Project
A 136-year-old lifeboat in and out of restoration
The NE Maritime Trust asked us to plan how to offload The Bedford, a 136-year-old lifeboat, and her carriage, and shift them into their workshop at South Shields for restoration. The Bedford is 33 feet long, 11 feet wide and weighs 3.7 tonnes. She served South Shields from 1887, was launched 52 times and saved 49 lives.
A year or so later, with the restoration finished, we came back and did the job in reverse, shifting her out and lifting her onto transport. We then took her to a local storage unit, offloaded her and shifted her inside for safekeeping. Access at the workshop was tight and there were overhead cables to work around.
The Bedford went into restoration and came back out without any issues, and the Trust had one contractor for the lift, the shift and the transport. We lift modern boats too, including emergency lifts after storm damage.
Resources
Crane, transport and team
Crane
A 50te mobile crane offloaded The Bedford and her carriage from an artic flatbed and landed them in front of the workshop doors, working around the tight access and overhead cables.
Rigging
We used spreader beams so that the slinging arrangement would not damage the old hull.
Transport
We provided the transport to take her from the workshop to a local storage unit once she was restored.
Team
One of our appointed persons planned the work well in advance. On site we provided a crane operator, lift supervisor, slinger signaller and additional rigger, who handled the lifting and the moves in and out of the workshop.
The Tadano Faun ATF 50G-3 is a 50 tonne, three axle all-terrain crane with a 40m main boom, supplied with an operator for crane hire or as part of a contract lift.
Timeline
From first visit to safe storage
Gallery
Photos from site
Related
Find out more
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Send us the details and we will come back with a quote, usually the same day for a desktop survey.
Or call 0800 008 6096
