J3676 : Keel blocks, Belfast Dry Dock

taken 16 years ago, 4 km NE of Belfast, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland

Keel blocks, Belfast Dry Dock
Keel blocks, Belfast Dry Dock
Keel blocks by the Belfast Dry Dock (see J3676 : The Belfast Dry Dock). They are used to support the keel of ships drydocked there and appear to have been constructed of concrete with wooden blocks above. A ship is floated into the dock before the water is 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.

See also J3576 : Keel blocks, Thompson Graving Dock Belfast, J3576 : Keel blocks, Thompson Graving Dock Belfast [2] and J3576 : Keel blocks, Thompson Graving Dock Belfast [3] for some other examples at the nearby disused Thompson Graving Dock.
The Belfast Dry Dock

The Belfast Dry Dock, owned and operated by Harland and Wolff for ship repair purposes.

By the early 1960s it was clear that the largest dock in Belfast, the Thompson Graving Dock (see J3576 : Thompson Graving Dock), was too small for modern tankers and bulk carriers then being constructed. The Harland and Wolff Dry Dock (now known as the Belfast Dry Dock) was constructed between 1965-68 by Charles Brand and Sons to a design by Rendel, Palmer and Tritton. It is 1150 feet long by 160 feet wide and, when constructed, was one of the five largest docks in the world. The dock can accommodate ships up to 200,000gt.

Alongside the dock is Ship Repair Quay (formerly known as Outfitting Wharf). This was constructed some 7 years later in 1975 and has a total lineal quayage of 433 metres. Ships which do not need to be fully dry docked are repaired here.

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rossographer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Loading map... (JavaScript required)
Grid Square
J3676, 338 images   (more nearby search)
Photographer
Date Taken
Thursday, 10 July, 2008   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 11 July, 2008
Category
Dry dock   (more nearby)
Subject Location
Irish: geotagged! J 362 765 [100m precision]
WGS84: 54:37.1476N 5:53.5177W
Camera Location
Irish: geotagged! J 362 765
View Direction
Northwest (about 315 degrees)
Clickable map
+


Image classification(about): Supplemental image
This page has been viewed about 622 times.
View this location: KML (Google Earth) · Google MapsExternal link · Bing MapsExternal link · Geograph Coverage Map · geotagged! More Links for this image
Background for photo viewing: White / /
NW N NE
W Go E
SW S SE
thumbs up icon
[Mark
You are not logged in login | register