Adjusting a drydock

About the sound

This floating drydock at Gotenius shipyard in Gothenburg was built 1897. It’s a type of pontoon for dry docking ships. Shipyards operate floating drydocks as one method for hauling or docking vessels. One advantage of floating drydocks is that they can be moved to wherever they are needed. When valves are opened, the chambers fill with water, causing the drydock to float lower in the water. The deck becomes submerged and this allows a ship to be moved into position inside. When the water is pumped out of the chambers, the drydock rises and the ship is lifted out of the water on the rising deck, allowing work to proceed on the ship's hull.
This sound recording is from adjusting the level of the drydock. The recording starts with an explanation of the procedure in Swedish.

Sound level peaks at 85 dB

Sound recordist: Torsten Nilsson
Photographer: Torsten Nilsson
Video recordist: Torsten Nilsson