Transportation Board, and former chairman Darrell Manning were among the greeters. Both played an instrumental role in securing the earth moving equipment for permanent display at ITD. In doing so, they preserved a piece of construction history that otherwise might have been turned to salvage. Whitehead, who owns a trailer manufacturing business, was intimately involved in the move from dawn’s first light, to the arrival of dusk. After the steam shovel was positioned on the awaiting pad, the board chairman crawled under its “house” to help remove straps and cables. (top photo) He also climbed aboard the machine to pose for photos behind the shovel’s controls. Acquiring, moving and housing the historic implement was a group project:
Published 3-30-2012 |