Structure renewal

Week ending January 10, 1997

Two bulkheads running across the hull at frames 24 and 78 removed (Quiz - D2). Replacements laid out but not yet "hung" or installed.
Bulkhead at frame 64, from the port side through the centerline to the starboard side, hung and 50 percent completed.
Second shell plate (the "skin" of the hull) hung on the hull at the bow. Plates covering the hull from frames 10 to 20 prepped and fit up. Shell plates prepped for the hull on the port side aft. Work begins on the same area to starboard. Shell plates cut for frames 76 through 85 on the starboard side.

Week ending January 17, 1997

No report.

Week ending January 24, 1997

Shell plate hung and fitted between frames 20½ and 29½ on both port and starboard sides. In this area ABS found the original frames almost pristine and these are among the few that need not be replaced.
Bulkhead running across the width of the hull at frame 64 installed.
Bulkhead at frame 78 welded, seams sealed and installed.
Plates cut for replacement of bulkhead 24.
Work begins to remove the main deck (which carried cars, livestock and freight) starting on the starboard side aft. This deck must be entirely replaced.
Work begins to remove the passenger deck above, also aft. This deck was planked in wood on steel frames. Both the wood and steel must be completely replaced.

Week ending January 31, 1997

No report.

Project summary, November 1996 - February 7, 1997

In mid-November 1996 shipwrights began to install the steel plates on the lower deck, aft of frame number 64. This work was finished by mid-December. The first shell plate was hung on the port side at frames 75 and 85. Since then, workers have installed and welded four plates on each side of the ship. A new bulkhead has been installed at frame 64, which forms the aft end of the engine room. Plates on the lower deck forward of the bulkhead at frame 36 have been removed and new plates are now being installed. The breasthook has been installed, as well as the replacements for frames 1 through 5. Bulkheads at frames 8 and 10 have been removed and new bulkheads have been installed. An inspection of the main deck (which once carried all the freight) revealed that this deck must be replaced forward of frame 36 and aft of frame 73. The original plating, 3/8" thick, was found to measure only 5/16". Long exposure to the elements after the NOBSKA was retired in 1973 caused the deterioration.
ABS review of the new builders' drawings is nearly complete. ABS has been very helpful getting the NOBSKA classed to A-1 passenger specifications.
The second million of a $3 million grant, provided by the state and federal governments through the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, came through in January, and that money is now going into the hull of the ship.
NESF recently took delivery of another steel order of 64 plates for the main deck and superstructure later this spring and summer.

Week ending February 14, 1997

Continued to install new plates on the lower deck forward of frame 36.
Shell plate hung between frames 30 and 40.
Bulkhead at frame 93 cut out at the eight-foot waterline level. Will be rebuilt.
Lower floor plates removed aft to gain access to the keel. The entire keel, running the length of the ship, will be rebuilt.
The margin plates fit up to the bulkhead at frame 64 and partially welded.

Week ending February 21, 1997

No report.

Week ending February 28, 1997

New keel (the backbone of the ship) installed aft, as the rest of the keel continues to be rebuilt.
Bulkhead at frame 93 patched and floor plates erected from frame 86 to frame 93.
Two plates fit up on the lower deck forward. Lower deck welding approximately 60 percent complete.
Floor plates forward, as well as the breasthook (a plate fitted just aft of the stern, designed to strengthen the bow) and a patch at the bulkhead at frame 10 fit up.
Destructive testing of certain samples of the welding accomplished and approved by an ABS inspector.

Period ending April 11, 1997

Work goes forward smoothly with two crews of four men each working on the framing and plating of the hull, one crew forward and one aft. The hull has 105 frames, spaced two feet apart - most of which have been replaced, or will be. NOBSKA's hull will be covered by 44 new plates, most of them eight feet wide and 20 feet long. As of February 1, about 40 percent of the hull work was finished.
The lowest and innermost strake fitted and welded at the bow, and 20 feet of new keel installed from the bow aft.
All the plating on the lower deck (the engine room deck) installed forward of the bulkhead at frame 36, and welding completed.
Framing for the boiler room and engine room (located between frames 36 and 64) cut and flanged (bent 90 degrees).
Door in the escape trunk aft at frame 90 installed.
Framing cut out and awaiting the installation of the sterntube The sterntube arrived April 11.
The new keel aft installed from the stern frame (number 105) forward to frame 86.
Removal of the main deck (the old automobile and freight deck) continues on the port side from frames 63 to 76.
All the old steel from the NOBSKA is being sold to scrap dealers; the foundation recently received a check for $1,200 for scrap metal from the vessel.
The schedule calls for the hull work to be finished June 1. The crew will then tear away the entire superstructure of the vessel, from the main deck upward, and begin to rebuild it.
Plans call for critical components of the machinery (the boiler and condenser, the turbine generator, the deck winch for the anchors, the diesel generator set and steering gear) to be ordered by May 1 so that it can be delivered by December 1.

Week ending April 18, 1997

This week was spent further renewing and strengthening the framing at the bow to accept a new row of plating (the B strake).

Week ending April 25, 1997

A very productive week - a new row of plates (the B strake) installed at the bow on the port side.
Sterntube readied for installation next week.
Rebuilding of the main deck (the old automobile, freight and livestock deck) begins with the installation of the new plates on the starboard side.
Framing received for the sections of the hull between frames 36 and 74. These were cut and flanged at Washburn and Doughty Shipyard in East Boothbay, Maine.
All old hull plating now removed from the ship.

Summary through June 23, 1997

Work continues to go well.
Both the former freight deck and the engine room deck completely rebuilt fore and aft.
Now the effort has turned to the keel. Two twenty-foot sections of the keel installed from the stern frame forward to frame 82. At the moment, work continues on a third twenty-foot section aft of the bow.
Four plates installed aft between frames 67 and 85, both port and starboard. All framing at the bow is complete from the stem to the watertight bulkhead at frame number 10 and from the keel up to the former freight deck. Shell plates on the C strake installed from the bow aft to frame 43. Plates on the A and B strakes completed from the bow to frame 21.
Sterntube installed and framing around it completed.

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