441
59
75
GEORGIA STATE EDITION
Cornella 19
A Supplement to:
Rome 85 27
Athens 441
Atlanta
20
Madison Augusta
85
20
Griffin 1
129
Milledgeville
75
La Grange
Macon
301
185 19
16
Dublin
Swainsboro Oak Park
Columbus
Statesboro
341 441 16
Lyons Americus
July 11 2012 Vol. XIV • No. 14
301
1
82
Dorchester
341
Cuthbert
75
Albany
84
Douglas Tifton
82
95
82
Blakely
Pearson
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
Savannah
McRae Cordele
27
27 84
Moultrie
19 319
84
Bainbridge
Valdosta Thomasville
Waycross Brunswick 82
1 441
Your Georgia Connection: Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Work Under Way on New Caterpillar Facility in Athens By Mary Reed CEG CORRESPONDENT
March 16, 2012, was a memorable day in the Peach State. On that date, a ceremonial groundbreaking for Caterpillar’s state-of-the-art facility in Athens, Ga., was held at the intersection of State Route 316 and U.S. 78, only a month after the company announced plans to construct its new plant there. Guests at the event included Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson, Rep. Paul Brown, Gov. Nathan Deal, Vice President of Caterpillar’s Building Construction Products Division Mary Bell, Athens Mayor Nancy Denson and other dignitaries. Situated east of Atlanta, the plant now under construction on a site straddling Many dignitaries attended the groundbreaking on March 16, including Caterpillar Vice President Mary Clarke and Oconee counties (front row, fourth from the left), and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (front row, fifth from the left). will manufacture minihydraulic excavators and small track-type tractors. In addition to “We have accelerated our already aggressive earthwork schedule finished products, Caterpillar plans by three weeks. That’s gaining a week a month. The first month was to export partially assembled miniexcavator units to Europe for final erosion-control work required prior to starting heavy earthwork. assembly, improving delivery times on that continent. Ninety-eight percent of the work will be completed in an eight-month Caterpillar decided in late 2011 span.” to move production of these modJill Wilson els closer to their American and Gray Construction European base of customers using these lines of equipment. The new plant will take over production at ucts. and Savannah was a factor influ- lion project development grant. present carried out at the compaGray Construction, based in About 40 percent of the equip- encing Caterpillar’s decision to ny’s Sagami, Japan, facility, which ment manufactured in the new build the facility in the Peach State. Lexington, Ky., is the design-build will then concentrate on high-tech plant will be exported, and the In addition, the company is eligible contractor for the $200 million, components for Caterpillar prod- proximity of ports at Charleston for tax abatements and a $45 mil- one million sq. ft. (92,903 sq m)
plant. The company served in a similar capacity for Caterpillar’s 850,000 sq. ft. (7,896 sq m) axle manufacturing facility in WinstonSalem, N.C. Ranked third among the top green contractors in manufacturing, Gray has several large projects that are under way or recently completed. Mostly located across the south, they include eight projects for Volkswagen at the Chattanooga, Tenn., campus; a Siemens gas turbine plant in Charlotte, N.C.; a Whirlpool plant in Cleveland, Tenn.; and multiple projects for Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. Gray Construction began work on March 12, 2012. Initial production at the facility is expected to begin in late 2013. Except for a crawler crane and aerial lifts, all the equipBell, ment utilized on site is manufactured by Caterpillar. While only a partial listing, the extensive fleet that is or will be utilized for this project includes: • 815F and 563C compactors • D10N, D8R and D6R crawler tractors • D9T, D8RXL and D6NLGP dozers • 385CL, 365BL and 345CL excavators • 963B, 930G and 938GII loaders • 140H and 14M graders • 621G and 631G scrapers • 773E, 773F and 740 trucks The D6RXL, D6NLGP and see ATHENS page 6