A Hercules crane was a form of block-setting crane, developed in the 1870s. They were characterised by a wheeled, mobile gantry running on rails, surmounted by a slewing horizontal jib, held up by a kingpost.
A Hercules crane was a form of block-setting crane, developed in the 1870s. They were characterised by a wheeled, mobile gantry running on rails, surmounted by a slewing horizontal jib, held up by a kingpost.
Block-setting cranes were large cranes developed in the mid-Victorian era. They were used for installing the large stone blocks used to build breakwaters and stone piers. They could lift a heavy stone block and place it precisely, with a long jib reaching beyond the base of the crane. Several types of such crane were developed, with progressively greater reach, lifting capacity and ability to move their load sideways. The greater the load, the larger blocks could be placed at one time and so the faster a breakwater could be built. The greater their reach, the more work could be done before needing to move the carriage of the crane.
In the late-1860s, a further development of the block-setting crane design took place, the Hercules crane. A crane was needed which could set larger and heavier blocks, up to 30 tons.
The Hercules design combined aspects of both the earlier fixed-jib cranes built for works at Manora and that would later be used for a slewing jib crane at Port Alfred. A horizontal jib was added, with the ability to slew sideways.
A horizontal non-luffing jib [lower-roman 1] was used, separate from the lower frame. This was supported on two carriages which could move sideways independently on curved tracks, thus allowing the jib to slew sideways over a small angle. For building linear breakwaters, this small slew angle was enough. With the load of these larger blocks, it was not yet possible to use a convenient central-pivot kingpost bearing, and full-circle slewing, as would be used for the much smaller Port Alfred crane. Although the mechanical design of the jib was as a kingpost truss, this kingpost was part of the jib and rotated with it, rather than fixed to the frame beneath it. The rest of the design continued the Manora type, with a lower frame of the crane which allowed blocks to pass through it on wagons. The crane was powered by a semi-portable steam engine in a small cabin at the rear of the jib, also helping as a counterweight.
Construction of the Dutch Noordzeekanaal from 1865 to 1876 used a variety of cranes, including two significant examples of the Hercules type. Having little stone available nearby, shaped concrete blocks were cast on-site. These allowed a more sophisticated shaping than was economic with stone, and large interlocking blocks could be used. However this also required a crane with greater lifting capacity. Two large breakwaters were constructed at the sea mouth at IJmuiden and the Zuiderhoofd and sea wall dyke at Westkapelle. [2]
Further examples were built by Stothert & Pitt for the Breakwater Crane Railway, Douglas Harbour, Isle of Man, [3] by Alexander Shanks & Son for Liepāja in Latvia, then part of Russia, [4] and a 50 ton crane for Roker Pier, Sunderland. These introduced full-circle slewing, with the jib carriages running on a circular track. The jib could now be slewed to the side of the breakwater, which at Douglas was used to allow the unloading of ships tied up alongside. As the kingpost of these cranes was part of the jib, but not part of the slewing bearing, it was placed further outboard, at the edge of the slewing track or large ring bearing, rather than on the pixot axis, as for Port Alfred. This makes the most of the truss' span for increasing the reach of the jib.
A block and tackle or only tackle is a system of two or more pulleys with a rope or cable threaded between them, usually used to lift heavy loads.
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy things and transporting them to other places. The device uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of a human. Cranes are commonly employed in transportation for the loading and unloading of freight, in construction for the movement of materials, and in manufacturing for the assembling of heavy equipment.
A dragline excavator is a piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining.
A railroad crane is a type of crane used on a railroad for one of three primary purposes: freight handling in goods yards, permanent way (PW) maintenance, and accident recovery work. Although the design differs according to the type of work, the basic configuration is similar in all cases: a rotating crane body is mounted on a sturdy chassis fitted with flanged wheels. The body supports the jib and provides all the lifting and operating mechanisms; on larger cranes, an operator's cabin is usually provided. The chassis is fitted with buffing (UK) and/or coupling gear to allow the crane to be moved by a locomotive, although many are also self-propelled to allow limited movement about a work site.
A telescopic handler, also called a telehandler, teleporter, reach forklift, or zoom boom, is a machine widely used in agriculture and industry. It is somewhat like a forklift but has a boom, making it more a crane than a forklift, with the increased versatility of a single telescopic boom that can extend forwards and upwards from the vehicle. The boom can be fitted with different attachments, such as a bucket, pallet forks, muck grab, or winch.
A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, used for tasks such as lifting automobile engines out of vehicles. They are also called portal cranes, the "portal" being the empty space straddled by the gantry.
A straddle carrier or straddle truck is a freight-carrying vehicle that carries its load underneath by "straddling" it, rather than carrying it on top like a conventional truck. The advantage of the straddle carrier is its ability to load and unload without the assistance of cranes or forklifts. The lifting apparatus under the carrier is operated by the driver without any outside assistance and without leaving the driver's seat.
Stothert & Pitt was a British engineering company founded in 1855 in Bath, England. It was the builder of various engineering products ranging from Dock cranes to construction plant and household cast iron items. It went out of business in 1989. The name and intellectual property became part of Clarke Chapman.
A Fairbairn crane is a type of crane of an 'improved design', patented in 1850 by Sir William Fairbairn. There are numerous hand-powered versions around the world and one surviving steam-powered example in Bristol Docks, England.
A bulk-handlingcrane is one that, instead of a simple hook that can handle a range of slung loads, has an integral grab for lifting bulk cargoes such as coal, mineral ore etc.
Titan was a floating crane that operated in Sydney Harbour from 1919 until 1991. She was fabricated in Carlisle in the United Kingdom, then sent to Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney for assembly, before entering service with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
A treadwheel crane is a wooden, human powered hoisting and lowering device. It was primarily used during the Roman period and the Middle Ages in the building of castles and cathedrals. The often heavy charge is lifted as the individual inside the treadwheel crane walks. The rope attached to a pulley is turned onto a spindle by the rotation of the wheel thus allowing the device to hoist or lower the affixed pallet.
Port Kembla is a man-made cargo port or artificial harbour, with an outer harbour protected by breakwaters and an inner harbour constructed by dredging, located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia.
Titan, better known by its former nickname Herman the German, is a large floating crane currently serving in the Panama Canal Zone performing heavy lifts for lock maintenance. Prior to its move to Panama in 1996, the crane was based at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard from the end of World War II until the yard's closure in 1995. It was seized from the German Kriegsmarine following the end of World War II as part of war reparations. The crane was built by Demag Cranes AG as Schwimmkran nr. 1 in 1941 for the Kriegsmarine, where it had served in the Baltic Sea tending German U-boats. MMSI number: 374940000
Ajax is a floating crane built to move and install the canal locks and other large parts of the Panama canal. Ajax also helped in ship repairs and clearing the canal as needed. Ajax and her identical sister crane, the Hercules, were the largest floating cranes at time of completion, able to install the massive Panama Canal locks. Ajax could lift a maximum of 250 tons to a height of 21 feet, with a close reach. At Ajax's far reach she could lift a maximum of 100 tons. Ajax and Hercules were built by Deutsche Maschinenbau AG (1910-1977) . After the Ajax and Hercules, Deutsche Maschinenbau AG later made the Langer Heinrich, or Long Henry in 1915, in use for 100 years.
A jib or jib arm is the horizontal or near-horizontal beam used in many types of crane to support the load clear of the main support. An archaic spelling is gib.
Wollongong Harbour Precinct is a heritage-listed shipping harbour at Cliff Road and Endeavour Drive, in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It was built in 1837. The historic precinct includes Belmore Basin, Government Dam, Government Basin, Stockade Point, Flagstaff Hill, Signal Hill, Brighton Beach, Boat Harbour and Fortress Hill. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 May 2010.
A block-setting crane is a form of crane. They were used for installing the large stone blocks used to build breakwaters, moles and stone piers.
A ring crane is a form of large construction crane with a luffing jib. It is distinguished by its slew pivot being in the form of a ring-shaped track, rather than a narrow central spindle. The broad base this gives to the slewing section above allows it to slew whilst carrying extremely heavy loads.
The Arrol Gantry was a large steel structure built by Sir William Arrol & Co. at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was built to act as overhead cranes for the building of the three Olympic-class liners.
Admiral Lord Walter Kerr, in the presence of his staff, members of the River Wear Commission and many influential gentleman laid a 45 ton block in the new Pier.
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