In building Cakewalk at Derecktors Bridgeport, CT , I wore several hats one of which was Production Engineer. The hull modules were made of steel and could weigh 150 tons each and were fabricated up-side down. With the chief engineer, I was tasked to figure out how to roll them right side up and then how to lift them to altitude to properly install them to the ever growing larger main module. The main module wasn’t in its final production station, because of earlier projects occupying the space.
There came a time when the main module was large enough to weigh 550 tons, perhaps the last opportunity to be lifted by our 600 ton Travelift. This last pick would enable us to reposition the main module into its required position in the 300′ bay. It was also the opportunity to place it onto the launching cradles which had sixteen (16) modules themselves. So pretty early on, the Launching process had to be defined and committed to, in order to build the cradle modules and stand ready for production to flow smoothly. This photo is the main module, being lifted for the last time in the Travelift.