NEW AUTOMATED FABRICATION AND BUILDING DOCK AT UDDEVALLAVARVET

The new and highly-automated Uddevalla Shipyard (an extension of a yard built in 1946), designed in consultation with the yard workers and costing the equivalent of 85.5 million pounds, is now in operation. The main features of this state-owned Swedish yard are its 400 m by 100 m building dock, built largely on reclaimed land, and the fabrication hall, a very large L-shaped steel-working plant. The dock, which is served by a 900-tonne PHB gantry crane with computer-assisted control, is suitable for ships of up to 650,000 dwt and could, if required, be extended for building ships of up to 750,000 dwt. Alternatively, the dock can accommodate two ships of up to 160,000 dwt. There is also a new conventional building-berth, of 250,000 dwt capacity, alongside the building dock; it has its own jib cranes which can, if necessary, be transferred along rail tracks to the building dock. In the fabrication hall, the plate and profile materials go through their respective treatment and production lines before they meet at the ESAB-HEBE profile-mounter, which can weld both sides of two profiles simultaneously. When fabrication is completed, the hull sections are taken to the building dock or berth (which are some distance away), or to storage, by self-propelled low-loader transporters of various capacities up to 400 tonnes. The article gives further information on these production and transportation arrangements, and includes a flow diagram of the steel-working plant and a description of the UHL (ultra-heavy-lift) transportation systems for lifting and moving sub-assemblies during production and for jacking-up the completed sections for loading on to the low-loaders. These arrangements are primarily for "flat" ship-sections; curved sections are built in two older fabrication halls. The article, which mentions some doubt about these facilities being fully employed while there is a diminising need for very large tankers and bulk carriers, includes some information on the yard's present shipbuilding activities. Order from: BSRA as No. 47,148.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/7260964
• Corporate Authors:

  Engineering, Chemical and Marine Press, Limited

  33-39 Bowling Green Lane
  London EC1P 1AH,   England 
• Publication Date: 1977-7

Media Info

• Pagination: 3 p.
• Serial:
  • Motor Ship
  • Volume: 58
  • Issue Number: 684
  • Publisher: Blohm + Goss GMBH
  • Serial URL: http://www.hhc.co/uk/motorship

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Automation; Cargo handling equipment; Drydock operations; Heavy lift vessels; Information processing; Lifting equipment; Materials management; Productivity; Shipbuilding; Ships; Shipyards
• Old TRIS Terms: Heavy lifts; Ship lifts; Shipyard automation
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00168326
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: British Ship Research Association
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Feb 16 1978 12:00AM