UHP Projects, Inc. used the JetTrac^TM system to remove over 200,000 Ft2 of flight deck non-skid from USS George Washington at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA. This was the first complete removal of flight deck non-skid using Ultra High Pressure (UHP) waterjetting on a US Naval ship.

The JetTrac^TM system is an omni-directional vacuum attached vehicle that can crawl over any surface - vertical, horizontal or overhead. The remote operated system has a 12" wide nozzle bar enclosed in a vacuum shroud that cleans the surface removing unwanted paint, rust and contaminants.

Advantages to This System

The JetTrac^TM system offers the following advantages on this many other projects:

• Elimination of vagabond shotblast which has caused numerous failures to jet engines from previous projects.
• Allows other repair work such as catapult repairs, radar work, etc, to continue thereby helping to shorten dry-dock periods. Work can also be performed outside of the shipyard.
• Flashrusting and cleanup is eliminated so painting can closely follow surface preparation eliminating possible weather delays.
• Surfaces are completely cleaned of soluble contaminants so coating should last longer. In over 200 Bresele tests run on the GW deck, all tests provided results that were below the 2mg/cm detection limits.