BREMERTON, Wash. –
The USS Nimitz (CVN 68) Planned Incremental Availability reached the 50 percent complete point Aug. 11, 2021, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility, in Bremerton, Washington.
USS Nimitz arrived at PSNS & IMF March 7, 2021, and, according to Steven Pugh, deputy project superintendent for the Nimitz Project Team, the availability is currently running on time. While the majority of the work has been periodic maintenance following the ship’s 11-month deployment, work was added to the project based on inspections of the 46-year-old ship.
“We have had some large work items that were late additions,” Pugh said. “Number 3 and 4 catapults needed to be aligned. This work is normally executed during a Refueling Complex Overhaul. Load Center 72 needed to be replaced, and this work has never been accomplished by our team before.”
Despite the unexpected additions, Pugh said the project team executed an “Early Start” April 10 to May 10, which they used to begin critical path work and temporary systems set-up.
“As expected, the critical path of condenser cleaning is going well,” Pugh said. “The next stage is bilge preservation and tank closeout.”
According to Pugh, lessons learned from other project teams and previous availabilities are benefiting the team on this availability.
“The Nimitz Project Team is well placed and supported by the Carrier Team One community,” he said. “We have representation on several of the committees, including: Project Team Leadership, Co-Yard, Temporary Service Working and Remaining Service Life. Through these groups, we have taken advantage of lessons learned from several recent availabilities, including the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) projects.”
Pugh said his team understands the importance of documenting what works well on a project and passing that knowledge on to project teams for future availabilities.
“The Roosevelt DPIA Project Team has fed diesel generator lessons learned as well as hot work and fuel transfer lessons directly to other project teams,” Pugh said.
He said the team will focus on the catapult alignment work, Load Center 72 operational testing and in-plant work for the remainder of the availability.