Britain's biggest crane squeezes under Forth bridges
- Published
Britain's biggest crane has passed under the Forth bridges on its way to Fife, where it will be used to build the Navy's new aircraft carriers.
It arrived in the Firth of Forth following a 14,000-nautical-mile sea voyage to Rosyth Dockyard.
At 68m high, the Goliath crane is taller than the Wallace Monument.
Its passage up the Firth of Forth required precise timing so the vessel and its cargo could pass under the bridges at low tide.
The crane, which cost £12.2m ($20m) and took two years to build, will be used by Babcock in the assembly of the Royal Navy's Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers at Rosyth.
It has a span of 120m to cover the construction area of the aircraft carriers and has the capacity to lift 1,000 tonnes.
The Goliath crane left its construction site in Shanghai, China, on 17 December on the deck of a specialist crane transport vessel.
Sean Donaldson of Babcock said it was a "major landmark" in the carriers project.