Crowley Delivers Portable Asphalt Plant to Dominican Republic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.; December 21, 2000) Crowley Liner Services (CLS), which specializes in handling oversized cargo, recently transported an entire portable asphalt plant to the Dominican Republic to be used as part of the governments roadway rehabilitation effort named the Azua Project. The plan involves rebuilding several roads connecting major cities in provinces surrounding Santo Domingo.

The countrys president, Hipolito Mejia, set an aggressive timeline for the job because he said he expects the rehabilitated roadways to help boost local commerce and trade in the private sector.

As a result, World Trading and Consulting (WTC), the leading contractor and designer of the asphalt plant, needed an equally aggressive transportation plan. So the company contacted Miami-based, OAC Shipping Company, which has handled many time-sensitive, large-scale industrial project shipments for them in the past, to coordinate this move.

With two weekly, fixed-day sailings between Port Everglades, Fla. and Rio Haina and the ability to handle oversized Ro/Ro shipments, OAC knew that the logical choice to handle the move was Crowley.

Deliveries of this nature into the Dominican Republic are our bread and butter and the selection of the right contractors such as Crowley, is key to the overall success of each operation, said Oliver Oswald, Managing Director, OAC. Crowley has the ramp capacities and large door openings which enable a crew to simply drive these major components up the ramp and right into the vessel, which is perfect for such oversized cargo. No risky lifting or transloading is necessary.

In my opinion, there is no substitute for experience and performance that is timely and on budget, said Mustafa Abu Nabaa, President, WTC in Santo Domingo.

The plant is made up of five separate, main components that weigh in a total of 200,000 pounds, with the longest piece being over 66 feet in length. Built by Almix in Ft. Wayne, Ind., this plant is capable of producing up to 100 tons of highly efficient and environmentally friendly asphalt per hour, said Nabaa.

We plan to coordinate several additional shipments with Crowley to move other U.S.-built equipment such as concrete and cement plants and heavy mining equipment all within the next month, Oswald said.

Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Crowley Liner Services provides cargo common carrier services between Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the north coasts of Colombia and Venezuela. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Oakland-based Crowley Maritime Corp., founded in 1892.