On the North shore of the Sinclair Inlet lies a 189 acre tract dedicated to the men and women who serve this country through the United States Naval Fleet. Their selfless dedication and servant hearts allow us all to sleep in peace at night. As a way to protect this naval investment, the United States government opted to choose a protective coating similar to this branch of military, one that will sacrifice itself, before allowing the steel to deteriorate from aggressive outside sources. Thus the military forces, government, and civilian population can rest assured the highest level of protection is achieved through hot dipped galvanizing.

Stretching across 1.5 miles of shoreline and encapsulating land and water a half mile in sits the Puget Sound Naval shipyard. This shipyard is the home to almost 1,000 facilities ranging from shops, to tunnels and all the cranes, railways, and piers in between. The mix of ocean salt spray and the wet to dry process of the dry dock make the area a very harsh environment. 

For more than 105 years, this shipyard has opened its arms to guests, presidents, weary sailors, and heroes of every war. Referred to as the “granddaddy of shipyards” these arms have never closed when an opportunity arises to welcome a soldier grandchild back home to American soil. Hot-dip galvanizing was specified for this project due to the long lasting protection zinc offers compared to paints that would fade or deteriorate in the unforgiving corrosive elements of saltwater. 

The designers ingenuity to use the vertical reciprocating conveyor to act as a ramp allowing midshipmen and women along with supplies to be safely loaded and unloaded to any vessel in the submarine fleet and be protected from corrosion by HDG. Long lasting zinc provides a maintenance-free corrosion protection and for aesthetic purposes the duplex coating of epoxy primer & polyurethane top coat was added. The bright blue and yellow and colors met all safety requirements and increased life of the coating by 1.5 times. Congress elected to go with more curb appeal making corrosion control as important as the design life itself by enhancing the protection of steel submerged in the confines of the salty dry dock working area. 

Maintenance cost was a primary concern as the project developed supported by a combination of sales tax revenue and financing from bonds, the Puget Sound Naval shipyard general contractor selected HDG because it’s cost effectiveness proved to the most economical for both initial cost and for life cycle cost to protect the investment, structure, growth, and spirit of the United States Naval fleet.