Coastal cities across the globe
are planning how they will keep
the sea away as it rises.
One solution?
Just move the city.
Populations of people are already
fleeing climate change across the globe.
In North America,
the Alaskan village of Newtok was faced
a mega slump caused by melting permafrost.
As the layers of frozen soil melted,
the ground became unstable.
Homes started to sink and crumble.
It took over 20 years of preparation
for the 380 inhabitants of Newtok to move.
And they only transplanted the people,
not the buildings.
New York City is home to
more than eight million people,
and more than one million buildings.
It also faces an increasing risk
of coastal flooding.
Relocating that many people would be
daunting enough.
But throw in the challenges of moving all the buildings,
and now you’ve got quite the puzzle
for a team of engineers.
To prepare,
you’d have to figure out where
you’re going to place the new New York City.
You’d have to clear the land of any obstacles,
and maybe level it out if the area
is especially hilly.
You might even need to build
new roads to get there.
Before you even begin moving buildings,
you’d want to pour the foundations
and install utilities.
Aging pipes are an issue in older cities,
so at least you'd have the opportunity
to use new materials for sewage,
water, and gas.
Now you’d start transplanting structures.
Because of how complicated and lengthy this is,
you’d divide the city up into small sections
and take a phased approach.
After making sure that all citizens
of a specific section have moved
to a temporary spot,
you would disconnect all utilities
and remove any wires above ground.
Then you excavate the building
by digging around it and
cutting into the foundation walls.
You’d insert steel beams into the
foundation openings
to bear the weight of the building.
Then, after placing hydraulic jacks
underneath the steel beams,
you'd lift the house.
Because the hydraulic jack system
keeps the house completely level,
you can actually leave furniture inside.
With the building lifted above its foundation,
you'd slide beams underneath it,
which will help you pull the building
onto special dollies with rubber tires.
These dollies would be attached to a truck,
and the truck would transport
the structure to its new location.
Because the foundation is already poured,
the building simply has to be lowered onto it.
Connect the utilities,
and you’re done.
It's kind of like magic,
except with a lot of people,
power,
time,
and money.
How much time and money?
Well, the largest building ever moved
was the Fu Gang Building,
which weighs 15,140 tons (33.3 million lb).
It was only moved 36 m (118 ft),
but took 11 days.
The farther the structure has to travel,
and the taller the building,
the longer it will take.
You’d definitely need multiple crews
of people working at the same time
to move the city as quickly as possible.
Kiruna, Sweden,
is currently transplanting its city
of almost 23,000 people.
They have been moving the town,
piece by piece,
since 2004.
Their new location
is 4 km (2.5 mi) to the east.
The move has already cost over $532 million,
and the cost will likely double before
the move is finished.
That's a lot of money.
But it could be cheaper than
rebuilding the entire city.
Moving a house costs between 50% to 75%
of what a comparable new building would cost.
It would also be more environmentally friendly,
since you'd reuse old material.
And in some cases,
buildings have histories
that are priceless to some people.
One option to help pay for the move
would be to get a corporation
to help sponsor the new city.
But would you want to live in a
New York City run by a mega-corporation?
Well, that’s a story for another What If.