Ensley Engineer Yard Skilled Tradesmen recently completed a second survey vessel project for the Mississippi Valley Division’s Rock Island District.
The Survey Boat “Dubuque” had repairs done to include items such as replacing the deck hatches with watertight hatches, servicing outboard engines and generator, replacing of the lower unit on both engines, replacing all interior and exterior screws on the vessel, and installing those screws using Loctite to prevent loosening.
“We also reconfigured the fuel tank vent hose for safety, completed full service on the survey vessel’s trailer to include all new bearings and electrical, fabricated a ladder for the trailer, converted a manual winch to an electric winch, and constructed new bench seating,” Plant Section Chief Kevin Woods said.
All three Units in Plant Section, including Yards and Docks, Metals, and Shops, along with Navigation Branch employees, pitched in for a successful project delivered two weeks earlier than originally planned.
This was the second survey boat the Memphis District has worked on for the Rock Island District. The Ensley workers completed the first project last year after the Rock Island District discovered one of their vessels, the Survey Boat Clark, had gone under water over the weekend. Initially, they contacted the boat manufacturer to get it fixed, but when told the cost to fix it was going to be more than half the original cost of construction, Rock Island decided to ask the Memphis District for help.
Not only were the Memphis teams able to take the job, but Ensley tradesmen were also able to do the repairs at a fraction of the cost quoted by the manufacturer.
“Opportunities like these are win-win,” Woods explained. “Not only are we helping a sister district in need, but we also get to demonstrate our capabilities to other organizations as the Marine Maintenance Facility of choice; it doesn’t get much better than that.”