Stansteel Used Projects & Latest News

Proud in Puerto Rico

Published on 6/13/2019

CJO Construction is located in Naranjito, Puerto Rico, and is a family owned business that primarily concentrates on home construction. Carlos J. Ortiz, owner of the business, wanted to expand the operation into hot mix asphalt production and provide products that service the road construction, road maintenance and paving industries though out Puerto Rico. His new company, Professional Asphalt, was born!

Having no prior experience with the asphalt industry, Carlos contacted Stansteel to ask our assistance and advice on the best way to go about setting up his operation. The biggest question he had was whether he should he buy a new or used plant. Fortunately, he talked to Rick Tapia, P.E., who has been with Stansteel nearly 25 years and was the Vice President of maintenance and equipment for the largest multi asphalt plant operation in Puerto Rico prior to joining us.

After consulting together, Carlos decided to pursue a used plant. Rick’s task was to locate an excellent plant and give recommendations on equipment that could function in Professional Asphalt’s marketplace while at the same time be economical to operate and provide a great return on investment.

The folks at Professional Asphalt traveled with Rick to inspect several plants and located one in Tennessee. The various components of the plant were stored in three different locations. Part of Rick’s job was to help his client envision the potential of the plant when it was assembled and fully operational.

The appeal of this opportunity was that it included a counterflow drum mixer and most of the pieces were portable. This portability helped both in permitting and transporting the equipment from Tennessee to the job site in Puerto Rico.

The facility was purchased from Stansteel in no small part because of our knowledge and experience with both the necessary plant equipment needed for Puerto Rico but also our ability to assist them with more than just purchasing a used asphalt plant. Carlos indicated that our expertise in evaluating the existing components and informing them about what they needed to upgrade to achieve top performance was invaluable.

Professional Asphalt took a huge amount of pride in setting up their plant. They graded and paved certain areas, they painted equipment and upgraded a number of components including the control system (to our Accu-Track™), the pump metering and many other accessories bringing this plant to state-of-the-art 2019 technology. As you can see from the photographs, the facility looks brand new.

There is a strong market for hot mix asphalt production and distribution in Puerto Rico partly because of the recovery efforts still in effect from the two hurricanes that hit the island in 2017.

The plant is now fully operational and running every day filling orders to help in that recovery effort. At Stansteel, we are honored that Carlos contacted us and allowed us to assist him in setting up what we know will be a highly successful operation for years to come. We wish Professional Asphalt much success and are always ready to assist them with anything they need now or in the future.