London Branch Evening

At the London Branch evening on 13th January, an audience of nearly 30 members and guests were enlightened about the conservation of Cutty Sark at Greenwich by Jim Solomon of Buro Happold Ltd. Cutty Sark, launched in 1870, was a prestigious tea clipper with an impressive turn of speed and is the only remaining example of its class. It was interesting to learn that it only lasted about 7 years as a tea clipper, taking about 100 days for the voyage to China; its demise was brought about by the opening of the Suez Canal and advances in steam power, after which the ship was ‘relegated’ to general cargo duties. In the 1950s it was wallowing in the Thames as a museum to seamen who served in the two World Wars. Weighing in at about 1,000 tons, it was completely dismantled when it was decided upon restoration and Jim explained the difficulties involved with the mixed construction materials of wrought iron and timber – mostly teak and elm. Clearly, with an undertaking of this nature, the use of coatings played an important role for preservation, and several types were tested before the final decision was made. There was emphasis on the difficulties presented by chloride contamination of structure components, the whole overall process being very time consuming, challenging and expensive. The project is due to be completed in early 2012 and will be 95% Cutty Sark. In the not too distant future, the whole ship will be lifted to its final display position and doubtless this will be a news item at the time.

Geoff White

Members Area

Institute Technical Forum