On the anniversary of the blaze that engulfed the last surviving tea clipper, the project’s engineer is gearing up for lifting the ship
On 21st May 2007 and with the £25 million Cutty Sark conservation project only a quarter complete fire ripped through the hull of the world famous tea clipper. It was feared the vessel’s structure had suffered substantial damage, but Buro Happold’s survey revealed that only local buckling and distortion had occurred – and there was no change in the properties or overall shape of the iron frame.
Only in February this year was Buro Happold’s team able to resume its original work on the conservation of the vessel – overseeing the treatment of the existing iron frame (to remove salts and to prevent further corrosion from occurring using electrolytic processes) and repairs to damaged timber and the iron frame.
Last month the project reached a major milestone with a 15 foot, seven-tonne iron counter (a large and delicate part of the ship's stern) being lifted by crane from the vessel for electrolysis treatment and repair – after which it will be re-attached to the ship.
Buro Happold is now gearing up for the construction of the ship’s support structure, which it has designed to raise the Grade 1 listed vessel off her keel by some 2.7 metres so it can be suspended over a new visitor and exhibition space in the dry dock below – with the entire dock itself enclosed by a transparent curved glass canopy.
Jim Solomon, Associate Director at Buro Happold, said: “Work on the new internal structure will begin in earnest in mid-2008, with a view to enabling the Cutty Sark Trust to relaunch this unique vessel as a major national and international landmark and visitor attraction in the spring of 2010.
“We take great pride in being a part of this exciting project, which is putting our structural engineering and expertise in the conservation of historic structures to the test – and will see the world’s only surviving tea clipper presented, celebrated and enjoyed as never before.”
Peter Mason, Chief Engineer at the Cutty Sark Trust, said: "This project is a structural engineer's delight. The original structure is a triangulated iron ‘chassis’, not very different in principle from that of a 1960's racing car. Buro Happold’s task has been to arrest the decay of this inherently strong structure, keep it in play as part of the load carrying system, without actually repairing it and with the minimum of new structural interventions – brilliant stuff!”
Buro Happold’s design features twelve internal steel supporting cradles, along with external supports to carry the ship, and so deliver an unobstructed space under the ship in the dry berth. The cradles will be connected to an external strut and tie arrangement via a new steel strake beam on the outer hull to transfer vertical and horizontal loads onto the dry dock and concrete piles around its perimeter. The new strake will be hidden from view by the hull planking.
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Buro Happold is a multi-disciplinary international practice of consulting engineers established in 1976. We now employ over 1,700 staff in 21 offices worldwide. Our aim is to produce high quality engineering design in concept, in detail and in execution, on time, to programme and delivering excellent value for money. Our distinctive culture and ethos is still based on the same principles of care, value and elegance that were established when the practice was founded.
We offer structural, building services, civil, infrastructure and façade engineering, as well as a broad range of specialist consultancy services including sustainability, ground and environmental engineering, fire and security design, health and safety management, inclusive and urban design, project management, and specialist CAD and computer simulation provision.
