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2019

J3575 : Former shipyard buildings, Belfast

taken 6 years ago, near to Belfast, Co Antrim, Northern Ireland

Former shipyard buildings, Belfast
Former shipyard buildings, Belfast
The buildings in the foreground were once part of Harland & Wolff but are now used by an indoor activity centre (the remaining H&W workshops are seen in J3575 : Harland and Wolff workshops, Belfast and J3575 : Harland and Wolff Workshops, Belfast). The yard is behind - the gantry crane 'Samson' is seen alongside the towering offshore windfarm jacket foundations that are nearing completion.
The Harland and Wolff Building Dock, Belfast

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.

Wind turbine parts, Belfast harbour

This collection shows some of the parts and the vessels used to transport them at sea.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rossographer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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J3575, 1064 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rossographer   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Monday, 4 February, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 6 February, 2019
Subject Location
Irish: geotagged! J 354 752 [100m precision]
WGS84: 54:36.4229N 5:54.3167W
Camera Location
Irish: geotagged! J 351 751
View Direction
East-northeast (about 67 degrees)
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Image Type (about): geograph 
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