I have a paper by Fred Oman about this development but as its quite large I will need to break it into smaller sections
Part 1
The Integrated Development of the Tyne Shipyards of Swan Hunter Shipbuilders


by F. J. OMAN
13th January, 1975


Introduction
Swan Hunter Shipbuilders are currently undertaking large scale development projects in three of their shipyards, initially to improve each individual yard, but mainly as part of an integrated development programme for the whole of their shipbuilding facilities on the River Tyne.
This second phase of major development of facilities in- volves capital expenditure of almost £11 million and is principally concerned with the creation of a new ship-
building complex, on the site of the former shiprepair yard of Vickers Limited at Hebburn, and the development of the building berth facilities at Wallsend Shipyard. Two smaller projects involving the development of the berth facilities at Walker and South Shields Shipyards complete the current development programme.
Before describing the current projects, it may be helpful to examine the developments which have occurred within the company since the amalgamation of all the ship-building interests on the River Tyne in January, 1968, to form Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Limited. Just prior to this date. Swan Hunter Limited had acquired the John Readhead Shipyard at South Shields to add to its existing two facilities at Wallsend. The amalgamation of the other shipbuilding companies on the River Tyne, as recommended in the Geddes Report, brought together the remaining two shipbuilding yards of Vickers Limited at Walker and
the Hawthorn Leslie Shipyard at Hebburn, making a total of five shipyards in all. The Haverton Hill Shipyard, previously owned by Furness Limited, was added in 1969.
The early years of the new company, 1968 and 1969, were devoted to streamlining the organisation and integrating the newly grouped facilities to ensure that the new consortium operated at maximum efficiency on a group basis. It was realised that, in time, it would be necessary to develop the steel-working facilities to increase the total
production of steelwork, but the first priority was to establish the corporate identity of the group. Meanwhile, certain of the outfitting functions could be rationalised, central manufacturing facilities being established for joinery, engineering workshops, blacksmithing and sheet-metal production. These centralised facilities were completed in early 1969 and have operated very successfully from their inception.
The policy of integrated operation of the new ship-building group led to the establishment of centralised technical and commercial departments. Following these early
projects to rationalise and improve the operation of the new facilities, it became apparent that the development of the steelwork manufacturing capability was the next essential to assist in meeting the group commitments. Several projects were examined in depth, culminating in the decision in February, 1970, to proceed with the first phase of the major developments involving the construction and installation of new steel stockyards and
treatment lines, Burning Hall and Panel Hall at the Wallsend Shipyard. Whilst this major development was centred on one shipyard, it was nevertheless an integrated development inasmuch as 50 per cent of the output from the panel production line was for export to the other ship yards on the River Tyne. The shotblasting and treatment facilities, together with the new flame cutting facilities, also provided a centralised service to the other shipyards in the group. The development project further strengthened the inter-dependence of the Tyne shipyards because of the close liaison necessary to make sure that the centralised steel- working facility operated both efficiently and economically.
Following the completion of this development in September, 1971, further schemes have been considered: in particular, a complementary berth development at Wallsend, with the aim of achieving a balance between preparation, fabrication and erection and thus considerably reducing the cycle time for ship production.
The practice in Swan Hunter Shipbuilders is to under take a financial justification for every project involving capital expenditure before submission to the Board of Directors for approval; normally a return of the capital invested would be expected within a ten year period on major development projects.
The three main projects at Wallsend Shipyard, Walker Shipyard and the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock were examined financially and the investment return periods ranged from two years to eight years. Swan Hunter Ship-builders have also adopted the policy of funding all development expenditures from their own financial resources without recourse to government loans and the decision to proceed with a major development project is normally made on the basis that it is financially viable within the known order book.

part 2
In late 1972/early 1973, negotiations were concluded which resulted in an order for 26 oil tankers of four basic sizes ranging from 31,000 tonne product carriers to 260,000 tonne crude carriers. This was the largest single order ever placed with a European shipbuilder. The programme of ship deliveries indicated that the steelwork manufacturing and erection capability could, with advantage, be increased by 33 per cent above the existing annual capacity. In addition, it was advantageous to provide a second facility capable of building the medium size of tankers in the range 80,000-120,000 tonnes deadweight as there was only one other berth on the river available for the construction of these ships, apart from the Wallsend Shipyard which was committed to building the largest tankers. It
was considered that additional berth capacity in this size range, linked to a high output steelwork facility, would strengthen the group's shipbuilding capability and be viable beyond the existing order book.
The larger of the two dry docks at Hebburn had dimensions of 260 metres long by 44 metres wide at the entrance and was therefore capable of accepting the 112,000 tonne
tankers without modification. This site was examined as a possible shipbuilding complex and the preliminary investigations indicated that it was suitable for such a purpose.
With the improvement in the order book, the decision was taken to proceed with these two major development projects at Wallsend Shipyard and the Hebburn Shipbuilding
Dock, together with the improvements at Walker and South Shields Shipyards. Wallsend Shipyard Development The first stage of the development of Wallsend Shipyard
was completed in the autumn of 1971, and the following new facilities were successfully commissioned. New steel stockyards, plate and stiffener preparation lines, numerically controlled burning machines and a new mechanized production line for the manufacture of the flat stiffened panels. Also included in this development was a new Outfit and Painting Hall together with the introduction of an integrated transport system using hydraulically operated self-propelled transporters. This project consequently concentrated on improving the productivity and increasing the steel manufacturing capability and provided the potential for a possible future increase in unit size manufactured in the Fabrication Shop.
The objective of the second stage of the development was the reduction in the berth cycle time for the large tankers, taking advantage of the first stage potential by minimising the berth work content and maximising the work carried out in controlled conditions in the Fabrication Shop. This was to be achieved by the installation of large berth cranes together with an extension of the Fabrication Shop facilities to meet the new demands
placed upon it.
It will be recognised that inclement weather can often adversely affect the productivity of the building berth as a work station and, in addition, the sheer physical size of the
250,000 tonne tankers presents access and production control problems. Therefore the minimising of the work content at this work station has very real economic advantages.
In order to determine the optimum lifting capacity of the new berth cranes, it was necessary to re-analyse the steelwork unit breakdown for the large tankers to be con-
structed. Using the information from this analysis and allowing for the weight of the pre-erection items of equipment, it was found that two berth cranes of 180 tonnes capacity were required. The possibility of using a gantry crane was considered, but due to the particular geography of the site and the position of the berth in relation to the River Tyne, it was found that the extreme ends of the ship would not be adequately covered. Alternatively, level luffing cranes would provide good coverage to the fore and after ends of the vessel and would also provide good craneage to the storage areas alongside the building berth.
The final specification for the berth crane was prepared to provide a lifting capacity of 180 tonnes at 31 metres radius extending to 66 tonnes at 69 metres radius with
corresponding intermediate capacities. A further constraint in the design of the crane was that it had to be suitable for installation on the existing port concrete crane gantry which was designed for a maximum permissible wheel load of 40 tonnes at wheel centres of not less than 1 metre.
The design of the steel structure of the Fabrication Shop was carefully examined to determine whether it was possible to increase the maximum crane lift capability without
having to undertake major structural alterations to the shop. The consulting engineer's report indicated that it was possible to achieve a maximum lift of 110 tonnes by limited
local strengthening to the crane girders and steel columns. A decision was made to install two 55 tonne cranes for lifting the three dimensional fore and aft end units which are built at fixed work stations. The heaviest steelwork unit, excluding the outfit material, was estimated to weigh 140 tonnes. These flat base cargo tank units lend themselves to construction on a mechanised build-up line with the possibility of introducing production process methods into the fabrication activity.
This build-up line consists of six work stations and a delivery station, each work station comprising four roller chain conveyors independently driven by an electric motor
and capable of conveying a steelwork unit having dimensions 19 metres by 17 metres and having a maximum weight of 150 tonnes. The build-up line is in series with the panel line but not as a continuous process, a buffer existing between the delivery station of the panel line and the first station of the build-up line to provide for the imbalance in work content at respective stations in the two production lines.
A flat stiffened panel is loaded onto the first station of the build-up line, the sub-assemblies such as transverse girders, lower longitudinal bulkheads, brackets, etc., being
stored alongside the build-up line waiting to be added to the panel to form a steelwork unit. Defined work is scheduled to be carried out at the respective work stations as the steelwork unit is conveyed down the line. The first two work stations are nominated for erecting and plating work and are to be equipped with special fairing aids to allow for the speedy erection of sub-assemblies to the panel. Dimensional control checks will be carried out at these two work stations to guarantee accuracy before allowing the unit to proceed to the main fabricating areas. The next three work stations are given over to welding activity where the fabrication of the unit is completed. The sixth work station is nominated for inspection and dry survey prior to the unit being delivered from the shop by means of the conveyor and a special motorised carriage running on ground rails. The unit can then either be lifted by coupling two overhead shop cranes, or by the new berth
crane, onto the new 170 tonne transporter to be driven into the Outfitting and Painting Hall or into storage.
On average the movement of the conveyors should-not be more than twice per day and is scheduled to take place at the end of the shift or during lunch time to minimise the
interference with production. Services to the build-up line such as welding supplies, compressed air lines and ventilation hose have been designed for easy removal to
ensure that operation of the conveyors can take place with minimum effort.
The build-up line is scheduled to process the flat based units which form the cargo tank range of the large tankers together with a small number of units from the fore and
aft ends of the vessel resulting in a total of 210 units passing down the line representing 55 per cent of the total number of steelwork units and 70 per cent of the total steelweight
of the hull.

part 3
The covered length of the Fabrication Shop has been increased by 43 metres representing an increase of 23 per cent to accommodate the new conveyor line and to provide
sufficient area for build-up of the three dimensional steelwork units.
The new steelwork breakdown for the 250,000 tonne tankers has reduced the total number of steelwork units from 700 to 380, this in turn has reduced the berth work
content by 35 per cent when measured in terms of metres of welded joint length. This welded joint length has been transferred to the Fabrication Shop where it is performed
much more efficiently and economically in controlled working conditions.
This second phase in the development of Wallsend Shipyard was not directed solely at improving the fabrication and erection of steelwork but includes improvements
in the facilities for outfitting of the ships, so as to increase the number of ships produced annually and thus justify the investment. In order to maximise the production of ships, we believe that the outfitting function must be performed concurrently with the construction of the hull of the vessel and therefore have adopted the philosophy of the pre-erection outfitting which we believe is essential to achieve the desired build cycle of 45 weeks. The introduction of this discipline has repercussions on the whole organisation because the sequence of producing the steelwork units has to be completely changed to give emphasis to the machinery space units which contain the majority of the outfitting work.
Indeed the new production programme indicates a need to commence the outfitting of selected machinery space units before the keel of the ship is laid on the berth. This
requirement has a considerable effect on the technical departments in the company in that the information with regard to the engine room and cargo handling areas of outfitting needs to be made available to the production departments much earlier in the programme than was previously the case.
The introduction of pre-erection outfitting creates a demand for outfitting work stations which in turn has created a space problem at Wallsend Shipyard due to its limited area.
This problem has partially been alleviated by transferring the blacksmithing function to the Walker Shipyard and demolishing the existing Blacksmiths Shop at Wallsend
Shipyard to provide an area to store and outfit machinery space units. In addition, more area has been leased from the Central Electricity Board to the east of the Wallsend Ship-
yard for the storage of sub-assemblies and selected steelwork units to allow the space available inside the shipyard to be devoted to the storage of units requiring pre-erection
outfitting. Also, because it is impossible to pre-outfit engine room units completely, there remains a large number of small components which need to be lifted into the engine room
through the access opening. To leave the 180 tonne crane free for its shipbuilding purpose, a light capacity tower crane is sited at the extreme end of the gantry where it can
off-load transport, help marshal equipment and directly plumb the centre line of the engine room with a load of 2 tonnes.
Another feature of the development aimed at reducing the berth cycle was the decision to concentrate on the erection of the fore end of the vessel much earlier in the construction programme than was formerly possible. In order to preserve road access round the head of the berth, it has been necessary to delay the construction of the fore end of the vessel until the last possible moment, which in turn has resulted in congested working conditions and access problems at the forward end of the ship. It is proposed to overcome this problem by constructing a new roadway across the berth with direct access to it from the delivery station at the Fabrication Shop. The position of the roadway, which is in way of the No. 1 cargo tank, allows the complete fore end of the vessel to be welded leaving the relatively simple steelwork to be completed finally when the roadway has been closed to traffic.
With the introduction of the new 180 tonne berth cranes a rearrangement of the existing berth craneage was necessary, as may be seen from the site plan. The large tanker berth will be serviced by one 180 tonne and one 60 tonne level luffing crane on each of the port and starboard crane gantries. The port 180 tonne crane is positioned at the river end of the crane gantry to service adequately the aft end of the vessel while the starboard 180 tonne crane is located at the forward end of the crane gantry to service the fore end of the tanker and to unload the build-up line when required.
To achieve this desired arrangement of craneage it was necessary to transfer one of the 60 tonne level luffing cranes from the port gantry to the starboard gantry and to remove the three cantilever cranes which previously existed on this gantry. These latter cranes replace the limited craneage available on the Outfitting Quay and provide a lift capability of 55 tonnes over the engine room area, 45 tonnes at midships and 10 tonnes at the fore end of the vessel.
The transfer of the cranes between the respective crane gantries which are about 80 metres apart, involved the elevation of the crane using hydraulic jacks to allow the
normal ships standing and sliding launchways to be inserted under special brackets fitted to the crane. The crane was then lowered onto the sliding ways and winched over to its new position where it was hydraulically lowered down to its final position. In some instances, this has involved lowering a crane weighing approximately 500 tonnes
through a distance of 2 metres. The subsequent transferring of cranes to the outfitting quay was undertaken using two 400 tonne capacity floating derrick cranes, an operation
which was unprecedented and which required careful consideration and attention to the lifting arrangements to ensure success.
It was also decided to improve the mooring arrangements for the large tankers by constructing two ‘hard points' at selected positions along the jetty front in way of
the parallel mid-body of the ship and installing two Firestone Burleigh roller fenders each having a thrust capability of 300 tonnes.
The civil engineering work associated with this development project was largely concerned with modifying the port and starboard crane gantries. The port gantry was
extended by 18 metres at the river end to improve the crane coverage at the aft end of the tanker and is designed to allow the berth side structure to be removed to provide the
necessary ship clearance for launching the vessel. The starboard crane gantry was increased in width from 9 metres to 12 metres rail gauge to accommodate the new
180 tonne crane and to accept the transfer of one of the existing 60 tonne level luffing cranes from the port side crane gantry.

part 4
Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock
Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock is the name given to the latest facility to be added to Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Limited. This new shipbuilding facility represents the largest of our current development projects programmed to come on stream in early 1975.
The development is taking place on the site of the former Palmers Hebburn Shiprepair Yard of Vickers Limited, immediately adjacent to the existing Hebburn Shipyard.
The shiprepair facility was originally purchased in 1972 by Swan Hunter Shiprepairers Limited, as an extension to their shiprepair operations on the River Tyne. However,
a decision was made to develop this site as a shipbuilding facility which involved the creation of a steelwork manufacturing complex on the eastern part of the site and de-
veloping the larger of the two dry docks as a building dock.
The overall objective of this development project was to create a modern shipbuilding complex capable of producing up to three 112,000 tonne tankers per year from one
building dock. The manufacturing facility was to be complementary to the Wallsend Steelwork Facility and would share with it the task of supplying the other Tyne ship-
yards with flat stiffened panels and block units as necessary.
The present site occupies 45 acres, with the original ship repair activity contained within 27 acres at the western part of the site, leaving approximately 18 acres of virgin ground
at the eastern part of the site. This latter area was sufficient for the proposed steelwork manufacturing complex; however, there was a topographical disadvantage to the
site, in that there was a 14 metres difference in level between the southern boundary and the Outfitting Quay level. Various building layouts were considered before deciding on the final arrangement which makes the best use of the site by adopting a split level building arrangement, the spoil being used for infilling to the old No. 1 dock. The stockyards and the Burning Hall are located at the upper level and the Panel Hall, Sub-Assembly and Build-up Shops are at the lower level. An 8.5 metres difference in level exists between these two plateaux. Steel may be delivered to the stockyards by road or rail transport and is unloaded by overhead electric cranes equipped with magnet beams. The plate stockyard has an area of 4,500 square metres and can accommodate 55 plate piles, sufficient to store up to 8,000 tonnes of plate. The plate stockyard is serviced by a 15 tonne magnet handling overhead crane, the magnet beam being equipped with a tilting device to allow the crane to discharge wide plates from trestle bogies. A two man cab is fitted to the crane to allow a material controller sitting alongside the driver to maintain optimum stockyard control with minimum crane movements. The stiffener stockyards consist of two bays with a total area of 9,000 square metres which will provide
storage for up to 4,500 tonnes of stiffeners.
The plate treatment line incorporates a plate levelling machine, water wash pre-heater, shotblasting machine, paint spray and dryer, linked together to form a continuous
treatment line capable of being operated in an automatic or manual mode. The operating speed of the line is 6 metres per minute when a minimum shotblasting quality equiva-
lent to Swedish standard SA2 is specified for grade A steel. Reserve treatment capacity is available to fulfil the needs of other shipyards within the group. There are four conveyors before the plate levelling work station and in the automatic mode this should provide sufficient buffer to allow the stockyard crane to maintain the supply of
plates to the input conveyor. The plate leveller is equipped with an automatic plate
thickness measuring device which sends a signal to the levelling machine to adjust the work rollers to correspond to this thickness. It is anticipated that the majority of the
plates will be processed through the levelling machine in one pass and so it was considered that this form of automatic control was necessary to maintain the production
rate. From the levelling machine, the plate is automatically conveyed through the water wash pre-heater, the shot-blasting machine and a paint spraying machine equipped
with 8 airless paint spraying guns. The paint is dried as the plate passes through a special chain driven curved slat conveyor before being delivered into the Burning Hall by
a cross travelling chain conveyor.
Stiffener Stockyard Bay 1 is equipped with two 5 tonne capacity magnet handling overhead cranes, the first crane unloading stiffeners from railway wagons for sorting and
placing into storage. The second crane is used to discharge the cross travelling conveyors at the delivery end of the stiffener treatment line and to load the stiffeners onto
trestles placed adjacent to the conveyor. Both cranes can be used to load stiffeners onto the treatment line. Stiffener Stockyard Bay II is equipped with one 5 tonne magnet
handling crane for unloading road and rail wagons, sorting and loading the chain conveyor of the treatment line. The stiffener treatment line, operating in a similar manner
to the plate line, consists of a water wash pre-heater, shot-blasting machine, paint spray and drier. The operating speed is 4 metres per minute when a shot-blasting quality
equivalent to Swedish standard SA2 is specified.
The Burning Hall is 38 metres span by 147 metres long and is equipped with three flame cutting machines with ample space for additional machines to be installed in the future if required. The first machine is a two plate capacity 3 portal flame planer to produce rectangular plates with the edges prepared for automatic welding. This machine
has been fitted with digital measuring devices for length and width to ensure the accuracy of the finished plates but principally to minimise the setting-up time. The other two
flame cutting machines are numerically controlled profiling and marking machines operated simultaneously by a mini-computer in an adjacent building, provision having
been made to operate one of these machines in a three axis mode for the flame cutting of expanded shell plates. The hall is serviced by one 15 tonne overhead electric magnet
handling crane to unload the treatment line and to load and unload the flame cutting machines. Additional burning tables independently served by a 3 tonne goliath crane
are provided for the separation of the piece parts to maximise the use of the burning machines and the overhead crane. The free undercover area allows ample space
for the storage of treated and flame cut steel plates. The rectangular plates to be processed down the panel line will be taken from storage at the high level and loaded onto the
chain conveyors of Station I of the panel line at the low level.
The panel line is a mechanised production flow line consisting of four work stations for the manufacture of flat stiffened panels having maximum dimensions of 17
metres by 17 metres and a maximum weight of 110 tonnes.
The first work station comprises a hydraulic alignment and positioning system with a magnet bed to clamp the plates during tack welding. Butt welding of the plate panel takes
place at Station II using a rail-mounted butt welding gantry equipped with a single carriage which can weld using the submerged arc technique with two or three wires
according to plate thickness. The panel can be turned over here by means of a ground controlled overhead crane, enabling the butt-welder to weld the second side. A turn-
table is included in the line at Station III to allow panels to be transversely stiffened, as necessary for bulkheads, the rollers and conveyor chains at this station being manu-
factured from material to enable burning of the panel to be carried out as required. Station IV is for stiffener injection and welding to the plate panel, this station employing the
most technically advanced equipment on the line. The plate panel is aligned against a datum by means of two hydraulically operated carriages, these carriages are then
locked to ensure the panel remains in the correct orientation while they travel with the panel through the stiffener injection station. The travel of the panel is measured and
controlled by an electronic system, using data fed in manually or by punched paper tape. Both accuracy and set up time are improved using this system. Stiffeners are injected, positioned and hydraulically clamped and then welded by two twin fillet, two wire welding carriages. The completed panel is conveyed into the Unit Assembly Shop
for removal by overhead crane. The stiffener preparation bay is located adjacent to the
panel line and is equipped with machines to produce straight stiffeners, accurately cut to length, for injection to the panel line. These machines include a combined frame bender/straightening machine, a stiffener burning machine which edge prepares the butt ends of the stiffener and a specially designed shotblasting machine which cleans the
toes of the stiffeners to ensure high speed trouble-free welding. Stiffener piece parts for sub-assembly work are also provided in this bay by conventional methods.

part 5
The sub-assembly of minor steelwork is carried out in two bays having a total floor area of 7,500 square metres which is some 30 per cent larger than the equivalent bays
at the Wallsend Shipyard. The sub-assembly area is divided into work stations for minor and major sub-assembly with adequate area alongside each work station for the storage of pallet loads of piece parts. Good access to and from the respective work stations has been provided for the supply and delivery of finished components. This follows the principle established at Wallsend Shipyard of delivering accurately made piece parts at the correct time to the right work station to achieve the maximum output. The two sub-assembly bays are each serviced by two 10 tonne electric overhead hook cranes running on gantries which extend into the main Unit Assembly Shop for the delivery of finished subassemblies.
The Unit Assembly Shop is 160 metres long by 40 metres span and is serviced by two 50 tonne and two 10 tonne electric overhead hook cranes running on two gantry levels. A panel build-up conveyor line occupies the northern half of the shop and operates in a similar manner to the line installed at Wallsend Shipyard. The remainder of the shop is divided into fixed work stations for the production of three dimensional fore-end and aft-end units.
At the north-east corner of the shop an access bay is provided to allow the unit transporter to enter and remove flat stiffened panels to storage or for export to the other Tyne shipyards. Finished units are removed by the unit transporter from the west end of the shop. A large number of units require to be painted before erection and this work will be carried out in two paint cells situated alongside the Unit Assembly Shop. Finished painted units and other units will be stored in a centrally located unit storage area which has a capacity to accommodate approximately 30 per cent of the total number of steelwork units in the complete ship. This area was reclaimed by filling in and surfacing the old No. 1 dry dock and provides the storage space necessary to achieve the balance between fabrication and erection. Pre-erection outfitting is to be maximized at the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock to achieve the minimum dock cycle and the conversion of the existing Platers Shop into an Outfit Hall will provide excellent facilities for this purpose. The shop is situated alongside the building dock and has two bays, the larger bay is serviced by craneage up to 25 tonnes in capacity and has sufficient area to provide five work stations for the outfitting of units. Large doors at the north and south ends of
the shop will allow the units to be moved in and out of the shop by transporter, the overhead cranes being used solely for outfitting duties. The small bay is equipped with plate working machinery for the manufacture of outfit steelwork which will be added to the main units at the most appropriate work stations.
The existing dock is 260 metres long, 44 metres wide at the entrance and has a depth of 14 metres, the existing craneage being one 50 tonne and one 25 tonne crane on opposite sides of the dock. To supplement this craneage, two 100 tonne level luffing cranes are to be installed at the landward end, providing adequate lifting capability on each side of the ship for the largest units envisaged. The two 100 tonne cranes can be combined for special major lifts up to 200 tonnes in weight.
The dry dock was originally constructed with the dock bottom having a slope of 1 in 300 towards the entrance; however it is intended to construct the ships on a level keel by using purpose designed keel blocks and staging equipment. This will eliminate some of the problems associated with the positioning of heavy units on a declivity and will allow many units to be erected by a single crane with consequent reductions in erection time.
The manufacture of the main outfit materials will be undertaken in the centralised facilities at the Wallsend and Walker Shipyards and delivered to site for installation, the
existing outfit shops at the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock being used to provide support facilities to the various outfit trades. These shops include the Electricians and Maintenance Shop and a combined workshop having limited manufacturing facilities for plumbers, joiners, blacksmiths and sheetmetal workers. A large area adjacent to these shops and near the dockside has been allocated for the construction and outfitting of deckhouses prior to erection with the overall objectives, in conjunction with all pre-outfit work, of reducing the berth cycle.
The existing Fitting Shop has been converted to provide an engineering support facility and a heavy lift store for outfit items weighing up to 15 tonnes. In addition to the existing outfitting shops, offices and canteen facilities, a new Amenities Block is to be constructed incorporating toilet and shower facilities, a mess room, locker rooms and a medical centre. This building is centrally placed within the shipyard in close proximity to the building dock, workshops and the Outfitting Quay.
The Outfitting Quay, constructed in 1959, is 225 metres long with a dredged depth of water of 8 metres below low water of spring tides. The quay has one 30 tonne and one
10 tonne jetty crane operating over the full length and is fully equipped with the normal electrical supplies, water and compressed air services. Additional mooring facilities are to be installed for the safe mooring of vessels.
The area in the eastern part of the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock site on which the steelwork manufacturing complex is being constructed appeared on the surface to be ‘virgin ground', but test borings and excavations revealed the existence of a number of underground obstructions. Old drawings of the site confirmed that a chemical works had
previously occupied part of the area and that the foundations for these buildings remained some distance below ground level. It also became apparent that large pieces of
unwanted slag, from the chemical process, had been indiscriminately buried over other areas of the site. The civil engineering design for the foundations of the buildings and structures contained over 900 piles and consequently it was no surprise that some problems were experienced during the pile driving operations. When a problem was encountered, it was normally possible to drill through the obstacle and continue piling but on some occasions it was necessary to resort to explosives and excavation to remove the obstruction completely. The reinforced concrete structure at the change in level section
consists of columns supporting a slab which forms the floor of the Burning Hall and the Steel Stockyards, the void space below the slab being used to provide office space for
the supervisory and technical staff engaged in operating the new facility.
An unusual and interesting feature of the civil engineering operations involved the re-siting of an existing Outfit Store by moving it 6 metres laterally towards the Outfitting
Quay, the original position of the store preventing the construction of the roadway from the panel export bay, at the north-east corner of the Unit Assembly Shop, to the No 2
Dock entrance. This building was 64 metres long by 19 metres wide and was of steel framed construction with a brick dado wall and corrugated sheeting to the roof and
sides, and rather than dismantle and re-erect the building in its new position, it was decided to transfer the entire structure on a roller track system. The dado wall was demolished and special steel girders with integral hydraulic jacks and rollers, were clamped and welded to the column bases; the complete building was then raised from its foundations until it was supported by the special roller system. The Outfit Store was then
winched over to the new position and located on the prepared foundation.

part 6
Walker Shipyard
The current production programme for the Walker Shipyard is devoted to building exclusively 112,000 tonne tankers. The first two vessels will have their aft ends built
at Walker Shipyard whilst their fore ends will be built at the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock; the joining up will take place in the Dock and after undocking the completed hull
will be outfitted at the Walker Shipyard.
The aft end of the second ship is programmed to be launched in mid 1975 and this particular production programme was arranged to allow this series of ship contracts
to commence without over-straining the existing production resources at Walker Shipyard. The opportunity will be taken during the intervening period to mid 1975 to complete the development work at Walker Shipyard to permit vessels of the same series to be constructed in a shorter berth cycle time taking advantage of the new berth
cranes. The largest berth at Walker Shipyard has the capability of accommodating ships up to 115,000 tonnes deadweight, consequently this yard will essentially become a one berth shipyard for the duration of this contract The berth itself is presently equipped with one 40 ton and one 20 ton cantilever crane on each crane gantry, giving a maximum lifting capacity of 54 tonnes when the port or starboard cranes are used in tandem linked by a special lifting beam.
The principle of minimising the berth work content was adopted for Walker Shipyard when analysing the steelwork construction for the 112,000 tonne tankers to decide the
unit breakdown. The solution for the unit breakdown for these ships indicated a maximum unit weight of 78 tonnes. The analysis of the steelwork construction showed that by using the suggested unit breakdown, the total number of steelwork units would be reduced from 404 to 293 with a consequent reduction in the berth joint length of the order
of 25 per cent.
It was therefore proposed to install two 80 tonne cranes, one on each crane gantry, at the landward end and capable of being used in tandem to install main machinery components up to 160 tonnes in weight. The existing concrete crane gantries have a relatively narrow rail gauge of 8 metres and were originally designed to support 20 tonne capacity berth cranes. Fortunately it was possible to design the new 80 tonne berth cranes to comply with the relevant British Standards without exceeding the maximum wheel load for the gantry. It was therefore possible to introduce the new larger cranes without having to incur major civil engineering expenditure. The opportunity was taken to extend the length of two of the crane gantries by approximately 23 metres to provide improved crane coverage at the head of the building berth.
The steelwork analysis of the vessel also indicated that approximately 5,700 tonnes of the total steelweight was represented by flat stiffened panels, i.e., about 32 per cent of the total steelweight. These basic steelwork components will be manufactured by either the Wallsend manufacturing facility or the new Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock facility transported to Walker Shipyard by river barge and delivered to the Fabrication Shop to be built up into units having a maximum unit weight of 78 tonnes.
The existing shop consists of three bays each nominally 16 metres wide by 366 metres long but limited to a maximum crane lift of 30 tonnes. It was therefore necessary to devise a means of completing the build-up of the heavier units without resorting to outdoor working and transporting them from the shop to the berth for erection.
The transport problem was resolved by utilising a 110 tonne capacity unit transporter previously used in the Wallsend Shipyard. To solve the build-up problem, it was decided to extend the use of the trolley system which had been installed in the shop some two years previously for the same purpose, and which had worked out very successfully
for units up to 54 tonnes in weight.
This system basically consisted of wheeled stools running on a track laid transversely across the three bays of the Fabrication Shop floor. These stools are 1.8 metres high
and steelwork units are fabricated on top of them in the two bays of the shop, the centre bay being kept clear so that when a unit is completed in one of the side bay stations, it
may be traversed into the centre bay. The unit transporter drives down the centre bay and positions itself beneath the finished unit and by elevating its platform is able to remove
the unit from the stools, transport it to storage, and thence to the building berth for erection.
With the introduction of the unit transporter system of handling steelwork units, it was necessary to create sufficient areas of hard standing accessible to the vehicle to
allow for the storage of finished units where pre-erection outfitting work could be performed prior to erection. In addition to concreting areas at the head of number 1 and 2
berths, it was also decided to clear the centre of the shipyard to provide the required number of storage positions. This involved the demolition of the existing paint shop and
a washing facilities block which were replaced by similar facilities in another part of the shipyard.
The installation of the two new 80 tonne berth cranes required that two of the existing 20 tonne cranes be transferred to other crane gantries within the shipyard. The surplus cranes were at the river end on each gantry and so it was possible again to use the two 400 tonne floating cranes for this purpose, typically as shown in fig. 4.
The machinery from the Blacksmiths Shop previously located at the Wallsend Shipyard has been transferred and installed into a suitably converted existing shop at the Walker Shipyard, to form the new centralised facility.
In addition to re-siting the Wallsend shop machinery, the work involved the installation of new fires, extraction, ventilation and heating systems. All of this was achieved without seriously affecting the performance of this important production unit.
South Shields Shipyard
The current ship production programme for Swan Hunter Shipbuilders indicated that it would be advantageous to increase the building berth capacity of the South Shields Shipyard to allow ships up to 32,000 tonnes deadweight to be constructed.
The modifications necessary to the major berth to accept the larger ship consisted of extending the width of the pile caps at the berth end, together with the removal of various
obstructions and a general reconstruction of the river end of the berth.
The completion of this development work has increased the maximum beam of ship which can be accommodated from 23 metres to 29 metres, and enables this shipyard to
produce the larger ships, thereby increasing its competitive ability.
In conclusion it should be mentioned that all of the current development projects have been carried out in the respective shipyards in conjunction with the normal ship-
building operations and generally have been completed without interference to the production programme. This could not possibly have been achieved without the valuable
assistance and co-operation of the Production Managers and staff in each shipyard.
The author wishes to express his appreciation to the Board of Directors of Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Limited, for permission to publish this paper and to the Engineers in the Development Department for their assistance in the preparation of the information.

some pictures

more pictures

It’s a long time since I first read that paper Terry – happy memories of busy and optimistic times. It gives the lie to the oft-made claim that UK yards made little investment in their facilities. Sadly these facilities were never able to demonstrate their sustained capability. Within a year of the 26 ship tanker order, over the three months from October 1973 to January 1974, the price of a barrel of middle-east crude oil, then the benchmark, increased from $2 to $8 (no, that’s not a typo!) and the effect on shipbuilding generally, and tanker building in particular, was catastrophic. Global output fell from over 35 million GRT in 1975 to 11 million GRT in 1979 and didn’t reach the 1975 peak again until the early years of this century. Half of the 26 ship order was cancelled. That marked the beginning of the lingering end of UK merchant shipbuilding. There was little that UK private yards, or BS – established in July 1977, could do in the face of vast world-wide over-capacity and willingness in some quarters to treat shipbuilding as a “loss-leader”.

The developments were more or less done by the time I joined the company in 1972, but I remember the elation of the Maritime Fruit order very well. New wife, new house, new mortgage. Then the dismay at the cancellation of most of the contract. I also remember the time as a continual battle by the unions on the wages front and even being part of a meeting that turned down a 15% rise (as I remember it). This made me think this morning of the other challenges the company was facing, with raging inflation and falling contract prices. I looked up the inflation details: