Rock of Ages

It has been said, by a malicious Polish wit, that it takes five Southern Californians to unscrew a light bulb, four of whom share the experience. Thus it was on the hills above Malibu Beach, where the experience shared over the past three weeks was a construction crew's herculean effort to remove a 116-ton boulder that had perched over a row of fancy houses lining the Pacific Coast Highway.

Film Producer Robert Radnitz, who lives in one of the threatened houses, first spotted the boulder. Partially dislodged by a landslide, it had come to rest 200 ft. above his house. After vainly asking local officials to get rid of it, he finally sent an angry telegram to Governor Jerry Brown. The state thereupon declared an emergency, shut down five miles of the highway, and hired a Long Beach construction company for $97,000 to haul the boulder away.

Not so easy. The boulder couldn't simply be pushed down the hill without endangering the houses below. Bulldozers were used as anchors and pulley cables were attached to them. A net made of cables was dropped over the rock, but one of them broke. Then a helicopter replaced this cable and tried to envelop the rock in the net, so it could be slowly eased down. Fire hoses were brought to the scene to soften the ground under the rock.

By this time, the boulder had become the star attraction of Southern California. Rock watchers came chuffing up in running suits and shower shoes. Others paddled to the scene in kayaks. Cars blocked the highway for miles. Catering wagons rolled in with sandwiches and soft drinks.

After three hours of hosing, the rock removers once again hauled on their cables. The rock budged, then began to roll, once again burst free of its cables, bounded off a 125-ft. cliff and landed with a great crash on the Pacific Coast Highway, just 50 ft. from Radnitz's house. From the crowd, a mighty cheer arose.

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