Samson and Goliath are the 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. Comparative newcomers to the city, the cranes rapidly came to symbolise Belfast in a way that no building or monument had hitherto done. [1]
The cranes are situated in the Harland & Wolff shipyard on the east side of Belfast Lough. They were made by the German engineering firm Krupp and transported to Belfast. Goliath was erected in 1969 and Samson in 1974. Goliath stands 96 metres (315 ft) tall, while Samson is a little taller at 106 metres (348 ft).
Goliath sits further inland, closer to the city. The dry dock at the base of the cranes is the 11th largest in the world, [2] measuring 556 m × 93 m (1,824 ft × 305 ft).
Each crane has a span of 140 metres (459 ft) and can lift loads of up to 840 tonnes to a height of 70 metres (230 ft). Their combined lifting capacity of almost 1,700 tonnes is 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 (12 in).
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 not, technically, ‘listed buildings’, but are recognised by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as buildings of ‘architectural or historic interest’. [1]
Shipbuilding has ceased in Belfast, but 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 were still (2015) kept in working order and used for heavy lifting by Harland & Wolff in its other activities. [1]
On 4 April 2007, Samson collided with the long jib of smaller rail-mounted "Henson" tower crane, sending the smaller crane tumbling to the ground. The smaller crane weighed 95 tonnes and stood at a height of 25 m, compared to Samson's 106 m. Three industrial painters working on another rail-mounted crane were close to the jib as it fell, eventually crashing onto the ground. Information about the incident was not released until mobile-phone footage of the event was published on YouTube. [3] [4]
In October 2007, Goliath re-entered service after five years, an occurrence described by a company spokesman as underlining the yard's growing workload. [5]
In April 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the crane's horn was sounded for the first time in 20 years. Being the loudest siren in Belfast, it was heard all over the city whilst it's populace were in lockdown.
First shown in February 2021, Goliath appears repeatedly as part of series 1 of BBC One’s drama Bloodlands, with postcards of the crane a key clue in the murder investigation. [6]
we can now confirm that Sampson did strike a 25 metre high 95 tonne rail mounted Henson crane, a type of heavy-duty tower crane, but it was this crane which came crashing down narrowly missing three men working on (painting) the jib of an almost identical crane nearby. One of the painters filmed the entire event on his mobile phone.
54°36′29″N5°54′03″W / 54.6080°N 5.9008°W
| Cultural depictions |
|  | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | ||||||||||||||
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding and fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including Olympic-class trio – RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast; Royal Mail Line's Andes; Shaw, Savill & Albion's Southern Cross; Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle; P&O's Canberra; and Hamburg-America's SS Amerika of 1905. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.
A crane is a machine used to move materials both vertically and horizontally, utilizing a system of a boom, hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves for lifting and relocating heavy objects within the swing of its boom. The device uses one or more simple machines, such as the lever and pulley, to create mechanical advantage to do its work. 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.
Belfast Harbour is a major maritime hub in Belfast, Northern Ireland, handling 67% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and about 25% of the maritime trade of the entire island of Ireland. It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and consumer goods, and is also Northern Ireland's leading logistics and distribution hub.
Belfast City Hall is the civic building of Belfast City Council located in Donegall Square, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It faces North and effectively divides the commercial and business areas of the city centre. It is a Grade A listed building.
The Kockums Crane is a 140-metre (459 ft) high gantry crane in the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea. It was originally used at the Kockums shipyard in Malmö, Sweden.
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.
Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction centred on land in Belfast Harbour, known until 1995 as Queen's Island. The 185-acre (75 ha) site, previously occupied by part of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, is named after the company's, and the city's, most famous product, RMS Titanic. Titanic Quarter is part of the Dublin-based group, Harcourt Developments, which has held the development rights since 2003.
The buildings and structures of Belfast, Northern Ireland comprise many styles of architecture ranging from Edwardian through to state-of-the-art modern buildings like the Waterfront Hall. The city's beautiful Edwardian buildings are notable for their display of a large number of sculptures. Many of Belfast's Victorian landmarks, including the main Lanyon Building at Queens University in 1849, were designed by Sir Charles Lanyon.
Titan Clydebank, more commonly known as the Titan Crane is a 150-foot-high (46 m) cantilever crane at Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was designed to be used in the lifting of heavy equipment, such as engines and boilers, during the fitting-out of battleships and ocean liners at the John Brown & Company shipyard. It was also the world's first electrically powered cantilever crane, and the largest crane of its type at the time of its completion.
MV Osakana is an open hatch bulk carrier that was built in 2004 by Oshima Shipbuilding as Star Osakana for Masterbulk.
TitanicBelfast is a visitor attraction opened in 2012, a monument to Belfast's maritime heritage on the site of the former Harland & Wolff shipyard in the city's Titanic Quarter where the RMS Titanic was built. It tells the stories of the Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank during her maiden voyage in 1912, and her sister ships RMS Olympic and HMHS Britannic. The building contains more than 12,000 square metres (130,000 sq ft) of floor space, most of which is occupied by a series of galleries, private function rooms and community facilities.
The Titanic Memorial in Belfast was erected to commemorate the lives lost in the sinking of the RMS Titanic on 15 April 1912. It was funded by contributions from the public, shipyard workers, and victims' families, and was dedicated in June 1920. It sits on Donegall Square in central Belfast, Northern Ireland in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (R-Naval), formerly known as Reliance Defence & Engineering Limited and prior to that as Pipavav Shipyard Limited and Pipavav Defence & Offshore Engineering Company Limited is an Indian shipbuilding and heavy industry company headquartered in Mumbai. The shipyard is located in Pipavav, Gujarat, at a distance of 90 km South of Amreli, 15 km South of Rajula and 140 km South West of Bhavnagar. R-Naval is the first private sector company in India to obtain a license and contract to build warships. Pipavav is the largest shipyard in India.
There have been several proposals and studies for a project to build a replica ship based on the famous Olympic-class ocean liner, RMS Titanic. A project by South African businessman Sarel Gaus was abandoned in 2006, and a project by Australian businessman and former politician from Fairfax division Clive Palmer was announced in 2012, known as the Titanic II. While Palmer has made no official announcement about his project being abandoned, it appears to have seen a dramatically decreased amount of progress by 2015 and no construction. A Titanic replica to be permanently docked at an inland resort in Sichuan, China commenced construction in May 2015. The Titanic Museums in Branson, Missouri and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee are designed to depict the forward half of the Titanic.
Victoria was one of the nine district electoral areas (DEA) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from 1985 to 2014, when it was mostly replaced by the Ormiston district.
Alexander Montgomery Carlisle, PC brother-in-law to Viscount Pirrie, was one of the men involved with designing the Olympic-class ocean liners in the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff. His main area of responsibility was the ships' safety systems such as the watertight compartments and lifeboats. As a Privy Councillor, he was known as "The Right Honorable".
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 Basketball Hall of Fame Belfast Classic is an eight team college basketball tournament held in November and December of the NCAA Division I men's basketball season, with the inaugural tournament beginning in 2017. It is currently the only college tournament played across the Atlantic, and the first-ever NCAA basketball games played in Europe. In its inaugural season, only four teams participated, but it was increased for the 2018–19 season to eight teams. In 2017, the four participants played all their games at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, with the winners moving on to the championship game, and the losers playing in the consolation game. Towson was the inaugural champion, defeating Manhattan 56–55, and winning the game on a last second shot by Tigers senior guard Mike Morsell.
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.