TOROA Timeline

SS TOROA - 2009 to Current

Posted by on 20 September 2013 | Comments

Tags: Toroa, Wellington, Canterbury

2009-2010  

Work inside the hull continues with the engine and boiler room (the centre length of the hull) mostly finished – frames installed from keel to deck, deck beams and gusset plates installed, and most of the longitudinal and transverse steel bulkheads, all in new steel. Only two bulkhead plates were sound enough to save, and were refurbished. Bulkheads were hot riveted in the traditional way, using contract and voluntary labour.

Steelwright Andrew Macbeth of ADM Contractors Ltd, riveting the engine-room water-tight bulkhead. The newly riveted starboard wing bulkhead is in the background.                                                     Photo: Toroa Collection

Removing a nearly white-hot rivet from the furnace                                                                     Photo: Toroa Collection

The engine-room and boiler-room transverse bulkheads have been redesigned and rebuilt to be water tight -- a requirement of current marine regulations -- and water-tight doors installed, obtained from the scrapped RNZN frigates Wellington and Canterbury.

Volunteer Brian Claney cleaning off new rivet points in the starboard bulkhead prior to sealing and painting.  
The watertight door in the engine-room bulkhead to the right of the photo is from HMNZS Wellington .
Photo: Toroa Collection

We thank VT Fitzroy, MoTaT, Chris McMullen, and Ian Nielson Blacksmith for their generous loan of riveting and steelworking equipment.

2011 to Current
Work on the steelwork of the forward and after void spaces commences, funded mainly by further grants from the Lottery Grants Board and the ASB Community Trust.  All fittings measured, photographed and recorded, and the rusted frames and bulkheads begin to be replaced.

Andrew Macbeth has removed a number of the corroded frames and is driving out the old keel bolts in the after void space.

Photo: Toroa Collection

2013

Second stage of void space steelwork begins. New frames, floors, fore-&-aft bulkheads and transverse bulkheads fitted. The bulb-angle frames towards the ends of the hull are much more complicated to bend to shape than in the machinery room -- concave & reverse curvature and extreme bevel of the flange to fit the converging planking demand skilful shaping and sometimes several returns to the bending slab to get right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2014

Steelwork mostly completed in the after void space of the hull. The central plates of the transom bulkhead will be left out until the propeller post and apron have been replaced. Equivalent steelwork in the fore void is underway.

Photo:   P.J. McCurdy, Toroa Collection

Fitting new bulb-angle frame No.27FP in the fore void space.

Photo:  P.J. McCurdy, Toroa Collection