Portal:Scotland/Selected article/Week 28, 2011

The Finnieston Crane is a crane and landmark in Glasgow, Scotland. It is now disused but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was commissioned in 1926 by the Clyde Navigation Trust, the operators of the port and dock facilities in Glasgow. It was completed in 1932 with the tower built by Cowans, Sheldon & Company of Carlisle and the cantilever by the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company. It is situated at the Stobcross Quay on the north bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, and cost a total of £52,351. It is officially known as the Stobcross Crane (or, to the navigation trust as Clyde Navigation Trustees crane #7), but its proximity to Finnieston Quay, and the fact that it was intended to replace the previous Finnieston Crane, has led to its being popularly known as the Finnieston Crane.

It is a giant-cantilever crane, measuring 50.24metres (165 ft) tall with a 77 metre (253 ft) cantilever jib. It has a lifting capacity of 175 tons. It can be ascended either by a steel staircase or an electric lift. The actual Finnieston Crane was located a bit further upriver on the site now occupied by the City Inn. It was a 130 ton steam crane built in the 1890s and a sister crane was built in the Princes Dock in front of Govan Town Hall.