There was one aspect of the job at Colby & Gale that was shrouded in mystery: there was an old air-powered lift that was reported to be about 6′ tall buried in the old pit.  It had been used for years before the newer lifts were installed.  No one knew how it was actually installed and it had to come out regardless of its condition or method of installation.  Exposing the old service pit, revealed much of the lift, however, it was not coming out easily.  After much digging and maneuvering it turned out that the  lift was installed through an old hole in the pit floor, after which concrete was poured around the bottom, creating an “inverted mushroom” and locking the lift in place.  Tim stopped by with a cup of tea for me and ended up staying for the day.  He helped to remove the old lift.  I was able to get the breaker into the old pit with Randy’s help to open up a wider hole and Tim was able to remove some of the “bulb” at the bottom, and the lift finally came out of the hole.

When the old pit and the hole left by the lift were cleaned out Randy McClintick of McClintick Foundations called in six cubic yards of flowable fill to ensure that the hole was filled completely and properly so that I could continue working.