OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Animals and equipment are being put into place to move the Enchanted Valley chalet from the eroding edge of the East Fork of the Quinault River.
Rainey McKenna, Olympic National Park spokeswoman, said that Thursday’s good weather would allow a helicopter to bring in any equipment that couldn’t be carried by the mules and horses.
Carlsborg’s Monroe House Moving will move the structure 50 to 100 feet away from the river under a $124,000 contract with the National Park Service.
Larry Bayslinger of Sol Duc Valley Packers in Forks was taking the mule team into the river valley to bring supplies for a team of six workers who will make the move.
The actual move of the historic building is expected to begin no earlier than Saturday and more likely Sunday, McKenna has said.
The house mover has until Sept. 24 to complete the work.
The two-story structure will be jacked up off its foundation, and steel beams will be placed underneath the structure and soaped, according to Jeff Monroe, owner of the moving company.
Hydraulic cylinders
Hydraulic cylinders then will push the building along the beams.
Mules are available to pull the building if needed, but they are not expected to be used in the move, McKenna said.
“They’re a backup,” she said.
The chalet will stay in its new spot until the Park Service completes an environmental analysis to find the best site to build a new foundation for it.
The chalet is located 13 miles from the nearest road. It was built as a backcountry lodge in the 1930s and has been used as a wilderness ranger station and emergency shelter.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.
Park officials said that if the chalet fell into the river, it would threaten such natural and wilderness resources as bull trout living in the water.
An environmental assessment found in July no significant impact attached to the move.
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/PDN-chaletdocuments.
