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48 NOVEMBER 2014 COATINGSPROMAG.COM In years past, coatings crews could recoat the entire fight deck in one operation, which allowed them more time. Te Nav y changed about 15 years ago, according to Sanchez. "A ship would completely clear the fight deck, and we'd do all 215,000 square feet [19,974 m²] at once," Sanchez said. "Now, they divide it up into sections and separate projects. Tere are just too many other trades involved nowadays, and each wants to stake out their own little part of the bird farm, so to speak." South Bay's process involved ultrahigh pressure water jetting to NACE/Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) Surface Preparation (SP) WJ-2 standards to remove existing coatings. Te crew would supplement water jetting by abrasive blast- ing the landing area and hard-to-reach areas to NACE No. 2/ SSPC-SP-10: Near-W hite Metal Blast Cleaning. Ten the South Bay team would spray-apply a 2-to-3-mil (51–76 microns) dry flm thickness (DFT) single coat of American Safety Technologies' MS-7CZ primer. Finally, the crew would use rollers to apply approximately 3/8 inch (0.95 cm) of American Safety Technologies' MS-400G and MS-400L non-skid systems. "G" stands for general use non-skid and "L" stands for landing area non-skid, just to keep things sailor-proof. Finding a decent staging area aboard most Nav y ships can be difcult, but not so on this 1,092-foot (333 m) fattop. "We coordinated with shipboard crane operators who uploaded and downloaded all our equipment," said South Bay's Production Manager Cad Parco. "Tey have several 90-ton [81,647 kg] cranes, so there was no problem hoisting our gear from pier to fight deck." Topside, the crew found plenty of room to stage their equipment. Water Bugs! Working from the stern forward in 10,000-to-13,000-square-foot (929–1,208 m²) sections, the hydro- blast crew began by setting their gear approximately 150 feet (46 m) forward of the starting point. Te blast operators then placed wheels under the hoses to ease moving, prevent chafng, and lessen reliance on human hose tenders. With the clock ticking, South Bay crewmen fred up four "water bugs," an in-house term used to describe Jetstream walk-behind diesel or electric hydro blast units. "Te water bug's diamond-head tips shoot almost like a beam of water at 36,000 psi [248 MPa] on average," said Sanchez. "Tey carve out 15-inch [38 cm] swaths. You have to keep moving or you can damage the steel beneath. Typically, if you cover about 10 linear feet [3 m] in fve to eight minutes, you're doing alright." Aircraft Carrier Non-Skid Project YOU KNOW IT WHEN YOU SEE IT NO FLASH RUST = A CLEAN SURFACE HoldTight®102 is the standard of performance for preventing fash rust. ◗ NO SALT. Removes all contaminants ◗ NO RUST. Leaves a rust-free surface for 48 hours or more—often 3 to 5 days ◗ NO DETECTABLE RESIDUE. There is nothing left on the surface that might interfere with your coating. Among rust preventers and salt removers, HoldTight®102 is the most widely used, reliable, time-proven, lab- tested, feld-tested, recommended and approved by coating companies. Call, email or visit our website today to see why HoldTight®102 is the best option for lowcost, easy-to-achieve, and easy-to-measure contaminant-free surface preparation. Contact us today! International +1 713 266 9339 1 800 319 8802 (Toll Free in N. America) sales@holdtight.com www.holdtight.com Wr i te in Re ad e r In q u ir y #16 4