# Heaviest object ever lifted **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 15, 2008, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596 "2008-01-15T09:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/21 "2008-01-15T19:55:03Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] In my mind that means something else lifting the object, not that it was capable of getting airborne on it’s own. [/QUOTE] A helicopter (which was explicity given as an example by the OP) isn’t capable of getting airborn on its own? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/22 "2008-01-15T19:56:59Z")
never mind ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/23 "2008-01-15T20:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] 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. [/QUOTE] And your hypothetical five-year-old would be wrong. What do you call the force generated by an airplane’s wings? ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/24 "2008-01-15T20:13:33Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] 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? [/QUOTE] 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? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/25 "2008-01-15T20:22:45Z")
My apologies. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/26 "2008-01-15T20:36:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2008, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/27 "2008-01-15T21:48:23Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/28 "2008-01-16T01:51:02Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] A helicopter (which was explicity given as an example by the OP) isn’t capable of getting airborn on its own? [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/29 "2008-01-16T01:52:45Z")
[QUOTE=kanicbird] the Hover Dam [/QUOTE] Thread over! WE GOT A WINNER!!1 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/30 "2008-01-16T01:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=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 [/QUOTE] Those aren’t singular objects. The OP asks for “_the_ heaviest object.” ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/31 "2008-01-16T03:51:55Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/32 "2008-01-16T04:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] The east stands of old Mile High Statium in Denver were lifted by a thin film of water … [/QUOTE] If objects lifted by a _thick_ film of water are allowed, here’s a [serious contender](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis). ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/33 "2008-01-16T04:45:35Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] If objects lifted by a _thick_ film of water are allowed, here’s a [serious contender](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knock_Nevis). [/QUOTE] How so? When has it been lifted? ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/34 "2008-01-16T04:53:55Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] How so? When has it been lifted? [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/35 "2008-01-16T05:23:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/36 "2008-01-16T07:07:18Z")
There is such a thing as the world record for a heavy lift. From [http://www.cranestodaymagazine.com/story.asp?storycode=2031869](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. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/37 "2008-01-16T11:32:19Z")
Chuck Norris’ dumbells. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/38 "2008-01-16T14:18:51Z")
[QUOTE=The Flying Dutchman] There is such a thing as the world record for a heavy lift. [/QUOTE] Your link appears to deal only with cranes. ---
**Author:** ![Precambrianmollusc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/precambrianmollusc/32/63_2.png) [@Precambrianmollusc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Precambrianmollusc)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/39 "2008-01-16T15:45:21Z")
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](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.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](http://www.heerema.com/Activities/RemarkableProjects/tabid/279/Default.aspx) Picture here with the S7000 in the background. > **[Map and Image Library](https://www.rigzone.com/news/image_detail.asp?img_id=2922)** > > RIGZONE News - leading source for the latest news and information for the oil and gas industry Both the S7000 and the platform topside may be described as, rather jolly large. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596/40 "2008-01-16T19:10:12Z")
[QUOTE=Flander] “3..2..1…we have _lift-off_!” You mean NASA got it wrong?! :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Indeed they did. As every science fiction fan knew, rockets do not “lift off.” They “blast off.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heaviest-object-ever-lifted/433596.md?page=3)