Construction work can unearth some pretty interesting items. Think about it, many project begin with a piece of previously undeveloped land or land that hasn’t been touched for decades. Sometimes the discoveries can be pretty awesome, like 1300 pounds of Ancient Roman Coins, but other times, the discoveries can be downright SPOOKY. Since today is Halloween, the spookiest of all the days, we’re going to take you through the 9 spookiest things found on a jobsite this year.
1. Human Bones
A crew at a Hillsdale, Missouri construction site made a startling discovery after one of their trucks got stuck in a field in January. After finding what appeared to be a human leg bone, the workers called 911 and authorities began an investigation. Through the use of cadaver dogs, a medical examiner, and a crime scene unit, a human skull was also uncovered. The good news was that no foul play was expected in the death of the person and the medical examiner’s office believes the remains may be historic.
Full story: Human bones found at construction site in Hillsdale | KMOV
2. Tombstones
As contractors in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois were demolishing a site to make way for condos, a nearby neighbor noticed something startling in the soil stockpiles: tombstones and fragments of wood, which looked like caskets. The neighbor then called ABC7 in Illinois to investigate the findings. According to both the contractors on site and the nearby cemetery, no bodies were buried in the caskets. A crises was definitely averted since there were no bodies on the site, but jobsite workers should be educated to stop work when such a discovery is made and contact officials to investigate.
Full story: Tombstones Uncovered on Oakbrook Terrace Construction Site Raise Questions | ABC7
3. A 33 Foot Long Anaconda
After blowing up a cave in preparation of work on the Belo Monte Dam, a HUMONGOUS 33 foot long (10m), 881 pound (400kg), and 3.2 foot diameter (1m) anaconda emerged from the darkness, according to the video description posted by Weird Animals. Although the actual dimensions of the snake have not yet been confirmed, the crew shot some video of the reptile for the world to see. It’s not known if the explosion killed the snake or if the workers killed it, but it unfortunately seems to be dead in the video.
Full story: Brazilian Construction Workers Find 33 Foot Long Anaconda on Job Site | Construction Junkie
4. A Severed Head
If bones and tombstones weren’t spooky enough for you, how about finding 1 severed head on your jobsite? After spoils had been removed from a construction site in Sharnbrook, Bedforshire, England and transported to a Quarry in Cambridgeshire, a worker discovered the remains of the head. It’s not yet known how the head ended up on site, but they believe the man could have been hit by a train and the head became stuck in a nearby bridge. Officials think the head could have been there for anywhere between 10 and 50 years.
Full story: Severed head found in Cambridgeshire quarry may be that of accident victim | The Guardian
5. A Young Girl’s Casket
As contractor’s were working on a home renovation in San Fransisco, California, they came across what looked to be a small casket. As it turns out, the home location was the former site of the Odd Fellows Cemetery, which had been moved to Colma, California in the 1930s. Well, so they thought. According to CBS, these caskets, which were buried around 120 years ago, turn up in residential construction progress every once in a while. The owner of the home worked with an organization called Garden of Innocence, which helps to bury unidentified children, after the city would not allow a re-burial without a death certificate.
Full story: Construction Crews Discover Young Girl’s Casket Underneath San Francisco Home | CBS
6. Hundreds of Rats
This is the stuff that many peoples’ nightmares are made of. While demolishing some concrete in Brazil, workers uncovered a hundreds of rats living beneath the floors. With each chunk of concrete removed, more rats would emerge and scurry away. You can check out the video below:
Full story: [VIDEO] Demolition Nightmare: Hundreds of Rats Found Living Under Concrete in Brazil | Construction Junkie
7. A Black Bear
Finding rats may be a little unsettling, but a bear on the jobsite can really get your heart pumping. For this one, fright was really only the reaction made by one unsuspecting prank victim. While minding his own business and walking past a job trailer, a construction worker looks to his right to find what he believes is a black bear. It’s really only one of his mean co-workers dressed as a bear, but the worker had already sprinted away as to not be eaten. The rest of us can a pretty good laugh out of it.
One of the best parts (for me, anyway) of large developments that cost hundreds of millions of dollars being built is being able to learn about different construction methods that can reduce costs or deliver the project sooner than traditional methods. The Crown Sydney, a future 890 foot tall tower in Australia, is using a method called “top down construction” to shorten their project schedule and avoid additional hazards on the $740 million project.