Dismantling of Schelde Crane 526-00: a spectacular operation

We did it! The Schelde crane 526-00, dating back to 1957, was dismantled in early June on the Damen Yachting quay and then transported to Rotterdam. There, it will be reassembled and converted into hotel accommodation. Three luxury hotel rooms will be created in the tower of the historic crane. A new lease of life for an old crane, which, for all intents and purposes, will remain completely intact. Together with a group of colleagues, Davy van Reijmersdal was one of the people involved in the project from the very beginning. He explains that the relocation of the 48-metre high tower crane to Rotterdam has a long history.

Initially, the crane was to be taken over by a foundation that promotes the preservation of historical cranes (Stichting NedSEK), but eventually entrepreneur Edwin Kornmann Rudi, the owner of the Faralda Crane Hotel in Amsterdam, got involved. He was keen to take over the crane so that he could put three luxury hotel rooms in the tower of the colossal structure. He had already done this in Amsterdam with an old crane from the NDSM shipyard. Damen Naval decided to donate the crane to Kornmann Rudi for this purpose and so the preparations for the relocation of the crane from Vlissingen began. This huge task was eventually awarded to heavy lift specialist HEBO.

“First the boom, including the counterweight, was removed. That part of the crane is about 70 metres long and weighs 100 tonnes,” says Davy. “In order to free that section, the trusses at the top of the tower had to be cut loose with torches; working from a 40-metre-high platform just below the boom. Then the control cabin, engine room and the top half of the tower – all together weighing 50 tonnes – were detached. Finally, the remaining part of the tower, weighing no less than 150 tonnes, was removed.” The crane sections were hoisted by a floating sheerleg onto a ready-made pontoon, which was towed to the Waalhaven in Rotterdam.

There, the crane pieces are now waiting to be reassembled. It took three and a half days to disassemble and move the crane from Vlissingen. “Seeing the pontoon with the crane sections passing through the locks was a beautiful sight,” says Davy. Tower crane 526-00, built by Hensen, was initially used by De Schelde shipyard for outfitting activities in the Navy Drydock (in Dutch: Dok van Perry) “when the area was still completely full of cranes,” notes Davy. Later, it was moved to what is now known as the Jan Weugkade, only to be relocated again in 2006 to the new outfitting quay on Het Eiland. From 2010 to 2012, the 526-00 was employed on the outfitting of the Moroccan frigates.

It was also used during the outfitting of the Royal Netherlands Navy Ocean Patrol Vessels (OPVs) that entered service between 2012 and 2014, and for the outfitting of the Sail Training Vessel Shabab Oman II (2014). Ultimately, the crane was in service until 2018, most recently during the outfitting of yachts at Damen Yachting (Amels). Davy van Reijmersdal is Yard & Transport Engineer at Damen Naval.

The spectacular job with the crane was performed with the supervision of Project Leader Frans Voerman with the help of Maarten Glerum, colleagues from Procurement and Legal, and Dennis Geertse from Damen Yachting’s Technical Department. Davy took care of the engineering of the operational aspects. “I looked at where the cutting lines were, what the exact weight of all the parts was, where the centres of gravity were, how we could best transport the crane and in which sections that would be.”

He looks back on the operation with satisfaction. “Many people from Vlissingen think it is a pity that the crane has disappeared from the city’s skyline. It is the only crane of this type left. An identical Hensen crane, number 526-01, went to Vlissingen-East around the turn of the century and was used there for a while – but this has since been demolished. In any case, the 526-00 will be kept, whether that is in Vlissingen or Rotterdam, that does not matter that much.”

Davy adds: “You know, my great-grandfather was a crane driver on one of those cranes at De Schelde. When the 526-00 is ready, I hope to be able to marvel at it in Rotterdam one day.”