Somebody’s lying, when they say bridge design is uncontrolled. There are government approved manuals, specifications, corporate operations manuals submitted to the govt for approval, all before the first check is cut!@ What do you think those Plant Representative Offices, such as navpro, mean?
I take it to mean that the Navy lays down what controls it wants but doesn’t give much (if any) input into the actual design process. If the exact requirements aren’t laid out in the contract, then you get whatever the contractor gives you.