Building Stonehenge - This Man can Move AnythingShow Video Details ↓ Narrator: 4000 years ago, stone age Britons raised this mysterious monument - Stonehenge. Nobody knows how they did it, how they moved and stood these massive stones. It's a scientific mystery this man swears he's cracked. He's building his own Stonehenge in his Flint, Michigan backyard to prove it. Wally Wallington is not a scientist but he knows a thing or two about moving rocks. [noise] Wally Wallington: That's a 300 pound block. This is a 1600 pound block. Not too difficult. Narrator: He's a retired construction worker. His passion is moving heavy items. His feats always draw a crowd, mostly family. Jim Wallington: I thought he was crazy. Who cares about moving blocks around? But then when you look at the magnitude of the weights that he's moving around it is really impressive that he's not using any equipment or anything. Narrator: In playing with blocks, Wally thinks he's discovered how Stonehenge was moved. Wally Wallington: This is my first Stonehenge arch I permanently put in place. Three blocks, they weigh over a ton each. Narrator: It's all based on a rather simple technique. I found a simple explanation for this to move a block about the weight of a mini-van would be to place a stone underneath it and once I balance on it I can spin it. [noise] Of course with that spin you can see I didn't go anywhere. But I've got two handles on my lever and I can place another stone on this side. Now every time I spin a half rotation on each stone I move the block horizontally the distance between the stones. On my own output I can move a 1 ton block 300 feet per hour. Using this technique, he's moved everything from 1 ton blocks to buildings. Man: He moved up to a pull barn at one point, a 30 by 40 pull barn that he moved 300 feet for me. And it was more or less, you know, what else can we move and he looked to me and said can we move your barn and I said sure. Next thing you know it was 300 feet in the other direction onto another piece of property. Narrator: It can move barns and Wally is betting it moved Stonehenge's 25 ton rocks. But, raising these giants is a whole different puzzle. Wally Wallington: This is 19,200 pounds. It's 128 cubic feet of concrete. Narrator: Today Wally hopes to solve it. He'll put one of his theories to the test and try to stand this 19,200 pound block by himself. Wally Wallington: I've tried to do this without any mechanical machinery at all. I've used mostly sticks and stones for my equipment, no pulleys, no hoist, no metal levers, just try to use gravity which I believe is my favorite tool. Narrator: The first goal is getting this block 3 feet off the ground. Wally Wallington: In order to move it up to this point I just rock the block back and forth, adding weight to that end and that opens a gap on this side and I just slide a board in. Then I add a weight to that end. There she goes. And slide a board into this end. Narrator: This shoring box acts like a jack, slowly raising the block. It's three feet off the ground but tomorrow is the big experiment - standing it up. The grand kids have taken the day off school and the cameras are rolling. Jim Wallington: You guys watch Papa, he's going to do something wild. Narrator: They are here to watch granddad lift a block the weight of 2 bulldozers. Wally Wallington: It's ready. Narrator: Here is how it's supposed to work. Wally Wallington: The first thing I'm going to do here is release this temporary shoring I have set and come over here and release some of my counter weights and that's going to put the entire weight of the block on this rope. So then I'm going to release the rope, come back in and the rope is going to be my brake. I'm going to guide it into the pit. The easiest way I can explain this is this is just a big teeter totter and I have the big kid on that end and he's going to go down and this end is going up. Narrator: He believes in his technique but he's had some setbacks in the past. Wally Wallington: One day I got thrown over top a block and a couple times I have blocks roll off the top and almost land on my feet. One time I knocked myself out cold on the concrete. So it's been challenging. Everybody ready? Yes. [noise] … Alright. Got to just start spraying the sand. The sand will wash out and the block will start coming down. [noise] Narrator: Once the sand is washed from the pit, the block's own weight slowly stands it up. Wally Wallington: OK, finally she's between the lines guys. Looks good. Narrator: He did it. [applause] Wally Wallington: Thank you guys. Narrator: Raised a massive block using a technique so simple that Wally believes it must've been used to raise Stonehenge. Wally Wallington: If they were to use this technique to raise the stones at the Stonehege I believe they got it done with a lot smaller crew than anybody has been imaged before. Narrator: It won't be long before this backyard is a little more crowded. Wally Wallington: This is my first block in the circle. I plan to have 8 of them standing on end like that all up 11 feet in height. The next one may be a little heavier. We're going to keep going a little further with it. Narrator: Until then, the only mystery that remains is the stone circle's name. Boy: Wally's wonder circle. Man 2: How about the Wallington Circle? Man 3: Stonehenge reloaded? [noise] … [music] … … … |