Green Diamond: marine-grade coating under extreme conditions

Client Needs

Green Diamond, one of the five largest U.S. timberland owner-operators, operates one of only three West Coast facilities capable of loading ocean-going wood chip vessels. To safeguard their multi-million-dollar infrastructure, including a 160-foot ship loader tower and supporting steel, they required specialized structural coating and corrosion control. Operating in an aggressive coastal environment with near-constant rainfall, Green Diamond needed an expert industrial contractor to restore and protect these critical assets without disrupting active vessel loading schedules.

The Challenges

• Corrosive Marine Environment & Heavy Rain: Situated directly on the ocean, the facility faced constant exposure to saltwater spray, extreme humidity, high winds, and nearly continuous rainfall, creating severe corrosion risks for heavy structural steel.
• Complex Height & Marine Access: Working on a 160-foot coastal tower required specialized pier-based access solutions and engineered rigging in wet, slick conditions.
• Severe Environmental Constraints: The persistent rain and high ambient moisture made outdoor surface preparation and coating application impossible without heavy environmental climate control.
• Active Port Operations: All work had to be carefully phased around incoming vessel schedules to prevent costly operational downtime for the client.

Our Solution

• Phased Scaffolding & Full Shrink-Wrap Containment: Designed and installed a complete tower containment system utilizing custom scaffolding and shrink-wrap to lock out the elements. Work was executed in two distinct phases (lower half first, followed by the upper structure) to keep the tower fully weather-protected while allowing ongoing client work and delivery schedules to continue uninterrupted.
• 24/7 Environmental Climate Control: Deployed large-scale industrial dehumidification units running around the clock inside the sealed containment. This completely neutralized the near-constant rain and extreme coastal humidity, maintaining precise dew points and surface temperatures required for surface prep and coating cure.
• SSPC-SP6 Surface Preparation: Sandblasted all structural steel to SSPC-SP6 Commercial Blast standards inside the dry enclosure, complete with full source-capture recovery and environmental disposal of spent blast media.
• High-Performance Marine Coating System: Applied a high-durability system featuring Macropoxy 646 Epoxy Primer paired with a UV-stable Sherloxane 800 finish to withstand severe saltwater exposure, driving rain, UV rays, and physical abrasion.
• Maximized Shift Phasing: Mobilized two specialized crews operating 16-hour shifts inside the climate-controlled environment to capitalize on progress and meet aggressive timeline milestones.

Project Outcome

The 5-month project was delivered on time and on budget with zero safety incidents and a perfect technical review score, despite the challenges of near-constant rain. By erecting full environmental containment and maintaining a dry internal micro-climate, our team significantly extended the service life of the 160-foot tower and supporting infrastructure. Client satisfaction was so high that it directly earned our team a referral for a similar marine corrosion control project 10 times the size.