Sand, Gravel, Wood, Then Voila: Four Cars Rescued

After weeks of shoring up a collapsed and tilted office building on the Rhine Channel in Newport Bay, work crews on Friday brought in sand, gravel and wooden platforms to build a ramp and pull out four cars that had been trapped in a buckled, basement-level parking garage since the structure gave way because of a corroded support beam Nov. 6.

A heavy-equipment winch was used to drag the cars from underneath the building, over the ramp, through the garage entrance and onto Layfayette Avenue.

“It was hard work, but we did it,” said Jeff Tanner of Pacific Coast Homebuilders, who is overseeing demolition of the building.

Now that all the furniture, office supplies and other contents have been removed from the two-story structure, crews will begin work next week to demolish the building. The debris will be hauled away on barges.