A construction company in Canada used a novel technique involving 700 bars of soap to move the 1826 building that was transformed into the Victorian Elmwood Hotel.
Since 2018, the hotel has been on the verge of demolition, but property company Galaxy Properties came to its rescue, buying the historic building with plans to move it to a new location and link it to a proposed apartment block.
Engineers and contractors from S Rushton Construction ingeniously used bars of ivory soap to replace traditional rollers, allowing the building to glide effortlessly as it was pulled by two excavators and a tow truck.
Sheldon Rushton, owner of the construction company, revealed that the Elmwood building was effortlessly moved a remarkable 30 feet with the help of ivory soap.
Once the new foundation is complete, there are plans to move the building again, highlighting the efforts to preserve and reposition the historic building for the future, Rushton shared.
A time-lapse video of the building's relocation has gone viral, showing the engineering feat behind the impressive move.