Photo By Shelby West | The Honorable Shannon Glover, Mayor, City of Portsmouth; Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY)...... read more read more
Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) cut the ribbon for the completion of its Dry Dock 4 renovation April 19.
Spanning more than three years, this $191 million project will allow NNSY to continue servicing a variety of submarine classes decades into the future. This is the biggest completed dry dock project yet across the nation’s four public shipyards under the Navy’s Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP). SIOP oversees infrastructure investments modernizing the nation’s public shipyards through upgraded dry docks and facilities, new equipment and improved workflow.
The renovated dry dock includes a new caisson for sealing the facility, replacement of the dock walls and floor, complete restoration of the pumpwell and upgrading all mechanical and electrical equipment. Additionally, improvements to the facility greatly safeguard against a major flooding event.
“Becoming the shipyard our Nation needs requires investment—in our dry docks, in our infrastructure, and in our industrial plant equipment,” said NNSY Operations Officer Capt. Lawrence Brandon at the ribbon-cutting. “It takes a coordinated combination of dedication, design and dollars in all these areas to enable America’s Shipyard to deliver ships back to the Fleet on time, every time, everywhere to protect America. Combined with the amazing power of our people in our 10,000-plus member workforce, facilities like Dry Dock 4 are what will help our nation maintain its maritime dominance.”
To deliver the first fully renovated dock under SIOP, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) established a Resident Officer in Charge of Construction (ROICC) for NNSY. The ROICC office, led by Cmdr. Kendall Chapman, provided dedicated oversight to the project and will share learning with the other public shipyards to leverage on other large-scale construction projects.
“As we look back on all that was accomplished, I think it is important to reflect on two key items that enable projects like this to be successful: one, a common mission in support of national security; and, two, our industry partnerships,” said Rear Adm. Lore Aguayo, commander, NAVFAC Atlantic, at the event. “Partnerships like we have here are a model for what NAVFAC strives to achieve around the world as we build the infrastructure the Navy needs for strategic competition. I am proud of what our combined teams have accomplished, and thank everyone who worked so hard to execute this impressive and critically important project for the Navy.”
First opened in April 1919, Dry Dock 4 is the first of three dry docks built at NNSY during its World War I-era expansion. Notable ships the dock has hosted include USS Langley (CV 1), the nation's very first aircraft carrier; USS Texas (BB 35), a battleship that fought in both World Wars; the battleship USS Arizona (BB 39) that received its modernization at NNSY a decade prior to its tragic loss in the attack on Pearl Harbor; and the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, one of many Allied fleet repairs conducted at NNSY during World War II.
| Date Taken: | 04.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.19.2023 15:30 |
| Story ID: | 442928 |
| Location: | PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,239 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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