JASO in a twelfth-century building: rebuilding Norwich castle’s keep
16 / 11 / 2022
A J160.10 crane transports materials to help refurbish the main tower’s internal structure.
A much-needed overhaul
The Royal Palace Reborn project involves rebuilding the emblematic Norman keep of Norwich Castle, a 900-year-old fortification in the UK currently housing a museum and art gallery.
The castle’s keep has undergone many changes since the original wooden tower (built by William the Conqueror in 1067) was replaced by a stone tower in 1094. The castle was a royal residence for 300 years and was then used as a prison for almost five more centuries, until the 1800s. Norfolk and Norwich Museum was installed in the Castle Fortress in 1885, uninterruptedly providing an interactive history experience to visitors until it closed for the current revamp in 2020.
The castle is currently undergoing renovation so that all its five floors, from the battlements to the dungeon, can be opened to show visitors the building’s Medieval past.
The works are being carried out by Morgan Sindall Construction, and the aim is to open the building to the public with the closest possible reproduction of its Mediaeval past, including the battlements. It will also house a gallery of artefacts from this era, from a British Museum collection.
Solution
A J160.10 crane is working on this project to join past and present, provided by our UK distributor Falcon Tower Crane Services.
This 10-ton capacity high top crane , with a jib of up to 65 metres and a 1700 kg end load was the perfect choice for this historical reconstruction. In its current configuration, the crane has a jib length of 45 metres and an end load of 3200 kg. It towers above Norwich city centre as it has a height of just 32 metres but is installed on a 1,000 year old hill which raises it by a further 21 metres, making it one of the few tall structures existing in Norwich, with a total height of 53 metres.
Its functions include transporting materials such as steel and glass and it makes a major contribution to the refurbishment work being carried out on the battlements for their future access by visitors.
The use of this crane totally equipped with “safe lifting” technology is a far cry from the original tools and techniques used to build the castle 1,000 years ago.
