58 January 6, 1999

Patti Shipyard Building Pushboat for Corps

In December there were two boats building at Patti Shipyard's Pensacola Florida facility where all work spaces are concrete covered and crossed by tracks for the rail car trucks which are used to launch vessels. A Cummins-powered research vessel for the Great Lakes (hotip#52) was being fitted with a bulbous bow formed from a single piece of steel sourced from a Texas firm. "We didn't like the idea of welding something up from pieces of steel, so we found this company that could shape the four-foot half round from a single piece of steel that now varies in thickness from 1/2-inch to about 3/8," explains a yard spokesman.

The yard's inhouse design team favors the Isherwood framing system that assures there will not be a piece of plate steel over two-feet square that is not stiffened. The yard builds mostly one-off designs resulting in a relatively stable work force of about 45 people. This contributes to the high quality of the work done by the yard.

The yard has won repeated contracts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Scheduled for late January sea trials, their latest project for the Corps is a 77X34X10-foot pushboat. Main engines are a pair of Cummins KTA19 engines rated at 640 HP each. Two six-cylinder B-series 5.9 liter engines run 99 kW gen sets. The mains turn 70-inch four-blade stainless steel propellers each with two flanking and a single steering rudder. The flanking rudders are mounted with a 5 degree toe-out. Their steering system is designed to accommodate this so that when they are turned hard over they match each other's 45 degree angle. To be registered in Preoria Illinois and work between there and Chicago, the boat is built with a telescoping wheelhouse to give a 16.5-foot clearance in the lowered position for passing under bridges. The approximately 20,000-pound wheelhouse is mounted on a 30-inch square box with self lubricating bearings and internal hydraulic ram capable of lifting it ten feet in one minute or less for a 26.5 air daft when fully extended.

This small, but complex vessel is well suited to the extensive capabilities of the Patti Shipyard which has a reputation for turning out unique vessels.

For more information and G.A. or profile drawings and photos of either of these boats, contact:

Ashley Stone
Phone: 850 453-1283

Patti Shipyards
E-mail: Pattibuilt@aol.com
Pensacola, Florida

For more information on the Cummins Engines contact:

Larry Neff, Phone: 334 452-6421
V-P Marine Marketing Fax: 334 473-6657
Cummins Alabama, Inc
Mobile Alabama

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