Return to The Wreck of the ERIE BELLE | The ERIE BELLE's Boiler
"Expedition Inside the Wreck of the ERIE BELLE" - October, 2001
The summer of 2001 has found the boiler of the EIRE BELLE high and dry: a fascinating and accessible ship-wreck artifact. In October, I visited the boiler and took a fresh look at this complex and interesting object.
The Expedition Inside the Boiler
Is this a view of the inside of some lost tomb? The ruins of an ancient temple? No, this is inside the ERIE BELLE's boiler itself. By placing a small, hand-held digital camera inside the space between the outer wall and the furnace of the boiler, I was able to obtain these intriguing views.
The objects that appear as pillars are some of the hundreds of bolts that connect the two walls of the boiler together.
In this view, the large objects on the wall on the right side of the image are the heads of bolts, about 3/4 of an inch across.
Above is my favourite snap-shot from the 2001 "Expedition inside the boiler:" The view above is taken inside the actual water-tube boiler itself. The circular spaces in the "ceiling" are the holes through which once passed large copper tubes that carried the water being heated into steam. On the far right, you can just make out the edge of the base of the smoke-stack opening.
Here's the tangle of reinforcing rods inside the boiler, seen from directly above.
Last update: 13 November, 2001 Author: D. Galbraith
All Rights Reserved