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Friday, June 10, 2016

Exploring the The Titan Crane

Glasgow has a very long tradition of shipbuilding that probably began in the middle ages (see Shipbuilding on the Clyde for a brief discussion) and one of the artifacts from that industry is the massive Titan Crane, which we got to see. 

The crane is about 150 feet high and was used for lifting heavy ship engines and boilers. It could lift as much as 200 tons. It was tested in 1907 and it cost 24,000 pounds to build. 

When the shipbuilding industry declined in Glasgow, so did the need for the crane and it changed hands a number of times until 2001 when it was closed down. 

With the redevelopment of the Clyde River area, the crane was restored and recognized for it's historical value and it is now open for touring. Here are some photos:

These first two photos show the crane from the ground up and they really don't give the structure it's due-it is really massive:


This was the contract for the crane. It's only one page long.


Here is a photo of some of the workers who built the crane. In the center of the photo is a young boy whose job it was to carry hot rivets up to the iron workers who would then hammer the rivets in place.

This is a view from the top of the crane. You can see the River Clyde very well.


These giant spools hold the cables that lifted the loads.

Here's another photo. That handsome gentleman to the left is a world famous engineer....


Another photo of the river. You can see how clear and sunny it was.





And the last photo of the crane. That massive structure on top just sits there-it's not actually attached to anything.

My next blog post will be tomorrow. See you then!

VW

2 comments:

  1. Very interesting! I hope nothing ever causes the massive structure on top to fall off.

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