Originally published Friday, March 2, 2007 at 12:00 AM
Day 3, and statue still doesn't budge
Thursday, Day 3: That 17-foot statue of Leif Erikson at Shilshole Bay still wouldn't budge, even after some 40 man-hours of hammering and...
Seattle Times staff reporter
Thursday, Day 3: That 17-foot statue of Leif Erikson at Shilshole Bay still wouldn't budge, even after some 40 man-hours of hammering and drilling.
It wouldn't budge even after crews dulled half-a-dozen tips from a jackhammer and broke a 1 ¼-inch drill bit.
"It surprised me in its strength, and it surprised me that there was concrete," said Roger Waterhouse, project manager for Artech, the company contracted to move the bronze statue to Kent to fix blemishes caused by weathering.
He said some 3,000 pounds of concrete had been poured into the statue's hollow legs, which then set hard against the foundation. In addition, it was held down with steel rebar up to an inch thick, as well as ¾-inch steel bolts.
Without the concrete, the statue weighs 8,000 pounds, and when it finally is lifted, there will be straps along not only the middle of Erikson, but the bottoms of his feet, to make sure the concreted legs don't break off.
"It's a monster," Waterhouse said.
Erikson is to be refurbished and moved about 200 feet to a new home.
The statue has been a local icon for 45 years.
Erikson was a Viking many believe was the first European to reach America, 500 years before Columbus, and a source of pride for local Scandinavians.
Thursday at Shilshole, just as it was on Tuesday and Wednesday, a noontime ceremony in which a crane would hoist Erikson was canceled.
Kristine Leander, president of the Leif Erikson International Foundation (www.leiferikson.org), which is raising funds for Erikson's new site, wouldn't predict when the fourth try at a lifting ceremony would take place. Maybe Friday, maybe this weekend, she said, but who knows?
She said about Erikson, "He just keeps surprising us."
Erik Lacitis: 206-464-2237 or elacitis@seattletimes.com
Copyright © The Seattle Times Company
NEW - 12:17 AM
Big demand, grim outlook for state Basic Health Plan
UPDATE - 11:31 PM
Flood fears dampen business, home sales
NEW - 10:46 PM
Nicole Brodeur: Homeless woman bent on giving
Portland cafe's specialty: medical-marijuana tokes
Thousands of tax-refund checks undeliverable

PNW Magazine | Easy As Pie
A little friendly competition between professional pie-baker Kate McDermott and The Seatttle Times' Kathleen Triesch Saul is handled with great taste.
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Sporting goods
just listed
1 New Miller Safety Harness and 2 new shock absorb - $245
1960s Couch - $75
1ct Rd GIA Cert - $4600
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
shopping
events for Tuesday, Nov. 24
- 5th Annual Urban Craft Uprising
- Bella Umbrella Holiday Sale
- Thanksgiving Weekend Sales at The Bravern
- Metropolitan Pilates Pre-Thanksgiving Sale
editors' picks
- Local jewelry designers
- Vintage, consignment and used clothing
- Independent bookstores
- Maternity shopping
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Tugboat sinks at Seattle waterfront pier
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- Vikings easily beat the Seahawks
- Craigslist adoption ad: A plea by young mother-to-be? A scam?
- Chase shrugs off loss of CD investors
- Woman stabbed by stranger in North Seattle
- Snow piles up on Cascade slopes
- Denny Triangle gains skyline, but tenants slow to come
- Illegal workers quietly let go
406 - Climate change speeds up since 1997 Kyoto accord
215 - Metro won't cut bus service after all
160 - New Husky recruit: Enes Kanter
106 - Bellevue residents blast new bikini espresso stand
94 - Middleton says Huskies "plan on scoring at least 50 points'' Saturday
86 - Tattoos at Mill Creek Church pierce skin, soul
85 - Seattle woman charged with knife attack on boyfriend's ex
76 - Jerry Brewer: Seahawks can't lean on the Hutch Crutch now
75 - Senate Democrats split on health bill's fate
58
- Sprouts, raw fish on attorney's 'do not eat' list
- Tattoos at Mill Creek church pierce skin, soul
- Food-safety lawyer's wish: Put me out of business
- Illegal workers quietly let go
- Architects, chefs find 'kid' within to build Gingerbread Village
- Rediscovering Moab, 'the most beautiful place on Earth'
- It's possible to recover a life lost to hoarding
- Child-support error costs nearly $21,000
- 'The Road' takes Viggo Mortensen to Mount St. Helens and Astoria, Ore.
- Hutch gets $10M from Bezos family for immunotherapy research

