By: Kelly Holdaway On: August 03, 2011 In: Blog Comments: 0

What weighs 9000 tonnes and is so big it has to be transported upon one of the world’s biggest barges? It’s the new hull section of the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier built by BAE Systems.

Our Galizia pick and carry cranes have been busy preparing the deck of the massive AMT Trader barge that is due to transport the new hull section some 500 miles to Fife where the aircraft carrier is being assembled.

Following its long journey from the Caribbean, the AMT required some essential maintenance work at Fergusson’s shipyard.   GGR’s 7 tonne capacity pick and carry crane has been helping to repair the internal bulk heads of the AMT by lowering 3 tonne steel plates through purpose cut slits in the deck.

Heavier lifting was undertaken at Govan shipyard with GGR’s 15 tonne pick and carry crane. The crane placed a pattern of steel grillage blocks, each weighing up to 13 tonnes, along the deck of the 100m barge.  Each grillage block was placed with millimeter precision to ensure their alignment matches the profile of the new aircraft carrier section they are about to carry.
The impressive aircraft section was loaded onto the AMT Trader last Sunday by submerging the barge 8 metres underwater and skating the hull onto the deck.  The hull will then be welded and chained to the AMT trader over the upcoming weeks to ensure it survives its journey through some of the roughest water in Scotland—the Pentland Firth.

Watch a video of the new aircraft hull being moved from Govan shipyard, onto the AMT Trader barge on GGR Group’s Youtube Channel

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