<p class="p1"><strong>I saw in the paper recently they launched the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford. Could you tell us how long did it take to design and build the ship?</strong></p><p class="p2">The Navy announced its plans to name the carrier after former President Gerald Ford in early 2007, and it awarded the design and construction contract for the vessel in September 2008 to Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding — now Huntington Ingalls Industries — in Newport News, Va. Advance construction began in 2005.</p><p class="p2">Some facts about the vessel, designated CVN 78 and commissioned on July 22:</p><p class="p3">Two nuclear reactors provide propulsion.</p><p class="p3">The carrier is 1,092 feet long; it’s 134 feet on the beam, and its flight deck is 256 feet wide.</p><p class="p3">The vessel displaces about 100,000 long tons fully loaded.</p><p class="p3">It can travel at 30-plus knots, or 34.5-plus mph.</p><p class="p3">The vessel carries a crew of about 4,550, including ship and air wing personnel. </p><p class="p3">It can accommodate 75-plus aircraft.</p><p class="p4">l</p><p class="p5"><strong>For more info: </strong><a href="http://www.navy.mil" target="_blank">www.navy.mil.</a></p><p class="p6"> </p><p class="p7"><strong>Meyer Engineers Ltd. designed new center</strong></p><p class="p1"><strong>How much does the new visitor center near Vinton cost, and who designed it?</strong></p><p class="p2">The work on the Vinton-Toomey rest area will cost $16 million, and the project was designed by Meyer Engineers Ltd., which is based in Metairie.</p><p class="p2">The rest area closed on July 6, 2015, and the work was originally slated to last 18 months.</p><p class="p2">But Deidra Druilhet, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation and Development, said in May that the construction won’t be finished until late this year or early next year.</p><p class="p2">Some of what The Informer wrote about the work in May:</p><p class="p2">“The project, featuring a new 16,000-square-foot building, will include improved parking areas, enhanced lighting, a closed-circuit television security system, a drop-off area for buses, new pavilions, concrete walkways along Lake Bienvenue, revamped landscaping, a new water well and a new sewage-treatment system.</p><p class="p2">“Officials built an information center at Toomey in 1968 and supplemented it with a landscaped rest area in 1976.”</p><p class="p4">l</p><p class="p5"><strong>For more info:</strong> <a href="http://www.dotd.la.gov;%20www.meyer-e-l.com" target="_blank">www.dotd.la.gov; www.meyer-e-l.com.</a></p><p class="p7"> </p><p class="p7"><strong>PCH notifies winners in several ways</strong></p><p class="p1"><strong>How does Publishers Clearing House notify winners?</strong></p><p class="p2">“At PCH winners of our major prize awards are notified live and in person by our famous Prize Patrol,” reads a page on Publishers Clearing House’s help page.</p><p class="p2">“Since PCH awards a steady range of prizes throughout the year, at our option we may notify winners of lesser prize amounts via an overnight express carrier such as UPS, FedEx or USPS Express Mail and occasionally via email. Major prize award and SuperPrize winners are not notified via email. Prizes are awarded within eight weeks of final winner selection.”</p><p class="p4">l</p><p class="p5"><strong>For more info:</strong><a href="http://%20https//pch.custhelp.com" target="_blank"> https://pch.custhelp.com.</a></p><p class="p4">l</p><p class="p9">The Informer answers questions from readers each Sunday, Monday and Wednesday. It is researched and written by <strong>Andrew Perzo</strong>, an <em>American Press</em> staff writer. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.</p>