idea was that the pier heads weigh approximately 480 tonnes each. Inspiration from a hydraulic car-jack One day Tjokorda was working on his 1974 Mercedes-Benz, which he had jacked up so that the back two wheels were supported on the slippery floor of the garage where some oil had been accidentally spilled. When the car was pushed, it pivoted with the jack as the axis. He noted that it is a principle of physics that when friction is banished it is easy to move even the heaviest of objects. This event inspired the realization that a hydraulic pump could be used to lift heavy objects and, as long as they were supported by something slippery, the heavy objects could be easily moved. Tjokorda's goal was to lift and move concrete pier heads each weighing 480 tonnes. Tjokorda conducted trials with cylinders 20 cm in diameter converted into a hydraulic lift and loaded with 80 tonnes of concrete. The weight was successfully lifted and turned slightly, but could not then be lowered as the position of the hydraulic jack had shifted. Tjokorda then made some improvements on the original design, and in subsequent lifts the hydraulic jack stayed stable even with the full weight of the concrete above it. Other problems to be overcome included establishing the best type of oil to use that would not lose its viscosity. The type of oil was a critical factor because it was the oil which transmitted the force required to lift the heavy concrete pier heads. After the trials, Tjokorda finalised his design called the LBPH (the Indonesian acronym for Free Moving Platform) which consisted of two concrete discs with a diameter of 80 cm enclosed in a container. Although only 5 cm thick, the discs are capable of supporting a weight of 625 tonnes each. Between the two plates is pumped lubricating oil. A rubber seal around the edges of the plates protected against the oil escaping under the high forces experienced during the lift. The oil in the container was connected to a hydraulic pump through a small pipe. This hydraulic system was capable of lifting loads using a pressure of 78 kgf/cm² (7.6 MPa), although the reasons for this were a mystery to Tjokorda at that time. Field trials The new technique had not yet been trialled because of time constraints, however Tjokorda was certain that it would work and