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House yields to new Maysville bypass
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By DANETTA BARKER Staff Writer
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Duke Ford and his family have tried to move since October but the weather has held them up.
The move is not as simple as loading up the U-Haul or calling a moving van. When Ford moves he is taking everything -- the house and everything in it.
Because the planned Maysville bypass is cutting through his yard, Ford decided to move his home across the field, about a quarter of a mile, to a new location.
Rain that pounded the area through the winter prevented the movers from moving the house earlier.
"I planned to be in the new location by Thanksgiving," Ford said. "But the rain started."
Watching his house being pulled by a Peterbuilt truck Wednesday, Ford said the wait has caused him to not be so nervous about the move.
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| Northern Kentucky House Movers have been busy the past several weeks getting Duke and Linda Ford's house ready to be moved to its new location. The home was in the path of a new road to be built south of Washington. Inset, Duke Ford appears in an upstairs window after inspecting the house for any damage Wednesday afternoon. Movers were successful in getting the house pulled away from its original location and started on its nearly one mile trip to a new location. Terry Prather/Staff |
"It's taken so long, it's not that big of a deal now," Ford said laughing.
If the electrical wires crossing the driveway to the house don't have to be moved, Ford can expect his house to be in its new location by the end of this week. If the wires have to go, then it will be next week. Either way, the process that has taken months to start has begun and that makes Ford happy.
There's not all the hassle of moving when you take the house with you. Ford said he packed kitchen cabinets, still full of dishes, with newspaper then taped the doors shut. He said when he last went into the house Wednesday morning everything was still intact.
Ford and his wife Linda Kern-Ford built the house 18 years ago. The two-story farm-style house has a wrap-around porch and a small tower at one end. Although the house swayed and rocked as movers inched it forward, C-clamps held the structure in place as it moved. Hanging light fixtures inside the house could be seen swinging back and forth.
The project was halted at one stage after the wheels of the trailer got stuck in a hole. Ford pulled out his own tractor and hitched to the truck. In about two minutes he had the wheels free. The house kept moving to complete the huge arched path it had to take to get back on the gravel road.
Fines Branscum, who owns Northern Kentucky Movers, said the house couldn't be moved straight from the original foundation because that end of the house, which has a chimney for two fireplaces, was too heavy. The chimney end was placed at the back of the truck to weigh it down.
"The weight of the house will hold it in place as it moves," Branscum said. "The house weighs about 80 tons. It is really well built."
The house is 2,600 square feet, but that is not the biggest house Branscum has moved. He said he moved one the was 285 feet long and 60 feet wide.
"We moved it at the airport, so we had plenty of room," Branscum said. "If you use all the right equipment, you're all right."
Branscum and Ford, who was also trying to video the process, said they wanted to get the house to the spot where the electrical wires were by late Wednesday afternoon. From there the house will be taken across a field to rest on its new foundation, complete with a full basement.
Then the Ford family will finally be "moved."
Contact Danetta Barker at Danetta.Barker@lee.net or call 606-564-9091, ext. 272. |
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