EYE ON INNOVATION
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard Steam Plant Cleanliness and Temporary Services Branch (Code 269) and Temporary Services Shop (Code 990) with the new dewatering pump test tank.
TEAMWORK AND AMBITION BRINGS NEW DEWATERING PUMP TEST TANK TO LIFE
STORY BY KRISTI BRITT • PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST PHOTOS BY DANNY DEANGELIS • NNSY PHOTOGRAPHER
10 • SERVICE TO THE FLEET • DECEMBER 2020
Back in 2018, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Steam Plant Cleanliness and Temporary Services Branch (Code 269) and the Temporary Services Shop (Code 990) saw the need to establish a new process to provide a safer, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly way to test dewatering pumps. The team took charge and built the concept for a new testing tank, their innovative idea soon becoming reality in 2020. “To support safety requirements whenever we take submarines pierside, we install temporary dewatering pumps capable of pumping up to 1,000 gallons per minute,” said Code 269 Steam Plant Cleanliness and Temporary Services Manager Matthew Meads. “It’s very important that these pumps are tested to prove their performance. However, it was clear there was a need for a change in how those pumps were being tested.” “In the past, we would test the pumps directly in the drydock,” said Code 990 Pipe Section Inside Shop Manager Brian Swain. “We would have the Rigging Shop (Shop 72) help us get the pumps into the drydock and then run six-inch hoses all around the wall of the drydock to drains. When we started the test there would be a lot of pressure and movement from the hoses as we tested the pumps – plus all the water pumped into the drain would have to be treated after touching the drydock floor. We needed to come up with a solution on how to best protect our people while also finding a better way to test these pumps so we could best benefit the shipyard.” In search of a way to safely streamline the process, Code 269 got to work with designing some ideas for how to address the need, taking Code 990’s input for what would best fit the shop’s needs. “We were coming up with ways to simulate the testing
