Port Engineering
A slipway is the basic infrastructure for hauling vessels out of the water for repair and for launching them again. Once a hull leaves the water its entire weight rests on the slipway, so the structural strength of the cradle and the fit between its rollers and the rails determine whether the operation can be carried out safely.
The cradle body is built from heavy timber beams, combined with steel roller assemblies, connectors, and towing lugs, fabricated in numbered sections and assembled on site to run on the harbour rails. Dimensions, the number of sections, and load conditions are designed around the vessel type and the existing rail gauge.
