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November 11 2011

Harvey Fite - Opus 40, 1938-1976 Photo by Goggla Harvey Fite bought an abandoned bluestone quarry in 1938 and set upon building my favorite place on earth. He died in 1976, after accidentally falling into his life’s work, a few years before his planned completion. In my opinion, the few unfinished paths and piles of stone add so much to the feeling of the enormity of human drive that I probably prefer it this way. The place is huge and pretty much entirely made out of stones and gravity. I love it and looking at pictures is actually causing me to cry. Between Opus 40 and Bash Bish Falls you’ve got the setting for at least half of my best childhood memories. How he got the 9 ton monolith in place is incredible. From the Opus 40 website: [He] continued to remove stone until he had formed a crater four feet deep in the spot where the monolith was to stand. Using logs and chains, he slid the stone down off the flatbed truck that had brought it there, and placed it so that it rested horizontally, with the tapered end over the hole. Using guy wires attached to a winch on the back of a pickup truck, Fite began the laborious process of raising the stone a few inches at a time, then propping it up with a crib of heavy wooden blocks. He continued this process until gravity took over, and the stone slid down into the hole, coming to rest at a 45 degree angle.     Fite constructed an A-frame out of 30 foot timbers and raised it over the monolith, then used a chain hoist to lift the stone and suspend it over the hole. Still working stone by stone, he filled in the empty space and built up a pedestal, topped by a three-quarter ton capstone. The monolith had previously been made ready, by trimming its base so that its center of gravity was exactly perpendicular to the capstone. This entailed a calculation of extreme precision, one that was worked out by Fite and his neighbor Berthel Wrolsen, a local man who was a self-taught engineering genius and an unofficial consultant to Fite on many structural issues over the years. The calculations were especially difficult in that the top of the monolith is not only wider than the base, but also asymmetrical. Lowered into place, the monolith was to be held there entirely by its own weight and balance.  Fite’s and Wrolsen’s calculations, and Fite’s execution, proved to be correct. The monolith remains standing after nearly half a century’s exposure to all kinds of weather. I highly encourage you to google yourself pictures and videos of the place. It is so stunning. God, I miss the countryside right now.

Harvey Fite - Opus 40, 1938-1976

Photo by Goggla

Harvey Fite bought an abandoned bluestone quarry in 1938 and set upon building my favorite place on earth. He died in 1976, after accidentally falling into his life’s work, a few years before his planned completion. In my opinion, the few unfinished paths and piles of stone add so much to the feeling of the enormity of human drive that I probably prefer it this way.

The place is huge and pretty much entirely made out of stones and gravity. I love it and looking at pictures is actually causing me to cry. Between Opus 40 and Bash Bish Falls you’ve got the setting for at least half of my best childhood memories.

How he got the 9 ton monolith in place is incredible. From the Opus 40 website:

[He] continued to remove stone until he had formed a crater four feet deep in the spot where the monolith was to stand. Using logs and chains, he slid the stone down off the flatbed truck that had brought it there, and placed it so that it rested horizontally, with the tapered end over the hole.

Using guy wires attached to a winch on the back of a pickup truck, Fite began the laborious process of raising the stone a few inches at a time, then propping it up with a crib of heavy wooden blocks. He continued this process until gravity took over, and the stone slid down into the hole, coming to rest at a 45 degree angle.    

Fite constructed an A-frame out of 30 foot timbers and raised it over the monolith, then used a chain hoist to lift the stone and suspend it over the hole. Still working stone by stone, he filled in the empty space and built up a pedestal, topped by a three-quarter ton capstone.

The monolith had previously been made ready, by trimming its base so that its center of gravity was exactly perpendicular to the capstone. This entailed a calculation of extreme precision, one that was worked out by Fite and his neighbor Berthel Wrolsen, a local man who was a self-taught engineering genius and an unofficial consultant to Fite on many structural issues over the years. The calculations were especially difficult in that the top of the monolith is not only wider than the base, but also asymmetrical. Lowered into place, the monolith was to be held there entirely by its own weight and balance.  Fite’s and Wrolsen’s calculations, and Fite’s execution, proved to be correct. The monolith remains standing after nearly half a century’s exposure to all kinds of weather.

I highly encourage you to google yourself pictures and videos of the place. It is so stunning.

God, I miss the countryside right now.

(Source: outsiderart, via sexartandpolitics)

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    Harvey Fite - Opus 40, 1938-1976 Photo by Goggla Harvey Fite bought an abandoned bluestone quarry in 1938 and set upon...
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