As a fitting conclusion to Steven Vale's forthcoming DVD Scrap Metal Giants we visited Shoreham Port to film steel - made from scrap metal - on one of the last stages of its journey.
The vessel to the right of the first photograph had come from Antwerp with about 2,000 tonnes of sheet piling belonging to Arcelor Mittal.
Shoreham Port's Sennebogen 880 EQ D-series equilibrium crane weighs about 240 tonnes with its gear. The counterweight alone carries 75 tonnes of concrete, and there is more concrete on the undercarriage.
The reach of the machine is 24 metres and the spreader beam can extend up to 15 metres. The blue gantry cranes to the right of the second picture belong to Parker Steel.
Crane driver Chris Knight had an excellent view - which is just as well because down in the hold some painstaking work was being carried out.
Banksman Nigel Crew was overseeing the splitting of the stacks of Z-piles into loads that could be managed. Although the crane could handle 20 tonnes, the forklifts which moved the steel on the dockside were limited to 12 tonnes, so this was the maximum for one lift.
Shoreham Port, on the south coast of England, next to Brighton, is one of the largest of the UK's remaining Trust ports. These are run for the benefit of their stakeholders - their customers and the local community - with profits being re-circulated to investment rather than to shareholders' dividends. The Sennebogen cost £1.4 million, a major investment with ten years to be recouped.
Our guide for the day was Stevedoring Manager Tony Oliver, seen on the left in the final photograph talking to film-maker Jonathan Theobald.
Shoreham port is one of the largest of the UK's remaining Trust ports. I can see that they are really offering a great service. Unloading steel is just a moment of building.
Posted by: plumbing | 10/30/2011 at 05:31 AM