The skyline of the River Forth’s north bank has been transformed by the hoisting of the main girder onto the top of the Goliath crane at Babcock’s Rosyth dockyard.
In the shadow of the Forth bridges, the crane is now at its full height of 90m with a width of 120m.
Its lifting capacity of 1000 tonnes makes it one of the largest cranes in Europe.
Although at its full height, commissioning work will continue on the giant crane until the summer, at which point it will assume its vital role in the assembly of the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers at Rosyth dockyard.
The Goliath crane arrived in the Forth in March, following a 14,000-nautical mile voyage from Shanghai, China, where it was built.
It was carried on the deck of a specialist crane transport vessel from Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery’s fleet, passing under the Forth bridges at low tide on March 4 with only two metres to spare.
At a cost of $20 million, the Goliath crane was ordered by Babcock as an integral part of the aircraft carriers’ assembly the component parts of which are being built at yards across the UK.
Its construction and material integrity has been overseen by specialist teams from Babcock, Lloyds Register Asia, IMES, Oceaneering and Bureau Veritas China.
The next stage of the Goliath crane’s commissioning will see it being winched from ship to shore directly onto the crane rails.
These rails were completed in February last year, with 380 piles sunk through varying ground conditions into the bedrock, followed by reinforced concrete foundation beams, and the rail track.
Babcock’s aircraft carrier project director Sean Donaldson said, “Seeing the full stature of the Goliath crane for the first time is another milestone in the progress of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier project, which is being delivered by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.”