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Standing at the top of a Goliath gantry crane in a shipyard, the first thing you notice is that it’s windy, and you want to hold on to your hard hat. Glancing down, the second thing you notice is how tiny people are on the ground—it's a long way up. But when you look around at your level, the third thing you notice is the breathtaking view. There's a wide cityscape on one side and a vast, flat expanse of blue ocean on the other.
Main girder of a Goliath gantry crane on the way to a customer site.
The crane's dimensions are impressive. A typical Goliath is around 100 meters tall—almost half the height of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; 150 meters long—more than twice the wingspan of a 747 jumbo jet; and weighs 5,000 tons—roughly the same as 50 blue whales. Considering what they do, Goliath cranes need to be huge. These are the machines that put together the hulls of the world's biggest watercraft.
Cruise lines today invest in giant ships that resemble floating cities, with over 6,000 passengers on board. The latest cargo ships carry more than 20,000 containers. These massive vessels are assembled in blocks, like enormous toy bricks. The blocks can weigh up to 2,000 tons—as much as 300 elephants—and the Goliath is the crane that picks these pieces up and puts them in place for welding within millimeters of accuracy.
Such a big structure is under enormous strain, as the legs want to bend inward, and the gantry wants to bend downward. The single girder design makes it stronger, with better rigidity. Two 83-meter A-frame legs provide vertical stability to support the load, as well as resistance to prevent twisting and falling over. The crane lifts and lowers the big ship blocks, moves its trolley and goes along its tracks using some combination of its 42 electric motors, powered from the harbor mains by a cable reel. The motors work in combination with electromagnets and a 99% efficient gearbox to generate the physical strength to move these giant loads.
Goliath crane erection takes careful planning
Goliath gantry crane in Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.
Konecranes started making Goliath cranes in 1972 and we have now delivered nearly 80 Goliaths to customers around the globe. Manufacturing, delivering and erecting a Goliath crane is a massive engineering project, so it takes about two years from initial order to handover. Whether it's done as a turnkey delivery, or if we provide the basic design and key components while the customer manufactures the crane themselves, there are many things to consider, including:
Available space on-site (it's a big crane).
Access to water channels (if they're building ships).
Erection method (requires special engineering and equipment).
Ground bearing pressure (does the shipyard surface need strengthening?).
Stabilization (stationary cranes can be tethered to concrete with steel wires).
Support cranes under the main structure (Goliath doesn't always work alone).
Other shipyard activities (the yard can't be shut down).
The Goliath crane in the Meyer Turku shipyard in southern Finland was an interesting challenge because we erected it in winter, and it had to work in the wintry conditions. We added heaters to the pumps and working locations and we had to erect the legs on top of the bogies quickly before the deepest cold of winter set in. Heated plastic tents draped on the scaffolding provided some cover and warmth, but work is always slower in the cold. We couldn't erect the crane in strong winds, so we had to schedule the heavy operations to be done in suitable “wind windows.”
A masterpiece of engineering
Over the years, the Goliath gantry crane has evolved along with the massive ships they help build. Power sources, components and safety features have developed as technology has advanced, but the basic design of the Goliath has remained the same. It's a masterpiece of engineering that has made a significant contribution to the global growth in tourism and trade over the last 50 years.
To get an idea of how big a Goliath crane really is, watch the video below. And click the link to learn more about our Goliath gantry cranes.
Konecranes provides service, equipment and parts in a wide variety of industries around the world.
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