How a Brush Helped Repair and Restore the Costa Concordia

Do you remember the Costa Concordia? It was the Italian cruise liner that capsized and sank when it struck underwater rocks off the Tuscan coast in 2012.  It was restored with a painstaking process that required the use of special brushes. Take a look at how it was done.

The brush

The brush that was used to help with the repair and restoration of the Costa Concordia was a Twisted in Wire brush that had small abrasive balls that are permanently affixed to flexible filaments. This brush has a long history of having a variety of applications including automated metal finishing to maintenance and repair efforts.

Repairing and restoring the ship

The first step in repairing and restoring the ship was to make sure the vessel could not drift into deeper water. The hull was secured to the land with steel cables. Then, workers built a platform and placed it underwater to hold the ship in place. They then used hollow tanks that were filled with seawater, which would enable to ship to be pulled to a vertical position. Additional tanks were attached to the other side of the ship to create the buoyancy that allowed the ship to be towed to port.

The brush’s job

For this process to be successful, it was necessary to find a way to weld the heavy tanks to both sides of the ship. A tool that was capable of removing debris from the welds as they were created was needed. This tool would also need to be able to work with a hand-held drill. Ultimately, it was decided that the a brush was the perfect choice. First, its design is ideal for working with a hand-held drill because of its self-centering nature. Further, using the other features of the brush, such as carbide brushing, bore sleeves, and various cylinder cavities requires only a small amount of set-up time and can easily be done on-site. An added benefit to the tool was its low cost. One of the major functions of the brush for this project was to smooth the way for hydraulic pistons to be introduced into the tubes.

Although the Costa Concordia project is now complete, the brushes remains a go-to tool for many marine applications, including overhauls and repairs.