01.07.2019

New life for port crane

An old harbour crane from the port of Avonmouth, UK, has found a new lease of life at Glastonbury Festival.

The 140 tonne, 50 metre higher crane went into service at Bristol Port’s Avonmouth docks more than 44 years ago as Crane 91 and was used for lifting general cargo. However it had been decommissioned as the port switched to the latest dockside craneage. At the same time spectacle/events organiser Arcadia was looking for a new concept for its Pangea Stage at Glastonbury, to replace the giant mechanical spider stage that has been in place for a number of years.
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A new lease of life for an old crane

It agreed a deal to buy the crane from Bristol Port, dismantled it and shipped it the 30 miles to Glastonbury. A small team from Avonmouth, including a technician who was an apprentice at the port when the crane was installed, helped with the installation and then trained the Arcadia team on how to operate and maintain it.
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The crane now breathes fire

A number of DJs were based on the crane’s upper platforms, playing music to an audience of around 50,000 on the dance floor below.

Pip Rush, co-founder of Arcadia Spectacular said: “The idea is to take over the sky, that’s what’s special about what we do, there are 50,000 in our field but they all feel involved and near the action because we have taken over the sky. It will be like a giant audio Stonehenge, and is our most ambitious engineering feat to date.”

Paul Osbourne, an engineer from Bristol Port added: “I am not sure I have ever seen anything as incongruous as a crane, complete with its 10 metre deep pilings, plucked from industrial docks and planted in the middle of a field in Somerset. But having now witnessed it in action, I have to say it’s an incredible sight to behold!”
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