Asphalt Pro - August 2021

Page 34

TILCON CONNECTICUT BARGES AGGREGATE BY ASPHALTPRO STAFF

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Tilcon's Pine Orchard Dock has been in continuous operation since 1914 and accommodates large quantity deliveries to customers along the Connecticut coast, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey, and occasionally elsewhere. Tucked on-shore near the Thimble Islands, a group of small islands southeast of Branford, Connecticut, is a crushed stone aggregate transshipping facility. Known as Pine Orchard Marine Terminal or Pine Orchard Dock, the railroad and marine barge facility is owned by Tilcon Connecticut, New Britain, Connecticut, a CRH Company. Tilcon's Pine Orchard Dock has been in continuous operation since 1914 and accommodates large quantity deliveries to customers along the Connecticut coast, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey, and occasionally elsewhere. Although the company

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operates a large fleet of specialized trucks for delivering its products, their transport by marine barge offers many benefits to Tilcon and its customers. According to the National Waterways Foundation, transport by marine barge has the smallest carbon footprint among transport modes. For an equal tonnage of cargo, a tugboat with barge(s) emits 30 percent fewer emissions than rail and 10 times fewer emissions than truck transport. Barging also offers reduced rates of spillage, fewer injuries and fatalities and the ability to move large volumes of materials.

One of the benefits of using transport by marine barge is that this type of transportation can load 1,800 to 2,000 tons of crushed stone aggregate on a single marine barge. That is equivalent to roughly 78-tri-axle truck loads or 20 railroad carloads. Additionally, tugboats aren’t impacted by traffic patterns and don’t face the same problems truck drivers often encounter on roadways. Large tugboat availability, wind, weather, tidal timing and occasional bridge opening schedules can be challenging when delivering aggregate to the barge customer’s


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