Cranes and Lifting was recently fortunate enough to be supplied with a range of archived product books detailing the history of cranes. Featuring machines that constructed Flinders Street Station and the Titanic, enjoy our selection of the best images.
Circa 2670 BCE, under the reign of King Djoser, the very first pyramid in ancient Egypt was built by Imhotep: an Egyptian polymath, responsible for the design of the famous ‘Step Pyramid’.
A massive structure it was too: made purely out of limestone, the ancient Egyptian structure once stood at 64.5 metres tall, with a (nearly) square base of 109 metres x 121 metres and, up until 1997, was considered to be the earliest large-scale cut stone construction made by man.
So, unless we account for aliens or some other extra-terrestrial being, then it is evident that cranes have been around for a very long time – nearly 5000 years, in fact.
During that elapsed time, they’ve managed to evolve in numerous ways, through technology, safety, load capacity, raw materials and every other imaginable way possible. Ultimately, however, their core purpose remains the exact same: cranes lift stuff up, and put it somewhere else.
The team at Cranes and Lifting was fortunate enough to witness part of this history firsthand courtesy of retired builder Peter Rodger, who supplied the magazine with historic content detailing cranes from the late 1800s and major construction projects in Australia in the early 1900s.
“My grandfather and his brother were some of the biggest builders in Australia at the time,” says Peter. “They worked on some of the largest construction projects across the country – many of which are still standing to this very day.”
Peter’s grandfather – also Peter Rodger – arrived in Melbourne in July 1885 aged 23 years old, settling down in Williamstown with his family. Establishing his own construction company in 1889 with his brother David, the duo went on to erect some of the most iconic landmarks across the country.
Completed in 1910, the brothers were selected by architects Fawcett & Ashworth to construct the original Flinders Street station in Melbourne – an instantly recognisable building across the nation. Further to that, the two also played pivotal parts in constructing country landmarks such as the Bairnsdale courthouse, the Camperdown clocktower and some other city constructions such as Hobart’s GPO and the massive St John’s Cathedral in Brisbane.
Their machines of choice, however, were generally derived from Scotland, according to Peter.
“They really enjoyed the Scotch product,” he says. “It was where our heritage lay, and we held a rich history with the Scottish building industry: Sir William Arrol, a Scottish civil engineer who supplied cranes for the Titanic, was an ‘Uncle’ figure to both Peter and David”.
A Scottish civil engineer and bridge builder, Arrol worked on several projects in the latter years of the 19th century that still hold firm today. Reconstructing monuments such as the Tay Bridge in 1883, Arrol also led the construction of the Tower Bridge travelling over the Thames in London, and the Firth of Forth in Edinburgh.
Most notably, however, he played a significant role in creating the Titan Crane which was eventually used in the construction of many notable ships as well as lifting engines and boilers on battle ships. Furthermore, he built the Arrol Gantry in Belfast in 1908, a machine that was used for the construction of the RMS Titanic and RMS Olympic.
With three of the catalogues supplied to Cranes and Lifting originating from Butters Brothers, a Scottish crane manufacturing company originating in 1867, it’s not difficult to see the infatuation; however, other – also defunct – companies do make an appearance too, such as Scottish-based McDowall & Sons, and the midlands-based Thomas Smith & Sons.
Throughout, the catalogues feature an array of cranes from the past – whether they’re electric, steam powered, the original gantry cranes, or locomotives – and provide an intriguing insight into what construction, mining, and port work looked like before the technological advancements that we’re so familiar with arrived.
Ultimately, we can talk about the history these catalogues hold for as long as we want, but the reality is it’s just better to see them for yourself. So, without further ado, here’s our selection of the best images from the material supplied to Cranes and Lifting.
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