Page 4 - Spring 2014 World of Welding
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THE WORLD OF WELDING                                                                          http://www.welding.org




            COVER STORY
            BIRTH OF A CARRIER:  USS GERALD FORD CNV78





            By Biazzio Giordano, Jr.
            Biazzio Giordano, Jr.  is the welding  instructor for
            Career  Technology  Education  (CTE) at Parkside  High
            School in Salisbury, Maryland,  where he was once
            a  student.    He has also attended Hobart Institute.



            Recently I had the privilege of attending the christening of
            the latest  U.S. nuclear  aircraft  carrier, the CVN 78 Gerald
            Ford. I have watched the carrier grow from small weldments
            into larger welded assemblies like huge Lego® pieces as it
            sat in the dry dock. Slowly the form of a ship emerged from
            the construction as huge, rusted, multi-colored pieces of steel
            were welded  together, with cables  and hoses everywhere,
            sparks and grinders filling the air with their shrill whine, while
            workers swarmed the ship like ants performing any number
            of jobs.

            This carrier, unlike  any other we have built  in the past 50
            years, is a brand new piece of technology…the first in line to
            replace an aging fleet with many features unseen before in ship
            construction. This carrier has a new type of aircraft launching
            system that utilizes magnets and a defense system that utilizes  same employees have to be able to understand the basic weld
            lasers, with a nuclear power plant much smaller and more  symbols while their supervisors must be able to interpret the
            powerful than the ones used on the U.S.S. Enterprise, truly an  most complex of symbols. They must be able make sure their
            engineering marvel.                                equipment is well maintained, do basic troubleshooting, while
                                                               watching out for hazardous conditions that they may find.
            Walking alongside the carrier, one feels extremely small, with
            her towering above and over you.  One can only imagine how  In this day of an aging workforce it is imperative  that  we
            she stays upright in a rolling sea!  The welds on her hull are  continue to be able to produce and train employees for these
            wide, giving a hint of how many passes it took to fill the joint  types of jobs, assuring that we have the workers necessary to
            and the thickness of the steel used to build her. However, what  be able to perform at this level. But where do we find these
            we do not see are the types of steel used in this beast of a  employees that have the proper skill set in this aging work
            ship. What we cannot see are the weld procedures developed  force?  Where do we train those people who are willing to
            for her construction;  the  hours of heat  treating,  testing  and  learn a trade such as welding?  First and foremost, without a
            inspections; the volumes of paperwork and pre planning; and  proper foundation our skilled employees are going to be hard
            the amount  of training  each  craft  worker received  prior to  to find.
            beginning work on such an important project.
                                                               The American Welding Society has developed the S.E.N.S.E.
            Living on the east coast, I am fortunate to have watched the  program to guide those who train welders for entry level
            USS Ronald  Reagan  CNV76 (carrier),  the  USS Minnesota  and advanced  placement  programs.  High school welding
            SSN783 (submarine) and the USS Texas SSN775 (sub) all be  programs, that have not been reduced to industrial arts type
            born.   Building a project of this size requires many trained  courses and are successful, follow these guidelines to produce
            craft employees… over 40 trades are used to bring her to  welders ready to enter  into trade  schools or apprenticeship
            completion…and welders are in the forefront of bringing this  programs. The shipyard that is responsible for construction of
            project in on time and on budget. Of course we are speaking of  these ships has an in-house training program that all welders
            highly trained welders, many who are multi-process qualified  go through to become  familiar  with the  rules and quality
            and who understand the importance of weld procedures. These  standards of the yard.



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