A film produced by Durham Constabulary showing the construction of the Aykley Heads radio mast designed by Ove Arup & Partners and built by Bierrum Partners Ltd. Title: Durham Constabulary Presents. Credit: A Technical Aid Branch Production. The films begins on a construction site as the opening shot pans from left to right showing the concrete legs laid on the ground ready to be moved into position. These will form the lower half of the radio mast. The film cuts to another panned shot...

A film produced by Durham Constabulary showing the construction of the Aykley Heads radio mast designed by Ove Arup & Partners and built by Bierrum Partners Ltd. Title: Durham Constabulary Presents. Credit: A Technical Aid Branch Production. The films begins on a construction site as the opening shot pans from left to right showing the concrete legs laid on the ground ready to be moved into position. These will form the lower half of the radio mast. The film cuts to another panned shot from left to right as a mobile crane position its jib and lifting cables over the first leg to be hoisted. Two men secure the steel cables to the leg, a man in a suit watches progress. The film cuts back to the crane which is almost ready to lift the first leg. The film cuts to the crane slowly lifting the leg. The next shot shows the jub of the crane as it slowly position the first leg into position. On the ground men guide the base of the leg which has metal protusions which will help secure in it's footing, forming each leg's foundation. The commentary states that each leg weighs three and a half tons and is sixty feet long. The next shot shows the second leg similarly being placed on its foundation block. The next shot shows the crane lifting the final leg into position. Again men are shown guiding it into position.The driver of the crane looks on from his cab, a workmen stands nearby. The next section to belifted into place is the main mast which will sit on the legs which have benn fixed into position. The commentary states thet the mast is one hundred and nineteen feet long and weighs thirty five tons. On the ground men gather to the free the mast from its, casting bed and attached lifting cables to secure positions on the mast. Two cranes will be used in lifting the mast. A smaller crane will support the lower half of the mast as it is lifted. The next shot shows the two cranes working together to lift the mast. The mast is slowly manoeuvered into a vertical position. The main crane lifts the mast slowly upwards. The camera moves up to show the full length of the mast. The crane moves the mast into the special locating sections at the top of each leg. Men working at the top of the legs from surrounding scaffolding, guide the base of the mast into the correct position. Slowly the mast is lowered onto the legs. The construction is almost complete. Workem climb up the steel rungs embedded into the mast. Climbing to the top to install the aerials. The workmen climb down the mast. The final shot shows the completed mast against the skyline. Title: The End.