Monday, March 31, 2008

Flint returns to the stone age



Retired construction worker Wally Wallington exhibits Flint's can-do spirit by building a replica of Stonehenge. By himself. For his next feat, he'll make GM profitable.

I am a retired carpenter with 35 years experience in construction. In my work experience, over the years, many times I had to improvise on tools that were not at hand in order to get the job done.

At one of these times, about 12 years ago, I had to remove some 1200 lb. saw cut concrete blocks from an existing floor. The problem was that we did not have a machine that could reach some of the blocks. The only obvious answer was to break the blocks into smaller pieces with a sledgehammer and load them into a wheelbarrow. To me, this seemed to be too much labor at the time, so I improvised.

Using a few rocks and leverage, I removed the blocks from below the floor to an area that the machine could reach them for removal. After doing this several times, the technique became very easy and quick. This experience had me consider the possibility that people may have used this technique before modern day equipment was available.

For more details head to Wally's website.




4 comments:

  1. From Wally's website:

    "For many years people have tried to solve the mystery of the Egyptian pyramids, some even claiming extra terrestrial intervention. ... I have found that this work could easily be done using only primitive tools and physics."

    Wait, so it wasn't woolly mammoths that built the pyramids? You mean 10,000 BC is WRONG??

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  2. Ahh, 10,000 B.C...a fine film, right up there with Semi-Pro.

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  3. I love people who do stuff like this. Reminds me of Fred Dibnah and his backyard mineshaft. However, did I miss something, or are we still waiting for Wally to work out how to get the big crossbeams up there too?

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  4. Just what I was wondering. I'll have to do some follow up on this one. Wally could be in his yard, trapped under the crossbeam, as we speak.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.