American Transport Leasing constructs new tug barge

American Transport Leasing constructs new tug barge    American Transport Leasing, a subsidiary of Lafarge North America, is building a self-discharging, bulk cement barge.
   The 70-foot-by-460-foot barge will be built at Manitowoc Corp’s Bay Shipbuilding facility in Surgeon Bay, Wis., and will feature an automated cement unloading system. The tug will be coupled with a recently purchased 7,200 horsepower tug to create an articulated tug barge unit.
   The barge, which is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2006, will operate on the Great Lakes servicing 17 Lafarge cement terminals.
   Lafarge North America is a large diversified construction materials company and supplier of cement, ready-mix concrete, gypsum wallboard, aggregates and asphalt, and other materials used for residential and commercial construction in the United States and Canada.