MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- With all of the new scientific research stressing the importance of protecting the environment and other research proving the fiscal and morale benefits of keeping employees healthy, it is no wonder why Maintenance Center Barstow is constantly changing. The newest change being with Cost Work Center 743, which received a new welding facility containing the latest equipment, and making it able to, "stay with the times."
The welding shop at MCB was granted $3.8 million for the new, technically advanced, as well as environmentally safe, welding facility, said Russell Lynn, the metals and coatings branch head for MCB.
CWC 743, which does all welding tasks for MCB, in addition to some plasma cutting on certain occasions, was moved to their own building after other workers of the Maintenance Center complained about the fumes and gasses that the facility was producing, said Tom Pitard, supervisor of CWC 743.
As a result of the new welding facility, the overall safety for the employees has been improved, as well as environmental concerns being diminished, said Lynn.
The new facility has, "10 fully equipped work bays," said Lynn.
Each work bay has its own mobile fume extraction system for better ventilation, motorized roll up doors and a number of electrical outlets for multiple pieces of welding equipment, Lynn said.
There is a manifold distribution system for certain common gasses used by the workers in the building, said Pitard. The system has pipes leading into all of the work bays, which workers can directly connect equipment to whenever a particular gas is needed.
This new system eliminates the hassles and safety precautions associated with using individual gas tanks, and creates a safer environment for the workers, Lynn said.
The new facility contains a new state of the art Air Exchange System, which keeps the air inside of the building clean and refreshed, Pitard said. Unlike the old facility, the new building has heating and air conditioning to keep it warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
There are also energy efficient technologies, including: natural skylights, automatic lights that turn on at night and various other energy efficient amenities, Lynn said.
A piece of equipment that has everyone talking though, is the new water-jet cutting machine with an after market water recycling system attached to it, said Lynn.
After programming a design into the machine, it uses a water and garnet mix in order to cut the material, Pitard said.
The machine uses a 61,000 pounds per square inch jet stream of water, which can, "Probably cut through steel, aluminum, glass and plastic up to four inches thick," said Pitard.
The machine also uses a state of the art water recycling system, Lynn said. The system cost around $14,000, but saves between 13,000 to 22,000 gallons of water a month.
The welding facility would not have been complete though, if an overhead-bridge crane with a lifting capacity of 30 tons was not included, said Lynn. The crane is remote controlled with an additional 10-ton crane attached to it.
Pitard said that the other workers of MCB's building 573 are glad that they do not have to breathe in the fumes that CWC 743 had been producing anymore. The workers of the welding facility along with the top officials of MCB are glad that their facility has been upgraded and made more efficient, Lynn said.