The President set to move.

LIFTED IN ONE PIECE? WHEELS? OVER LAND? Something a just a tad bit bigger than a house sez the engineer with tongue firmly planted in cheek, I can't even fathom the roads taking that weight, let alone the width and height requirements as this MOVE travels down the road. 1500 feet is nothing to scoff at..a little less than a 1/3 of a mile...Anybody want to guess on how many tires the trailer will need to carry 2276 TONS let alone how big the trailer or I suspect multiple trailers will have to be ? Just a quick calc on my part, the President has got to be at least 65 feet tall, I hope they have talked with the utility companies as a whole slew of wires are gonna have to come down...probably poles, too.

And then there is the Gawd Awful Monster of a crane or cranes to get her airborn. Exciting stuff...

Jim, do you have your video cameras warmed up? Tell me PLEASE that you will be in the area when this happens.

Well, this idea beats the owner's first one: to cut the PREZ in 3 segments and helicopter them to the place!

I'll believe it when I see it.

The company has produced shows under the "Monster Moves", "Mega Moves", "Impossible Moves"and "Huge Moves" names. Here's a link to a web video of a church move they filmed. Very nice production, too!

Windfall Films

If you explore their web site, you'll no doubt find some shows you've seen on TV.
-Jim Herron

I wondered if this would ever come to pass. I got an email from a John Driftmier back in January asking if I knew of any large vessel moves in the Midwest that could used in their "Mega Moves" show. Can't remember if I suggested the PRESIDENT, as I thought it was going to be hacked into pieces, and not done in a way that would be good for a TV show. But I do remember suggesting how the TICONDEROGA was transported by train to its current resting place. Unfortunately that was in the 1950s, and there wasn't good film coverage of it.

As Bob said, I'll believe this when I see it!

Bruno Krause;11239 wrote: 1500 feet is nothing to scoff at..a little less than a 1/3 of a mile...Anybody want to guess on how many tires the trailer will need to carry 2276 TONS let alone how big the trailer or I suspect multiple trailers will have to be ?

B,

Just for comparison sake, a fully equipped, fully fueled space shuttle with max payload on board weighs 2232.5 tons. That includes the vehicle, rockets and fuel tanks.

The ground transport vehicle looks like this (I hope)

Paul

Another shot of the crawler, as it's really known. Think they can rent this thing to move that boat?

Is that cool, or what?!? I had seen the crawler for the Saturn V rockets in the late 60's -- amazing. My doubt is not whether it can physically be done, but whether it will be done.

The President's Final Journey

anything is possible........

The President will be towed from Alton IL to Metropolis IL either the 2nd/3rd week of July. We're thinking of having a few drinks in Alton, where she's docked, to see her off...so all steamboat enthusiasts and fans of the President are welcome to come on down. We'll be starting the filming of this truly monstrous move then and there.....

I've attached a few of the recce photos we took of the President and also one of the biggest/heaviest structure featured on the show....so far.
This brick house in Des Moines, IA weighed 800 tonnes, measured roughly 70ft x 70ft and it took 192 wheels/dollies to move her.

The initial plan was to move the President in one piece over 70 miles by road. For obvious reasons this plan was scrapped (street furniture, bridges etc). Then they were going to cut her into 16 pieces and do the trip. This process would add millions to the restoration process and once you cut her hull up you're going to find it very difficult putting her back together, water tight.

So the plan (basically) is to tug her down to Metropolis, close down a busy dock, attach floatation devices, haul her up a 30ft bank using a gantry system, fit dollies/power dollies, and then haul her 1500ft........ready for restoration

The owner/movers are finalizing everything over this week but I'll post the specifics once i hear....

I'm sure this is possible to do but i wouldn't want to be the guy in charge of doing it. He's a very ambitious mover called Jeremy Patterson of Patterson Housemovers, Washington IA.

Hopefully this might kick start a (very expensive) trend in saving a few more steamboats

(cont onto next post)

The President's Final Journey

Here are some more photos of the Iowa house that moved.....I'm going to dig out some more President recce photos for everyone to see.

If you have any interesting stories about the President, if you took a trip on it yourself, I'd love to hear about it. If you have any photos of the President in her prime, we'd love to see them as well.

If you'd like to come to the party/send off/excuse for a drink then feel free to get in touch as we'd love to hear from you....

Lee Reading
MEGA MOVES
[email protected]
011 44 207 251 7669

I think they've moved something even bigger than that, but it didn't go very far. It's astounding what these movers can do.

Lee,

Do you have any more news on moving the President, such as a specific schedule? This will be a very significant activity and I would like to come up and watch if I can.

Are there any local news sources that are covering this?

Ed Jones
Atlanta

Why not have Superman haul the boat out once it gets to his home town? I lived in Metropolis for eleven years and only saw Supe a few times as he's getting on in years and not the Man of Steel he once was, but he may come out of retirement for one last shot of glory.

Pray tell, why in the world is the PRESIDENT moving to Metropolis anyway? Have I missed something? If it is to be a tourist atraction, here's hoping it will do better than the Superman Museum.

Archimedes once observed, "Give me a long enough pole and something to rest it on and I can move the earth."

Beats me why they are going there. Maybe it is because it is accessible by river. It sounds like they are putting the President on dry land. Is this true? If so, that's kind of dumb. At least the other plan had the boat in a lake. "Hey kids, let's go to a former steamboat/casino boat that is now parked in a parking lot." Hopefully I am misinterpreting the plans. Otherwise, if they proceed with the hotel idea, why would anyone want to go to a hotel, on a riverboat that has no water around it?

The PRESIDENT's destination is going to be St. Elmo, Illinois, of all places. This is south-central Illinois, due east of Alton, near Effingham. Not sure why it's not being done at Alton, but must be something to do with logistics. Maybe they could only get road permits from Metropolis(?). If the boat's final location has changed, I'm not aware of it. I'm sure there will be some road-rage on the interstates when this thing blocks all northbound lanes! What a sight that would be! I still don't see how it can be done in one piece. They will need electric crews to take power lines down and put them back up, I would think. Wait... That won't work either.... Over-passes!!

I am surprised that there are not more well- wishers for the President move. It seems many of the comments are negative or pessimistic. I am happy that the President might be saved at all. I cruised on her in NOLA back in the early eighties. It was sad to see her being ripped to pieces through the pictures posted on this board in the recent past.

Sure, it will be a monumental job, maybe it will hit a snag, money will run dry or it won't happen for some reason, but I for one hope they pull it off and that the venture is successful. I am planning to go see it in progress if I can arrange it. If the movers pull it off, it will be something to talk about. : )

Totally confused now

Oh, so the St. Elmo thing is still happening? And, they're going through Metropolis to do this? Moving it 1500 feet is one thing, but 150 MILES is another. By my calculation, this is the distance between Metropolis, IL and St. Elmo, IL. How does one move a 285 foot long, 75 year old riverboat over land that far? If this fantasy is still planned, then it is probably doomed before it arrives at its new "home port". If Metropolis, IL, on the other hand, ends up being the final destination, then the plans may work, with some luck.

Ed, the reason so many of us are pessimistic is that the boat has languished, nay, deteriorated, for years in its present location at Wood River. The owners had grandiose plans to move to St. Elmo, and did not take any advice from those knowlegable about the boat. Now we hear of these plans to go to Metropolis. That would be great if it actually comes off, but past performance of the owner leads many of us to believe it will not happen. Hope it does, but I will believe it when I see it.

The developer told me in 2006 that ultimately the PRESIDENT will set on concrete pilings at the south end of Tower Lake (a small, 37 acre lake) at St. Elmo. There it will be operated as a brand-name hotel, with additional rooms at a nearby, separate building.

In order to take advantage of the historical aspects of the boat, I suspect they will try to restore some things to before its casino days, and advertise the fact that it is a National Historic Landmark.

I've asked the developer to chime-in on this thread. Maybe he will do that and explain it all. But I see now that Metropolis must surely be the new final desitnation. Usually they send me emails on the latest plans for the boat, but I hadn't heard anything since November '06... Plus I was in a hurry and hadn't read all other postings in this thread!! 🙂

I just received the following email from the PRESIDENT's owner/developer:

Hello Steve, It's Great To Hear From You! Thanks Again For Giving the
Mega Moves Producers my contact information. We are working with
Metropolis & a few other cities along the River. I would rather not
speculate as to where the final destination might be at this point.
It depends on several things from historical preservation to
financing. I will let everyone know when we reach a final agreement.
I wish it was much easier to work through the historical preservation
& financing of projects like this. I know I don't have to tell you or
the other steamboat.org folks how hard it is. I hope the Delta Queen
makes it through her uncertain days ahead. Both the Prez & DQ deserve
bright futures! David

Hi there,

Forgive the brief email but as soon as i have dates, locations, moving methods and schedules are confirmed/made official....i'll be sure to post it here so you can come along should you be free and in the neighbourhood.

Best

Lee
MEGA MOVES

The President will have to be on some kind of cradle and support when she comes out of the river or she will buckle. The Dredge Captain Mariwether did that when she was setting in a basin and dirt had washed in under her head. It left a bump in the main deck of the engine room. moving her is not the problem it is getting her cradled and out of the river with out buckling her decks. Maybe the wasy is to build a cradle on a drydock lower the dock float her on and nose the dry dock up to a bank and pull her off. Maybe the moving dollies could be in place on the dry dock under the cradle.