Heaviest object ever lifted

[psychonaut]

What is the heaviest object which has ever been completely lifted off the surface of the earth through man-made technology (e.g., cranes, helicopters)?

[Crocodiles And Boulevards]

What is the heaviest object which has ever been completely lifted off the surface of the earth through man-made technology (e.g., cranes, helicopters)?

I'm going to guess that one of the space shuttles must have been pretty darn heavy.

[Szlater]

Saturn V must be up there with a weight of over 3,000,000kg.

ETA: The Shuttle is "only" just over 2,000,000kg.

[Precambrianmollusc]

the West Azeri oil platform topside lift in the Caspian Sea was 16,800t which beats the space shuttle by quite a large margin. To the best of my knowledge that is the heaviest oil platform topside lift, which I would guess are some of the heaviest lifts performed.

[Crotalus]

The 900 ton Cape Hatteras lighthouse was jacked up off of its foundation and moved (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Hatteras_Light#Relocation) 2800 feet inland. Because it never actually left the ground, this may not meet the OP's requirements. It was raised high enough to insert beams under it.

[Princhester]

These questions are harder to formulate than one might think. You've included "cranes" so clearly you are not asking about the heaviest thing to become completely unattached to the Earth. Does it have to be lifted from above? Is lifting from below OK? If so, floating dry docks lift whole ships out of the water. It's very difficult to find figures about what the actual lifting capacity of large floating docks is, because they often give dimensions, or the dwt of the largest ship they can lift, neither of which allows direct derivation of actual weight lifted. However, this site says that their dock (http://www.atlanticmarine.com/downloads/Atlantic%20Marine%20Alabama%20Dry%20Docks%20at%20a%20Glance%20Revision%202.pdf) has a lifting capacity of 46700 LT, which presumably they use from time to time.

[Crafter_Man]

A lot of steel is lifted to build those monster skyscrapers in Asia.

[Flander]

A lot of steel is lifted to build those monster skyscrapers in Asia.


But presumably, not all at once.

This is an interesting question. I have no idea what the answer would be, but I'm guessing that "floating" doesn't quite meet what the OP had in mind.

[Philster]

What is the heaviest object which has ever been completely lifted off the surface of the earth through man-made technology (e.g., cranes, helicopters)?

I think he is looking for separation from Earth. Jacking something up isn't going to suffice.

When the Space Shuttle piggybacked on a 747 for testing (and today it happens for transport, although I believe the Shuttle is lightened some for transport), were they more than a Saturn Rocket?

[Slypork]

I think this can be best asked when you consider "lifting" to mean picking something off of the ground. A mechanical device grabs a hold of the object and provides upward motion so that the bottom of the object is no longer in contact with the surface of the planet. Sort of like a weightlifter doing a dead lift. Objects leaving the earth under their own power do not count because they are not reciving assistance from an outside object. Dry docks do not count because the ship is still resting on a surface. Their must be clearance, even if it is only a couple inches, under the object.

So, in that light, what would it be? The Saturn V was not lifted all at once but in stages. Same for the shuttle.

[CalMeacham]

The Saturn V was not lifted all at once but in stages. Same for the shuttle.

The Saturn V was "lifted" all at once when it took off. the same for the shuttle. I think that's what the omnes who posted these had in mind.


That's not the same as "lifting" using some mechanical device that stayed on the ground, but the OP didn't stipulate that that had to be the case.

[KneadToKnow]

I'm sure Donald Trump's ego rides up and down with him in elevators all day. That's certainly gotta count for something.

[Spiny Norman]

Going with the "crane" requirement: The box girder bridge parts of the Great Belt and Oresund bridges were partially constructed by prefabricating segments on shore, then transporting them to their designated spots by a combined transport barge/ marine crane called "Svanen" (The Swan).

PDF describing Svanen (http://www.gustomsc.com/download/GustoMSC%2000.109%20-%20Svanen%20crane,%208,700-t.pdf)

It had a capacity of 6,500 metric tons, but has since been upgraded(!) to a capacity of 8,700 metric tons to undertake a Canadian project - the Northumberland Strait bridge - with a main span weighing in at close to 8,000 tons.

The Apollo and Shuttle figures sound like they include fuel and oxidizer, which accounts for a huge part of their take-off weight. They're probably not lifted when tanked. (I wouldn't.)

[OneCentStamp]

I'm sure Donald Trump's ego rides up and down with him in elevators all day. That's certainly gotta count for something.
Yes, and with his hair piggybacking on it like the Space Shuttle on a 747.

[Slypork]

The Saturn V was "lifted" all at once when it took off. the same for the shuttle. I think that's what the omnes who posted these had in mind.


That's not the same as "lifting" using some mechanical device that stayed on the ground, but the OP didn't stipulate that that had to be the case.
The OP said hat is the heaviest object which has ever been completely lifted off the surface of the earth through man-made technology (e.g., cranes, helicopters)?. In my mind that means something else lifting the object, not that it was capable of getting airborne on it's own.

The semantical arguments in the SDMB is what keeps lawyers in business. Jeez. If you ask a 5 year old what lifting an object means he will tell you that it means to pick something up. He will never consider rockets or planes as being lifted.

For our next thread let's discuss Bill Clinton's famous statement, "It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is."

[Spiny Norman]

The Apollo and Shuttle figures sound like they include fuel and oxidizer, which accounts for a huge part of their take-off weight. They're probably not lifted when tanked. (I wouldn't.)

I see CalMeacham's clarification - please ignore what I wrote re. spacecraft.

[CalMeacham]

The OP said
:
hat is the heaviest object which has ever been completely lifted off the surface of the earth through man-made technology (e.g., cranes, helicopters)?

. In my mind that means something else lifting the object, not that it was capable of getting airborne on it's own.



If rockets aren't man-made technology, what is?


Mind, I don't know what the people who posted the shuttle and the Saturn V had in mind -- I'm not them -- but it's pretty clear to me that thar's why they said them. And obviously they weren't feeling that the OP barred things thast got airborne on their own. You interpret as you see fit.

[KneadToKnow]

If rockets aren't man-made technology, what is?


Mind, I don't know what the people who posted the shuttle and the Saturn V had in mind -- I'm not them -- but it's pretty clear to me that thar's why they said them. And obviously they weren't feeling that the OP barred things thast got airborne on their own. You interpret as you see fit.
FWIW, the Saturn V was the first thing I thought of when I read the OP. By a literal interpretation of the OP, whatever the Saturn V weighed when it was one inch off the ground should qualify. If the lift generated by a helicopter is allowed, why wouldn't the lift generated by a rocket?

[Flander]

"3..2..1...we have lift-off!" You mean NASA got it wrong?! :rolleyes:

A rocket is lifted by a man made object. It leaves the ground. It just so happens that the device used to lift it is contained in the object itself and adds to the weight of the object (lifting itself and the load). If that's "cheating", oh well. It's still a valid answer.

[GusNSpot]

Moving right along ......-

[Q.E.D.]

In my mind that means something else lifting the object, not that it was capable of getting airborne on it's own.
A helicopter (which was explicity given as an example by the OP) isn't capable of getting airborn on its own?

[panache45]

never mind

[Q.E.D.]

If you ask a 5 year old what lifting an object means he will tell you that it means to pick something up. He will never consider rockets or planes as being lifted.
And your hypothetical five-year-old would be wrong. What do you call the force generated by an airplane's wings?

[Spiny Norman]

FWIW, the Saturn V was the first thing I thought of when I read the OP. By a literal interpretation of the OP, whatever the Saturn V weighed when it was one inch off the ground should qualify. If the lift generated by a helicopter is allowed, why wouldn't the lift generated by a rocket?

Perhaps we should move on? The Saturn 5 lifts its own take-off weight of 3000 tons - impressive, but nowhere near the heaviest object ever lifted.

Building the Northumberland Strait Bridge involves a crane lifting a centerspan with a weight of more than 8000 tons. NaturalBlondChap lists a 16,800 t lift, which is 5 Saturn Vs and then some. (I've been looking for pics, so far w/o luck.)

Any other candidates in that weight class?

[KneadToKnow]

My apologies.

[scr4]

Here's another candidate, depending on definition: Semi-submersible heavy-lift ships (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-submersible#Heavy-lift) can submerge its cargo deck, get under a floating structure and lift it out of the water for transport. The MV Blue Merlin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Blue_Marlin) has transported a 60,000 ton oil platform.

[kanicbird]

Water I'd say can qualify as it is lifted by pumps to higher levels, though it is done a bit at a time.

Also explosives may have lifted up huge sections of earth/rock much higher then things mentioned here. Things like blowing out the sides of mountains for mining or projects like the Hover Dam might have imparted a slight upward force on the rock face before it came crashing down.

Underground and underwater nuke testing

[psychonaut]

A helicopter (which was explicity given as an example by the OP) isn't capable of getting airborn on its own?By "helicopter", I didn't mean the helicopter itself being lifted under its own power, but rather that a helicopter (or small fleet thereof) would lift another object from the ground by means of suspended cables. I was thinking of a news report I heard about paleontologists cutting a mammoth out of a block of permafrost and airlifting it out by helicopter. The report said they had problems getting the mammoth out because it was so heavy.

[Beware of Doug]

the Hover DamThread over! WE GOT A WINNER!!1 :D

[WoodenTaco]

Water I'd say can qualify as it is lifted by pumps to higher levels, though it is done a bit at a time.

Also explosives may have lifted up huge sections of earth/rock much higher then things mentioned here. Things like blowing out the sides of mountains for mining or projects like the Hover Dam might have imparted a slight upward force on the rock face before it came crashing down.

Underground and underwater nuke testing
Those aren't singular objects. The OP asks for "the heaviest object."

[Kevbo]

The east stands of old Mile High Statium in Denver were lifted by a thin film of water and moved outward for baseball games, and inward for football. If that counts, then this would be a contender for the OP.

[Xema]

The east stands of old Mile High Statium in Denver were lifted by a thin film of water ...
If objects lifted by a thick film of water are allowed, here's a serious contender (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis).

[Princhester]

If objects lifted by a thick film of water are allowed, here's a serious contender (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis).

How so? When has it been lifted?

[Xema]

How so? When has it been lifted?
Such ships are built in a drydock, then lifted by flooding the dock. Whether this counts as lifting for the purpose of this thread is debatable, though I think it's probably as qualified as the stands at Mile High stadium.

[Princhester]

Okay, but the next question is the light ship displacement figure for the "Knock Nevis". It would be more than the 60,000 tonnes transport weight of the oil platform lifted by the "Blue Marlin" (per Scr4's post above) but what it would be I don't know. Light ship displacement figures are notoriously hard to find.

[The Flying Dutchman]

There is such a thing as the world record for a heavy lift.

From http://www.cranestodaymagazine.com/story.asp?storycode=2031869

Mammoet has set three lifting records including the world record for the heaviest lift using a land crane

Monster in the sun

A heavy lifting world record has been claimed by Dutch lifting giant Mammoet with its recent lift of two reactors – each with a weight of more than 2,000t – 80km north of Doha in Qatar.

[Peter Morris]

Chuck Norris' dumbells.

[Xema]

There is such a thing as the world record for a heavy lift.
Your link appears to deal only with cranes.

[Precambrianmollusc]

The 16,800 ton West Azeri top side was a jacking operation. It was jacked up and a boat sailed underneath it. It was then jacked down and the boat sailed the topside out to the platform location, where it was installed as a float over operation.
So it was lifted, just from underneath rather than a crane lift from above.

Heerema owns the worlds largest floating crane boat which has a lift capacity of 14,200t. It actually picks the object up from above rather than floats them up as in the heavy lift boats.

The S7000 largest lift was the Shearwater platform topside which was installed in the North sea.
See here - scroll down a bit for a picture.

http://www.heerema.com/Activities/RemarkableProjects/tabid/279/Default.aspx

However the current lift record is held by the slightly smaller S7000, lift capacity 14,000t, which in 2005 lifted 12,100 t Sabrather platform topside.

http://www.lr.org/News+and+Events/News+Archive/2004/Lloyds+Register+EMEA+assists+world+record+lift+for+Sabratha+topsides+installation.htm
http://www.heerema.com/Activities/RemarkableProjects/tabid/279/Default.aspx

Picture here with the S7000 in the background.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/image_detail.asp?img_id=2922

Both the S7000 and the platform topside may be described as, rather jolly large.

[Terrifel]

"3..2..1...we have lift-off!" You mean NASA got it wrong?! :rolleyes:Indeed they did. As every science fiction fan knew, rockets do not "lift off." They "blast off."

[Princhester]

The 16,800 ton West Azeri top side was a jacking operation. It was jacked up and a boat sailed underneath it. It was then jacked down and the boat sailed the topside out to the platform location, where it was installed as a float over operation.

Do not under any circumstances repeat this sentence to the master of the ships you are talking about unless you wish to find yourself over the side with no lifejacket. They. Are. Not. "Boats".