Test & measurement I
n 2025/2026, a new museum of the Viking Age, which will be an extension of the present Viking Ship Museum, will
open on the Bygdøy peninsula in Oslo and, as part of this exciting new project, preparations are already underway to ensure safe handling of the ships and artefacts during the move. The Viking Ship House within the
Museum of Cultural History, which is part of the University of Oslo, houses three Viking era burial ships that were found as part of archaeological finds from Tune, Gokstad (Sandefiord), Oseberg (Tønsberg) and the Borre mound cemetery. Built as an extension of the present Viking Ship Museum, the new 13,000m2
building
will provide a complete picture of the Viking Age, with the three magnificent ships as the main attraction. Featuring a regulated climate and new support system, the new building will secure the museum’s unique artefacts safely and securely for years to come.
the Challenge
In preparation for the project, the museum’s specialist conservation and collection management staff have been closely collaborating with Statsbygg, the Norwegian Government’s key advisor in construction and property affairs, and external experts to ensure the safe handling of the ships and artefacts, both during the construction process and transition to the new building. However, before this can take place, the ships need to be accurately weighed and this is where HBK was able to step in and help. Weighing the ships has three main
purposes: to determine the total weight; to establish weight distribution; and to monitor changes over time, such as
moisture absorption, which can lead to changes in shape. Viewed together with different 3D scanning methods, the ability to monitor the weight distribution will also enable museum staff to understand any potential changes to the ships and effectively remedy them.
Meeting the need
To move the ships safely and securely, a steel rig will be built around them and a temporary rail system will be laid down. From here, the ships will be lowered down to the new exhibition area. However, before the steel ring can be created, engineers need to collate adequate data. Moving and weighing ships can often be a challenging task as changes in loads or stresses must be minimised or preferably eliminated. To address this, engineers on this project identified many lifting/weighing points and ensured that these points were placed in locations already bearing load. In practice, this meant fastening load
cells on all vertical supports, and carefully selecting where to place them on the keel support beam, which is the large, shaped beam upon where the ships’ keel rests. Furthermore, to avoid any new stresses, all load cells were placed in pairs. On the vertical supports, a split bar was
clamped to transfer force to the load cells via threaded rods. Angular brackets were also screwed to the side of the keel beam with two 12mm threaded rods connecting the two brackets. Vertical threaded rods again transferred the load to the load cells. When everything was in place, engineers slowly lifted the ship 2.5mm by carefully turning the nuts on these rods in a pre- planned sequence. This was enough to establish weight.
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August 2021 Instrumentation Monthly
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