Bilge block (drydock)

A bilge block is a side support set under the turn of the bilge to steady a ship resting on the keel blocks in a dry dock or on a floating dock. The keel blocks carry most of the docking weight; the bilge blocks resist heel and take a share of the load where the bottom curves outward, sized and positioned from the docking plan so they land on framed structure, never on unsupported plating. They are timber-capped, often hauled into place on rails or hydraulically after the ship lands on the centerline blocks. Wrong placement crushes shell plating or buckles floors.