On December 14, 2012, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), erected the composite deckhouse for Zumwalt (DDG 1000), the U.S. Navy’s next generation destroyer, and in the process achieved two new milestones in the company’s 128-year history: a 900-ton, four-crane, static lift of the deckhouse module for DDG 1000, and a record-breaking movement of the ship and deckhouse on the shipyard’s Land Level Transfer Facility, the total combined weight of which exceeded 13,000 tons.
The 900-ton deckhouse module, built in Gulfport, Miss., was shipped by barge to Bath Iron Works for installation on the ship, which is under construction at the company’s Bath shipyard. The 155-foot-long, 60-foot-high and 60-foot-wide module was lifted to a height of approximately 100 feet using four cranes: two of Bath Iron Works’ 300-ton capacity cranes and two additional 400-ton cranes provided by Reed & Reed, Inc., a construction company headquartered in Woolwich, Maine. Once at the prescribed height, the ship’s 610-foot hull was then moved into position beneath the suspended module using the shipyard’s electro-hydraulic ship transfer system. After confirming final positioning of the deckhouse and ship, the module was lowered into place. The ship, including the newly erected deckhouse, was then moved back to its original building position for continued construction. The 900-ton lift more than doubled the shipyard’s previous heaviest-lift record and the movement of the ship and deckhouse far exceeded any previous ship or module movements by Bath Iron Works.
