MADONNA CONSTRUCTION UPDATE: 6.0

Workers at Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding tack down a hull plate in the bow.
A heavy weight (yellow cube) is used to coax half-inch plating to lay
tight against the framing.  (Steve Propsom photo)

Shipyard work on new ferry sails along smoothly

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

Its always wonderful to report on good news and smooth sailing, and that is the report once again
on the new ferry MADONNA construction project.

Photos taken several days ago by Fincantieri Project Supervisor Steve Propsom show considerable progress since our last report of two weeks ago.

The work schedule has now been adjusted, once again, to promote completion of several simultaneous tasks while the two hull sections remain in the "upside-down" position, according to Ferry Line VP Rich Ellefson. He spends a good share of Monday and Tuesday each week tracking work progress at the Sturgeon Bay ship facility. Steel priming and installation of overhead insulation (above the engine room) are two activities done more easily given the current positioning.  Insulation of a prescribed type and thickness is a U. S. Coast Guard requirement to isolate the car deck from heat should there be an engine room fire, but it will also benefit reduction of machinery noise for passengers.  In winter the insulation can help retain warmth in the machinery spaces overnight, allowing for easier start-up of diesels and the avoidance of frozen piping.

Given these various tasks, by tradesmen from different shops within the shipyard, it was decided by shipyard supervisors that the two hull halves might as well remain inverted and inside the fabrication building, until some time after Christmas.  There, in the relative comfort of the enclosure, work can  continue on several fronts toward the goal of greater production efficiency.

Shown lying on its side is the basic structure of the main deck island, or stairway trunk.
This piece will provide means of access to the upper deck, enclosure for a main deck toilet,
and room for piping and wiring runs, etc.   A second, side-benefit, will be the solid support
such a trunk provides the overhead passenger deck. 

Shown is the starboard engine bed frame (looking aft), fabricated in the upright position.
Bilge suction piping and water lines are already inserted through transverse framing,
inboard of the engine bed.  According to Hoyt Purinton, engine supports must be within
several thousandths of an inch in order to avoid large shims beneath engine mounts.
Because of close tolerances and varied steel thicknesses used, this particular section
was fabricated separate from the two hull halves.  

This shot was taken from the same point of view as several earlier photos
so that visual progress can easily be measured.   A majority of the smaller,
flat bar framing in the bow has already been installed in preparation for shell
plating.  The 1/3 bow and stern hull portions receive 1/2" plating,
as well as the ice-belting, a band roughly several feet wide running the vessel's 
length at the waterline.  Midships section will receive 3/8" hull plating.

-  Dick Purinton