Samson and Goliath (cranes)

Samson and Goliath are twin shipbuilding gantry cranes situated at Queen's Island, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The cranes, which were named after the Biblical figures Samson and Goliath, dominate the Belfast skyline and are landmark structures of the city.

History

The cranes are situated in the shipyard of Harland & Wolff, builders of the RMS "Titanic". The cranes were constructed by the German engineering firm Krupp, with Goliath being completed in 1969 and Samson in 1974. Goliath stands 96m tall, while Samson is taller at 106m. At the time Harland & Wolff remained one of the largest shipbuilders in the world, with the yard's eventual demise some years off. The announcement that they were to be built was an important event at the time. It signalled that one of Northern Ireland's largest employers was to expand at a time when the country's Troubles were raging, and subsequently inward investment was at a low.

Construction

Each crane has a span of 140 metres and can lift loads of up to 840 tonnes to a height of 70 metres, making a combined lifting capacity of over 1,600 tonnes, one of the largest in the world. Prior to commissioning, the cranes were tested up to 1,000 tonnes, which bent the gantry downwards by over 30 centimetres. The dry dock at the base of the cranes is the largest in the world measuring 556m x 93m .

Decline of Harland & Wolff

At its height Harland & Wolff boasted 35,000 employees and a healthy order book, but in the years following the cranes' construction the workforce and business declined. The last ship to be launched at the yard to date was a roll-on/roll-off ferry in March 2003. Since then the yard has restructured itself to focus less on shipbuilding and more on design and structural engineering, as well as ship repair, offshore construction projects and competing for other projects to do with metal engineering and construction. Initially there was concern that the now largely redundant cranes would be demolished. However later in the year they were scheduled as historic monuments under Article 3 of the Historic Monuments and Archaeological Objects (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.

Northern Ireland Office Minister of the time Angela Smith stated: "These cranes are an essential part of our city, our roots and our culture."

The cranes are to be retained as part of the existing dry dock facility within the restructured shipyard, situated adjacent to the "Titanic Quarter", a business, light industrial, leisure and residential development on land now surplus to the heavy industrial requirements of the shipyard on Queen's Island. They will continue to be used on ship repair projects as well as potential shipbuilding activities in the future.

Recommissioning

In October 2007, Goliath re-entered service after five years, an occurrence described by a company spokesperson as underlining the yard's growing workload. [Cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7030552.stm |title=Titanic apology to city shipyard |date=2007-10-05 |accessdate=2007-10-05 |publisher=BBC News]

References in popular culture

*One of BBC One's recent "Rhythm & Movement" idents shows skateboarders doing tricks under the cranes.

*The 2005 film "The Secret Life of Words" starring Tim Robbins was filmed on an oil rig dry docked underneath the cranes.

*During a Coldplay concert in Belfast in 2005 Chris Martin changed the lyrics of Speed of Sound from "Japan and China all lit up" to "Samson and Goliath all lit up".

*On 4 April 2007 Samson crashed into a smaller crane, sending it tumbling to the ground. The event was captured on film by an employee and uploaded to YouTube.com. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05_ahAulMSE]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.titanic-quarter.com/ Titanic Quarter]