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Feature 46 MARCH 2017 COATINGSPROMAG.COM H BY JACK INNIS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR PHOTOS COURTESY ALPINE PAINTING & SANDBLASTING CONTRACTORS Offshore Terminal Crew Takes the Plunge! H ang around the waterfront long enough and you' ll likely hear a tall tale or two. But one story that surfaced with regularity involved a regional energy company planning an offshore platform rehab project in Long Island Sound, New York. e oil-terminal platform, part of the United Riverhead Terminal, is a key component of one of the largest petroleum terminals in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. e platform stands in 64 feet (19.5 m) of water and accommodates supertankers that carry more than a million barrels of crude oil, heav y oil, home heating oil, gasoline, and diesel. e platform's two 24-inch (61.0 cm) submarine pipelines pump the tanker's liquid cargo into 20 holding tanks at the land-based terminal. Total storage capacity is 5.5 million barrels. Rumors of the offshore platform coatings project caught the attention of Sam Scaturro, president of New Jersey-based A lpine Painting & Sandblasting Contractors. "I'd heard from different contractors with various scopes of work," Scaturro said. "We're always happy to provide basic budget numbers, but it seemed like this might be a pie in the sky type of thing." Scaturro patiently worked every lead until persistence paid off. A lpine landed a contract to install a Carboline coating system on United Metro Energy's 26,500-square-foot (2,461.9 m²) United Riverhead Terminal platform, located in Long Island Sound about a mile (1.6 km) from shore. Taking the Plunge A lpine Project Manager David Ofsharick knew that to complete this recoat project within the allotted three-month time frame, his five-man crew would have to overcome several major hurdles. "For starters, we needed to figure out how to get equipment and people to the platform with weather being a key limiting factor," Ofsharick said. "Once everything was staged and our work began, tankers and barges would be tying up, in which case At a mile (1.6 km) from shore, recoating a 1960s-era offshore oil transfer station included work on the deck, undersides, fixtures, and support pilings. The crew from Alpine Painting & Sandblasting Contractors was up to the challenge. Work, which included access, prep, and coating ~26,500 sq. ft. (2,461.9 m²) over the course of three months, was restricted or halted when tankers of floaded. Weather and high seas didn't help. STEEL EPOXY