1-The Nimitz Rules
2-In the Beginning
3-Push to Get Ahead
5-Crane's Eye View
6-Putting it Together
Close-Up (Carrier Explained)
8-Time Means Money
10-Outfitting the Bush
11-Ship Shapes Up
12-A Floating Airport
Up Next? (Two Years to Go)
Chapter 11 - Ship Shapes Up
|Liftoff. The upper bow section is lifted for placement onto the ship in March. Photos by Adrin Snider/Daily Press|
|Steady as she goes. The 780-ton upper bow section is carefully swung into position by the shipyard’s gantry crane.|
|Take a bow. The section is set into place on the aircraft carrier. “Awesome,” said Navy Capt. Tom Moore, program manager for the Bush project, as the piece was fit into place.|
Weather plays part in lifts
As strong winds hindered the start, the huge upper bow section
(one of the last pieces) of the Bush was nudged into place in March.
As the upper bow section on the George H.W. Bush was moving into place with the shipyard’s giant gantry crane one March afternoon, Navy Capt. Tom Moore got out his Blackberry.
“Last Nimitz-class upper bow is in the air and moving in place,” he hurriedly typed to his boss, Rear Adm. David Architzel. “Awesome.”
Moore, Navy program manager for the effort to build the aircraft carrier, was on hand as a dozen or so yard workers carried out the task of lifting the 780-ton steel bow section — one of the last major sections of the last of a class of warships — into place.
The day wasn’t without a hitch. Everyone was ready to go about 9 a.m. March 15. But a sharp wind off the James River — more than the acceptable 30 mph — hindered the move.
“The Weather Channel said it wasn’t going to hit until about noon,” said Bob Hickman, a construction superintendent, of the strong winds. “But it was already 23 mph when I walked out here” — and getting even more gusty.
Despite its immense weight, the upper bow section has such a big cross section that the wind can cause the piece to sway heavily, wreaking havoc. After one attempt, Hickman and others postponed the move until later in the day.
Everyone came back about 2:30 p.m., and this time there was little wind. Picking up the piece with three hoists, the crane effortlessly carried the assembly into the dry dock area in about half an hour.
Lots of parts — including major sections of anchor chains — were put into the front of the ship before the bow section was installed. The bow had pipes, lighting fixtures and other parts on it, as efforts to install as many pieces on the big lifts as possible became reality.
It sat there for about 10 days, with the crane still holding it up, as welders joined the upper bow section to the lower bow, which was installed a year before. Because one section flares out and one flares in, that’s considered a tough job, Hickman said.
But Otis Freeman, a rigger who’s been at the yard for 29 years — starting with the USS Carl Vinson, the third Nimitz-class ship — has seen this many times. Third Nimitz ship or last, little section or big section, he says, he treats all attachments equally.
“Even when it’s only a 100-ton section, we handle it the same way,” he said. “We go through the same pre-lift procedures. The adrenaline doesn’t hit until it’s over and the unit is in place, and we know we had a good, successful job.”
As Moore watched the goings-on, he waxed poetic about what it all means.
“George H.W. Bush commissioned me as a naval officer in 1981, when he was vice president,” Moore said. “To be the program manager of this ship, I feel honored.”
True or False?
Work on the USS Harry S. Truman was interrupted by a 17-week strike by the United Steelworkers of America in 1999.
False. The Truman had been delivered by then. The USS Ronald Reagan was being built when the strike occurred.
Building a better island
Part of the mast on the George H.W. Bush is made of a composite material, replacing steel.
|Heavy lifting. Scaffolding surrounds the island of the George H.W. Bush near Dry Dock 12 during its construction. |
Photo by Joe Fudge/Daily Press
|Nice Ride. Gary Cutler, a crane rigger, bikes past the 700-ton structure in June. Photo by Adrin Snider/Daily Press|
One of the most recognizable pieces on the George H.W. Bush’s island structure — its mast with antennas and radar — is made partly of new composite material.
The initial plan was to put a steel mast on the Bush’s island, but when a new warfare system for the Bush fell through in 2002, Congress gave the Navy $88 million for new initiatives for the ship.
The Navy used some of that money to develop a new mast.
While the Newport News shipyard still built the old steel mast under its Navy contract, its sister company, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in Gulfport, Miss., made a second mast of lighter material.
The shipyard installed the steel mast and cut off the top part. Then it replaced that part with the composite section Sept. 6.
“We said let’s stay the course and build the steel mast, so if the composite mast doesn’t come in time, it won’t impact schedule,” explained Scott Stabler, shipyard vice president in charge of the Bush.
Capt. Tom Moore, the Navy’s program manager for the Bush, said the new mast shaved 5 tons off the carrier’s weight.
“This is a design effort to see whether we’d want to expand composites into larger sections,” Moore said. “Composites don’t rust because they’re made out of glass and fiber — so less weight and, eventually over time, less maintenance.”
The rest of the Bush’s island incorporates key changes to the island that the USS Ronald Reagan had received.
Though the island’s height is nearly identical to previous Nimitz-class carriers, there are only six decks instead of seven. That opens up overhead space on each deck to accommodate cables and wiring and allows for bigger windows.
The mast and radar systems might have looked different from the Reagan’s if the Navy had gone forward with its initial plan to get an all-new warfare system on the Bush.
Though the island still wouldn’t be able to accommodate the more advanced radars without modification, the $88 million from Congress was used to upgrade power to the island and add the composite mast. When the new mast was installed, the shipyard welded a coin from 1924 — George H.W. Bush’s birth year — onto it.