Speaker's Evening - Mr Nick Masson - The Crane

Babcock's Goliath Crane - from Concept to Reality was the title of a fascinating talk given to the club on 24th September by Nick Masson, Head of Quality at Babcock in Rosyth. Vital for the assembly of the two Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers currently being built for the Royal Navy by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance at Rosyth, was the design, acquisition and construction of the 1000 tonne Goliath crane, which can now be seen towering over the shipyard on the Fife coast. ZPMC, who produce 80% of the world's giant container and Goliath cranes on an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River, were the preferred bidders. Nick's presentation, full of interesting insights about how such a large international project is handled, covered visiting five Chinese steel mills to find the one most capable of producing the high - quality steel needed for the crane; working with the ZPMC design and construction engineers, and liaising with the numerous international advisory and validation bodies such as Lloyds and Bureau Veritas to ensure that all aspects of construction were of the highest quality. The crane's voyage to Rosyth took 3 1/2 months. Erection and testing went according to plan, and Goliath has now completed its work on HMS Queen Elizabeth and is well ahead on the assembly of HMS Prince of Wales. 

Nick's talk prompted many questions from the floor.  He was introduced by Ed Kelly and Jim McCulloch proposed the vote of thanks.

Rotarian Graham Clarkson then reported on the recent open weekend at Craigie's Education and Environment Project. The club is a longstanding supporter of this remarkable initiative at West Craigie Farm, South Queensferry, which allows young people from local schools and those with special needs to learn about food production, agriculture and the environment. It also provides opportunities for people of all ages to become directly involved in growing plants and caring for the environment.