Dutra: SRRQ’s armor and filter rock for Midway Island Atoll project

Dutra’s San Fransico bay area-based San Rafael Rock Quarry (SRRQ) is supplying 7,000 tons of armor and filter rock to the US Fish and Wildlife Service Midway Island Atoll through a supply contract with logistics company ITM Group.

According to Dutra, Deforge Maritime Towing provided the ocean-going tugboat and deep draft barge needed to safely accomplish this long-range delivery.

In order to load the barge, SRRQ’s waterfront loading crews transloaded the material from its own Dutra flat deck inland barges onto the ocean-going barge Thelma, using Dutra’s Derrick Barge 24 with a new, internally designed and built skip box.

“The risk of invasive plant, insect, and animal species introduction to the island poses a substantial threat during this type of operation. This form of Bio Security is a major concern to USFWS, especially in regard to seeds and ants,” said Dutra.

The SRRQ went the extra mile to achieve the highest level of bio security by washing the rocks in advance of loading and having a biological monitor on site to check all rock prior to being loaded onto the barge, added Dutra.