Geograph - photograph every grid square

These keel blocks have been left in the now disused Thompson Graving Dock in Belfast. They were once used to support the keel of ships drydocked there and appear to have been constructed of iron with wooden blocks above. A ship would have been floated into the dock before the water was pumped out, leaving the keel supported on the blocks. The keel blocks as well as the bilge blocks are placed on the floor of the dock in accordance with the "docking plan" of the ship. Some fine-tuning of the ship's position may have been carried out by scuba divers while there was still some water left to manoeuvre it about.

It is extremely important that supporting blocks in a dry dock conform to the structural members so that the ship is not damaged when its weight is supported by the blocks.