The Robin, built in 1890, is the world’s last steam coaster. It has been undergoing restoration at docks in Lowestoft, on England’s east coast. With the £1.9m restoration complete, the 300t, 44m long and 7m wide ship needed to be lifted on to a pontoon for the journey to its journey to London, where it will become a floating museum.
Ainscough used two newly acquired lattice boom truck cranes to perform the lift, a Liebherr LGD 1550 and a Terex TC 2800-1. Gary Bowler, heavy cranes contracts manager at Ainscough, said, “This was a complex lift, which we planned to precision to protect this unique piece of maritime history. We needed to lift the vessel from a four-degree incline on the slipway, and used a specially designed rigging system to level the load before positioning it on the pontoon, ensuring no unnecessary stresses were put on the structure.
“The SS Robin is an important part of our national heritage and it was an honour to be involved in the project.”
