RON HENGGELER

September 10, 2010
The ring is in place atop the Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park

On Friday September 9th, the ten-ton rotating ring was lifted up and placed on top of the Murphy Windmill.
A monstrous crane drove four hours into San Francisco from Stockton California. It was followed by a fleet of eight flatbed semi trucks each bringing two ten-ton counter weights, and four massive squares for the crane’s extended legs to stand on securely. It took nearly three hours to set the crane up. Placement of the 135 tons of counter weight in 13 hauls took up most of that time. Once the crane was properly positioned and ready, it only took another hour to place the rotating ring atop the windmill’s tower.
It was an astonishing accomplishment considering the ten-ton rotating ring was lifted nearly ten stories up to the top of the tower and was aligned into16 waiting bolts.
All of it had to fit precisely with only a couple of centimeters of tolerance. The two-ton main axle was brought up right after and was placed in the center of the tower without a hitch. This coming Monday, September 12th, the 64-ton cap, fantail and 108ft. long sail spars will be hauled up and installed.
To view my photo gallery of the Murphy Windmill Restoration Project go to:
RonHenggeler.com
http://www.ronhenggeler.com
Photos of the recent work by Roebuck Construction beginning in June 2011, start on page 8 with photo # 278.
(All the new photos as I continue to add them into my web site, will appear on the last pages in this Murphy Windmill Restoration section.)

 

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