The Harland and Wolff Building Dock, Belfast :: Shared Description

The building dock in Belfast was constructed between 1968-1970 by George Wimpey & Company for the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. A massive 556 metres long by 93 metres wide, it was designed for the construction of massive crude oil tankers and bulkers. Although many ships were constructed here, including two supertankers of 172,174 tonnes (343,423 DWT), the yard was in decline by the early 1970s and the dock never really fulfilled its potential. The last ship to be constructed was the 'Anvil Point' in 2003 and the yard now specialising in ship repair and the emerging renewable energies sector, notably offshore wind turbines and tidal energy projects.
Towering above the dock are the two gantry cranes 'Samson' and 'Goliath'. Now landmarks on the Belfast skyline, the cranes were designed for the yard by the German firm Krupp. Goliath, completed in 1969 and mostly fabricated by the yard, stands at 96 metres and Samson, completed in 1974 and built entirely by Krupp, is taller at 106 metres. Both cranes have a span of 140m and have a safe working load of 840 tonnes each (though I believe were tested for 1,000 which caused the top girders to bend downwards by some 11 inches). They run on 800m of track which spans the length of the dock and each crane has 64 special anti-friction bearing mounted wheels.
Both the dock and the cranes are now protected scheduled monuments. See LinkExternal link for technical information .

LinkExternal link in an informative video from the BBC.
by Rossographer
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275 images use this description. Preview sample shown below:

J3575 : The most famous cranes in Belfast by Rossographer
J3675 : The "Mega Caravan 2" departing Belfast - July 2018(2) by Albert Bridge
J3574 : "Goliath", Belfast (11) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : Wind turbine parts, Harland & Wolff, Belfast  -  March 2019(2) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : "Samson" and "Goliath", Belfast (April 2015) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : "Samson", Belfast (4) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : Crane, Harland & Wolff, Belfast (August 2014) by Albert Bridge
J3675 : The 'Sun Shine' at Belfast by Rossographer
J3575 : On top of 'Samson', Belfast by Rossographer
J3675 : The "Oscar Wilde", Harland & Wolff, Belfast - February 2016(1) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : The 'Maria' at Belfast by Rossographer
J3575 : Wind turbine parts, Harland & Wolff, Belfast  -  November 2018(1) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : Wind turbine parts, Harland & Wolff, Belfast  -  January 2019(1) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : "Samson" and "Goliath", Belfast (January 2015) by Albert Bridge
J3574 : Harland and Wolff, Belfast by Rossographer
J3575 : "Samson", Belfast (2) by Albert Bridge
J3574 : Cranes, Belfast by Rossographer
J3575 : The "Oscar Wilde", Harland & Wolff, Belfast - February 2016(2) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : "Goliath", Belfast (5) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : Samson and Goliath, Belfast (3) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : Wind turbine parts, Harland & Wolff, Belfast  - June 2019(2) by Albert Bridge
J3575 : The 'Maria' at Belfast by Rossographer
J3574 : Glimpsing 'Goliath'  by Rossographer
J3574 : Wind turbine parts, Harland & Wolff, Belfast - May 2018(1) by Albert Bridge
J3574 : "Goliath", Belfast (13) by Albert Bridge

... and 250 more images.

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Created: Thu, 20 Jan 2011, Updated: Thu, 15 Nov 2018

The 'Shared Description' text on this page is Copyright 2011 Rossographer, however it is specifically licensed so that contributors can reuse it on their own images without restriction.

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