Alex Chinneck – The Looping Boat

millimetre undertook the technical design, manufacture and installation of Alex Chinneck’s Looping boat, designed to be a permanent art structure on the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal.

12m long and 6m high, fabricated from 9 tonnes of helically-rolled steel and aluminium, painted in traditional canal boat colours with a protective paint system.

The adjoined hull was delivered to site by floating it for 2 miles, through 8 locks and under 9 bridges, until its final resting place where mechanical legs were folded down and levelled onto the bed of the canal. A process which means the height it sits in the water can be adjusted.

The Loop followed the same route on a hopper, allowing it to sit lower in the water, enough to clear under bridges by only a few centimetres.

The hull is scuttled, allowing it to take on water as the canal rises, plus also empty completely if the water is ever drained from the section of canal.

The hull is fabricated from mild steel in order to act as ballast for the lightweight aluminium loop, all designed to withstand storms and passing wake.

Drawn entirely in 3D so that all elements can then be flattened and lasercut, allowing all pieces to slot together like a large jigsaw, before being decorated with solid cast brass work.

The boat sits on Sheffield & Tinsley canal between locks 4 and 5, just a short walk from Meadowhall retail park and Ikea, carefully placed amongst unidentified ordinance potentially left over from WW2.

Partners

Alex Chinneck

Smith and Wallwork

Land and Water

Photography: ©Marc Wilmot & Glasshopper