The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) arrived at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) earlier this month in preparation for a six-month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) maintenance and upgrade period, the Navy said on Wednesday.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier will have maintenance focused on nuclear special emphasis work as well as mechanical and electrical improvements.
The PIA is officially set to start on Sept. 17 so the project team was now given a 40-day “early start” to get services and trailers loaded on, get propulsion plants cooled down, and starting the critical path work jobs, project superintendent Matt Merciez said in a statement.
The NNSY is set to contribute 211,00 of the PIA’s total 428,000 man-days with ship’s force, alteration installation teams, and contractor work comprising the rest.
Merciez noted the Navy accelerated the production completion date ahead to be before winter holidays falling in the middle of the PIA. “It makes the early start more aggressive. Having a smart start is paramount to having that ramp-up in executing work, so on Sept. 17, we’re hitting on all eight cylinders,” he said in a statement.