Titan Crane in Clydebank Receives Landmark Status

The Titan Clydebank Crane is trending on Twitter today as it's about to be bestowed the accolade of international historic civil engineering landmark! The fact that the title is also held by the Eiffel Tower in Paris gives some indication to its prestige in the worlds of civil engineering. That makes today a big day for the humble Glasgow crane!

The award conferred by four leading engineering institutions, is recognition of the structure's status as the world's first electrically powered cantilever crane and its contribution to Glasgow's shipbuilding industry. The well-known Queen Mary and QE2 ships were both constructed using the mechanism which in the early twentieth century, was considered the best in cutting-edge technology. Adam Hunter, chief engineer at Glasgow firm Sir William Arrol & Co. is accredited with designing the crane. His intelligent design and engineering prowess quickly caught on in local shipyards and at sites across the globe: the better-known Finneston Crane is a direct descendant!

It's great to see that over one hundred years since its inception, the Titan crane is being given the status it deserves as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. Perhaps this is due to many cantilever cranes being eliminated from history through their demolition with the decline of the industrial West. The Titan Clydebank may no longer be operational but as of today, it's legacy is assured. 

Visit RCAHMS' website for more details about the crane or search SCRAN through the GSA Library catalogue for a strong selection of historic images.

New Website Follows Glasgow's 'Future City' Project

You may remember us blogging about Glasgow's selection as a 'smart city' in an earlier post this year. 

We were celebrating Glasgow's competition win to pilot how technology can make life in the city, smarter, safer and more sustainable. The competition had been organised by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) - the Government's innovation agency. Glasgow's £24 million funding bid met with approval by the Board who have set up a number of specialist teams working on various technological projects around the city. A smartphone app for cyclists, intelligent street lighting and 'citizen science' mapping are some of the trail-blazing technologies in the pipeline which the public, academics and businesses will be encouraged to use and improve in a pilot focused on the 'smart' future of our cities.

We're revisiting the Future City /Glasgow project after discovering that a dedicated website has been launched making its work easier to follow online. The site brings visitors the latest news on the 'Demonstrator programme' as  it's been dubbed, with details relayed via press releases.

Check the website for details of the projects and to keep up-to-date with news. It's also worth navigating from the main page to read the blog discussing the nature of 'smart' and 'future' cities and to check the event-footage that's being streamed of events including science-related news from the ongoing UK Space Conference (Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th July). We found this video of the new City Operations Centre which will house the teams monitoring Glasgow's new CCTV network, the city's traffic lights and traffic cameras. You'd be smart to follow!

Flickr Photostream puts Scotland in the Frame

Modern and historical images from the archive collections at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) have been added to the Flickr photostream where some of the best archive images from their vast collection will continue to trickle through.

RCAHMS collects, records and interprets information on the architectural, industrial, archaeological and maritime heritage of Scotland. It holds an archive of over 18 million items including photographs and albums from the 1840s to the present day, original architects’ drawings, excavation plans, new survey drawings, engravings, sketches, books, manuscripts and maps, offering a unique insight into the special nature of Scotland's places. The archive contains images and information on over 300,000 archaeological and architectural sites across Scotland making it an invaluable resource for some of the best-known, man-made landmarks.

More images can be seen on the Commission's Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account.

Link to the Flickr photostream here and click on the 'detail' of each image for more context.