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Samson and Goliath are the twin shipbuilding gantry cranes 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.^[1]

History

The cranes are situated in the Harland and 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).

Lifting capacity

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).

Harland & Wolff

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, they were later 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 declined 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]

Recent history

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 metres (82 ft), compared to Samson's 106 metres (348 ft). 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 its populace were in lockdown.^{[citation needed]}

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]

Gallery

The cranes lit up at night.
View from Belfast City Airport.
View across Belfast's city skyline.
View from Westlink approaching York Street.
Krupp logo on the side of Goliath.

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b ^c "Belfast's Giants :: Dennis Kennedy". 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
^ "Largest dry docks - on trusteddocks.com". www.trusteddocks.com.
^ "Crane crash did happen". www.vertikal.net. 17 April 2007. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2008. 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.
^ Shipyard Crane Crash Belfast (H&W Fail), at YouTube.
^ "Titanic apology to city shipyard". BBC News. 5 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
^ "BBC One - Bloodlands". BBC Television.