THE BEST OF ALL WEIGHT LIFTERS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 April 1924, Page 4

THE BEST OF ALL WEIGHT LIFTERS.

the Clyde boasts as big cantilever cranes as any in the world; and from the Broomieiaw Wharf, which is right in the heart of the city of Glasgow, down ‘•Clutha’s inky Hood," past, the docks at Covan, to Clydebank below Seotstoun, the; monsters can lie picked out by® their massive proportions (writes an engineer in the "Dailc -Mail.”) Afiieh more numerous both here and iarther "doon the waiter’’ ‘o Greenock are .spidery structures which have as much height and reach but only lift a fiftieth of the weight. The monsters lift 251) tons, the light cranes 5 or If) Lons at most. ’lowering high above the shipyards out of which they rise, like 23th contary Towers of Babel, rising out of smoke-begrimed hop gardens, such cantilever cranes, .spaced as the lighter ones are between shipbuilding berths, possess gigantic command and reach. . Electrically controlled from a cabin high up under the horizontal arm, they can swing ail round, reach out a hundred and fifty feet, and lift their load more than a hundred feet oil' the ground The cobweb structures are of recent growth, having been developed very' rapidly during the war as highly efficient weight-lifters. The foundations, especially of tlm hen vy cantilever cranes, are colossal. Driven eighty feet into the ground are pilesv-and on the piles rests a huge block of concrete. To this huge mass of solid material the steed tower r.f the crane is secured bv means of mighty foundation bolts; the cantilever itself lies he rizontally across the top, looking rather like half a .suspension bridge hoisted on. its own pivot! The. big cantilevers are for engines and boilers placed in the ship after she has lieen launched and floated round into dock alongside the engine shops. The little fellows lift framings and joists and plates into place during the construction of the hull. From the platform which pursues its airy way to the point of the cantilever the shipyard below—a long way below—spreads out wide and free, and if the location is westward n magnificent view of the gorgeous Clyde scenery is obtained on that rare oeeasion. a dry day in the valley of ships.