Operator Weeks Marine Completed 1966 Launched 1966 Draft 6.4 m Identification USCG ID 501953 | Ordered 1965 Acquired 1988 Length 91 m Beam 27 m | |
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Name Weeks 533 (2000–present)
McDermott DB-xx (197x–1988)
Marine Boss (1966–197x) In service Weeks (2000–present)
McDermott (197x–1988)
Murphy Pacific (1966–197x) Installed power 350kW, 1x Caterpillar 3406 diesel genset Builder Zidell Explorations (barge) | ||
Weeks 533 500t barge crane lifting a manlift
Weeks 533 is a 500-short-ton (454 t) capacity Clyde Iron Works model 52 barge-mounted crane which is the largest revolving floating crane on the East Coast of the United States. It was originally ordered for bridge construction and has since been used in several notable heavy lifts.
Contents
- Weeks 533 500t barge crane lifting a manlift
- History
- Capacity
- Bridges built
- Notable heavy lifts
- References
History
The Marine Boss floating barge-crane was built for Murphy Pacific Marine. The barge was assembled by Zidell Explorations from scrapped ship steel in Oregon in 1966 and fitted in San Francisco with a heavy 500-ton revolving crane made by Clyde Iron Works to perform the heavy girder and deck-section lifts for construction of the 1967 San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. At the time it was the largest barge crane in the western United States.
In the 1970s, Marine Boss was sold to J. Ray McDermott & Co., who had introduced the first 500-ton floating cranes for offshore platform construction in 1965 and were operating a similar fleet of barge-cranes under the McDermott Derrick Barge (DB) class. McDermott would later sell it for scrap in 1988 to Weeks Marine in New Jersey, who renamed it the Weeks 533 and refurbished it from 1997-2000. Weeks 533 is considered the flagship of the Weeks fleet.
One of the tugboats transporting Weeks 533 from Albany to New Jersey collided with the moored 750t crane barge N181 near the Tappan Zee Bridge at night in heavy fog on 12 March 2016. The tug Specialist subsequently sank, killing all three sailors.
Capacity
The Clyde Iron Works Model 52-DE crane can lift 500 short tons (454 t) using the main hoist on a 210-foot (64 m) boom at any point in the crane's revolution; capacity rises to 600 short tons (544 t) when using the main hoist oriented astern. Motive power for the main hoist is provided by a Caterpillar 3412 V-12 diesel engine, and electric power for the barge is provided by a Caterpillar 3406 I-6 diesel generator set.