Rosyth goliath crane testing

The new 1,000 tonne capacity gantry crane at the Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland, UK, has been assembled and is undergoing load testing.

A ceremony at the Babcock yard marked the collaboration with China-based ZPMC to create the US$20 million goliath crane that has transformed the skyline of the North bank of the River Forth.

The ceremony, in front of an audience of guests and 1,200 of Babcock's workforce, saw apprentice welder Grant Rushton present a ceremonial hammer to Archie Bethel, chief executive of Babcock's Marine & Technology Division. Bethel handed it to Kang Xuezeng, ZPMC president. Kang struck the hammer on a gavel to signal the ceremonial lifting by the goliath crane of a 150 tonne test weight.

Following satisfactory testing, the crane will make its first lift in September. It will pick the 850 tonne inaugural block of one of the Royal Navy's two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier ships and place it into the dry dock. The crane stands 90 metres tall and has a 120 m span.

"The sheer scale of everything associated with the goliath crane - its height, its width, and the enormous task of getting it to Rosyth from Shanghai - is a testament to the very significant efforts of everyone involved in this project from both ZPMC and Babcock.

"This is a significant milestone in the aircraft carriers project and on behalf of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance as a whole, I thank everyone involved," Archie Bethel said.