Barton Wins Military Coatings Award

Barton International (Glens Falls, NY) and Mid-Atlantic Coatings, Inc. (MAC; Chesapeake, VA), together with the U.S. Navy and Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine Coatings, earned the SSPC Military Coatings Project Award of Excellence for their work on the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73). The award was presented at SSPC’s 2019 Coatings+ annual conference in Orlando and recognizes exceptional coatings work performed on U.S. military ships, structures, or facilities. MAC is an environmentally-conscious marine blasting and coating contractor that utilizes an innovative approach to surface preparation and preservation. They holds the blasting and coating contract for the midlife refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the USS George Washington in progress at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding division. Barton supplied over 6,000 tons of garnet used on the project, including a new abrasive: 30/60 CG Adirondack® garnet.

The aircraft carrier arrived at the Newport News shipyard in August 2017, but project planning started more than two years earlier. Under MAC’s leadership, two teams of equipment representatives and manufacturers were formed: a surface preparation team and a preservation team. “These teams included competitors who worked as partners to assist throughout the planning and execution phases,” said Vincent D’Auge, the president of MAC.  “Their goal was to work together in the development of new processes, as well as enhancements to existing methods with the priority of improved environmental and health safety on the job site. The cooperation of all team members was instrumental in the success of the project as recognized by this award.”

The MAC surface preparation team identified vapor blasting technology as one means to accomplish this goal and successfully introduced this blasting technique to the Newport News shipyard. The first blast on the underwater hull and freeboard was executed using equipment supplied by Greener Blast Technologies (Tyngsborough, MA), operated with Barton garnet abrasives. This method reduced abrasive consumption, reduced dust levels, improved worksite visibility and enabled MAC to blast near adjacent work. A second milestone in surface preparation at the shipyard was the use of garnet for the dry blasting. Traditionally, coal slag was used for repair work. Barton representatives worked closely with MAC to prove that pure, low-dusting garnet would effectively and safely meet the project requirements.

Engineered specifically to meet the needs of this project, 30/60 CG Adirondack garnet was first produced in January 2018. “30/60 CG is produced at our mine in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state,” explained Randy Rapple, the president of Barton. “We are honored to have this opportunity to support MAC and the U.S. Navy by supplying our American garnet for the refurbishment of the USS George Washington.”

barton.com