well, ... , oopsies, ... , color my cheeks a little rosier than normal. i needn't have been so puzzled.
they "mystery" of the little trucks is solved.
the mystery of the "little trucks" is solved, and might never have caused me any confusion, had i been just a wee bit more observant.
caption: this is the shed that the national guard detachment's vehicles have been stored in. you will notice that the corner of same is about 2 feet above its former corner foundation. to cut to the chase, the whole building has been raised off the ground.
caption: again, look at the foundation and the bottom of the building. they are separated.
caption: the red steel beam across the entrance is part of the structure upon which rests the entire building, prepatory to it being moved to another location by emmert construction of portland, oregon, phone number 503-655-7191, as noted by reader ironhead. hat tip. laughing.
and, now is revealed the purpose and manner of function of the little "trucks" with the multiple axles and the substantial tires. the little mechanism in the middle of the axles is an hydraulic jack, and the little bracket at the top is a saddle upon which & within the beams rest. in short, the little saddles carry the load of the building suspended upon the beams.
caption: this truck on the trailer has been towed to milton freewater from portland, oregon for the express purpose of towing the building to its new resting site. it was not driven, because it is so "low geared" that it has a very reduced "road speed," and it is just easier to tow carry/trailer it, to where it will tow the buildings that emmert construction moves.
one mystery solved.
another mystery remains unresolved.
well, the mystery of the little trucks is solved. emmert construction is simply going to move the old storage shed in which the guard's humvees were stored to another location. simple as that.
and, immediately below, you will see just where the shed will be moved.
caption: you will notice the shed in the background. it sits firmly atop its foundation.
you will see the concrete slab and foundation in the foreground, which has recently been completed at the site of the oregon national guard detachment in milton freewater, oregon and which has been featured in a whole bunch of recent posts at this website.
this is the destination of the old shed, and it will be moved from the concrete pad upon which it sits, and placed upon the new concrete pad upon which it will sit in the future. i haven't been able to actually measure the distance, but, i would estimate that the new pad is not more than 150 feet or so from the old pad.
the oregon national guard has built a new concrete pad upon which to place the old shed, the process eventually leaving the old concrete pad exposed, with no shed sitting upon it. why? you might ask.
i have not seen the move executed, so i am not absolutely sure that the "new" concrete pad is the same dimension as the "old" concrete pad, nor do i know for certain that the shed's dimensions will remain the same, though i've heard nothing to indicate that the shed will be changed in any way.
this is all very interesting.
the oregon military department purchased three separate lots in milton freewater upon which to erect the new concrete pad. at a cost of around $300,000 which is pretty close to the appraised fair market value of the properties, and then some. i know this, because i went to the umatilla county courthouse in pendleton oregon, and obtained confirming documents from the county assessor and the county recorder of documents. (i have copies of the assessor's plots, and copies of the real estate warranty deeds, confirming the state of oregon as owners of the property.)
it would appear at this juncture that the state of oregon has erected a very sturdy concrete pad upon which to place a building, and in so doing, has will have moved a building to another location gaining no additional square footage/storage area in the process. they will have spent $300,000 approximately in land acquisition expense, to gain absolutely no additional utility from the building.
they do, however, now possess a concrete pad which appears to be substantially thinker and stronger than the previous concrete pad, whose "premises have been vacated/moved."
why?
it would appear that all of this has been done for no purpose other than to place a storage shed upon a concrete pad/floor that will bear considerably more weight than the old building.
so, we are right back to the initial quandary, and the initial inquiry, and that is, just what is the oregon national guard going to put into this building and onto this concrete pad that requires & warrants such a huge weight bearing capability. (see p.s. below.) back in the old days the oregon national guard had heavy tanks upon the premises, and the floors of the shed apparently held up under them.
so, why move the building? and, what goes into the building that requires the move, and that requires the huge concrete slab in it.
this mystery, this inquiry remains open. until it is resolved in some manner, i can only conclude that the oregon national guard, or some other state or county agency, wishes to apply to the department of homeland security, united state government for one or more of those dumb assed mrap's.
and, as we all now know, they will simply fill out a form 1033 asking the gift of a $600,000 armored car in return for a nominal shipping cost assessment.
and, all that entails, as discussed previously.
john jay @ 10.30.3013
update, 10.30.2013. p.s. this "p.s." is further musing/"response" to the rhetorical question asked above, about what the oregon national guard intends to achieve by its expenditure, and just what it intends to house in the building.
at first i thought, well, it is just the usual squandering of money. but, i don't think so, upon further consideration.-- let me put it this way. you have some money. you can build a new garage for your aging cadillac and old toyota, and spend your money that way. or build a new garage for your aging cadillac and old toyota, and have the garage and the same old dilapidated cars. or, you can buy a new cadillac and a new ferrari, for shipping costs.
what are you gonna do?
in short, it makes no sense to me to move a shed at considerable expense, ... , e.g., land acquisition, a new slab, cost of moving the building, ... , and have nothing to show for it except an old rust bucket of a shed in a new location and the same old equipment to put in it.
nah, i don't think so.
someone has a grander vision in mind. i intend to ferret it out. end update.
update no. 2, there she sits. the building has been moved into place over the slab and foundation stems. just pulled into place by the bed red truck via a windlass and cable system. an old galvanized steel shed, sitting on $350,000 (more or less) of recently acquired real estate, and the old slab sits, abandoned for the time being ... who knows the fate that awaits it.
caption: you can see the old slab in the background, between the door on the corner of the steel building and the orange fork lift.
so, there you have it. an old building on a brand new slab & foundation. no gain in storage capacity. for what purpose? whatever it is, the building slab should last for a long time.
end update.
Classic bureaucrat behavior. There was no money in the budget and the approval process for a NEW building was too onerous, but there was money for "maintenance" of the old building or the signoff was simpler, even if it cost twice as much.
This used to be common in the computer world, too. No new computers allowed, but the old ones were "repaired" by replacing everything inside the case with new.
Posted by: Uncle Kenny | October 31, 2013 at 05:24 AM