Office Phone

951-684-7261

Fax:

951-684-7023

The El Cortez Hotel and Casino

Moved in 1983

The following Photos and article are courtesy

The House and Building Mover Magazine

Tight turns were no problem, but they were tight.

This aerial Photo shows our Kenworth pushing from behind.

One of the 12 tired 100 ton rear dollies.

A front look at the dolly system and four main beams being used.

This is all the steel it took to jack up each 300 ton section.

This shows the truck pushing from behind in the center of the bunker.

A side view of the front dolly system.

Getting both sections lined up was no problem with steerable dollies.

Robert and Ada Cohen needed a large building moved. The building was part of the El Cortez Hotel and Casino. It was 50' wide and 130' long and needed to moved approximately 3 blocks in downtown Las Vegas. The job had a time limit to be completed  within because because of the construction of the new El Cortez Tower. The movers Mr. Cohen contacted were not able to complete it within its time limit. Then a mover showed him a copy of "The House and Building Mover." The cover story was featuring Younger Brothers of Southern California. They were moving a 340 ton masonry railroad station. Observing that Younger Brothers home office is only about 200 miles west of Las Vegas, Mr. Cohen immediately contacted them. After meeting with Rick Younger and observing his operation, Younger Brothers received the contract. At this point, all the permits were secured. Several said this would be the biggest job of all but the great cooperation from all the city officials and utility companies made this a very easy and enjoyable part of the job.

  Rick's first consideration was to move the 600 ton building in one piece. After closer scrutiny and consideration the 3 or 4 90º  turns, the weight and length of the building would present a problem. The decision was then made to cut the building in half, thus making each section 50' wide and 65' long, weighting 300 tons each. Their next concern was that crawling room under the building varied from a very tight 6" to up to about 24" in a few places. Because of this and the fact that the building was directly in the corner of two buildings giving no working room on those sides. The conventional of moving the building on two main beams and several crossloaders was out of the question. This was solved by using 4' to 6' lengths of of 5" H-beams and 2" flat steel placed at strategic points all under the first section of the building. The 29 jacks controlled by their custom built 24 unit Modern Hydraulic jacking machine picked up the building with an ease that amazed all onlookers. Then 4-15" x 14, 70' long main beams were placed under the building. the use of two extra main beams enabled them to move the building without 30 or 40 crossloaders.

 After the first section was loaded out, it was pulled across the street so that the back section could be loaded out and moved first. Each section was loaded out with thee same dolly set up. A bunker or bolster depending on where you are from, was placed under the main steel on each end of the building. This enables either end to be the front of back and made placing the building easier. Under the back was placed two 12 tired, 100 ton steerable dollies. Under the front was placed two 60 ton dollies connected together by a rocker beam, also a 50 ton dolly with a hydraulic jack installed was placed on either side of the rocker beam. This enabled them to stay on the three point system without putting any strain or overload on any of the dollies.

   Finally, moving day came on Wednesday, July 6th. With the complete crew assembled including, Herb Younger Sr., Rick Younger, and Herb Jr. The first section was pulled in the front by a 540 International Payloader obtained from Bat Rentals of Las Vegas and pushed in the back by Younger's special equipped Kenworth. With hundreds of onlookers present to observe, the move was completed without any problems at all. That afternoon, it was backed over the foundation. On Thursday the wheels were removed and placed under the second section. On Friday the second section was a very successful move. By Friday evening, both sections were over the footing and lined up with each other. The total job from start to fish took a total of only 6 weeks. Very good considering all the work involved in moving a building of this size, weight and working conditions.

It is at this point that the editor and managing editor of "The House and Building Mover" would like to thank Younger Brothers and the El Cortez Hotel and Casino for inviting us out and providing a very nice room and accommodations for us to observe and photograph the move for the magazine. It was a very enjoyable and entertaining week in Las Vegas.

House Moving

PO Box 1542,  Riverside, CA  92502  U.S.A.

(951) 684-7261    Fax: (951) 684-7023

E-mail: Info@youngerbroshousemovers.com