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
October 5 2011
Dorchester
341
Cuthbert
75
Albany
84
Douglas Tifton
82
95
82
Blakely
Pearson 27
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.”
301
1
82
Vol. XXIII • No. 20
Savannah
McRae Cordele
27
84
Moultrie
19 319
Bainbridge
84
Valdosta Thomasville
Waycross Brunswick 82
1 441
Your Georgia Connection: Rich Olivier, Atlanta, GA • 1-800-409-1479
Tripling Population Spurs SR 365 Resurfacing Project By Lori Lovely CEG CORRESPONDENT
After decades of traffic, State Route 365/US 23 between Lula and Cornelia, Ga., is in need of repair. After an extensive corridor study of the four-lane, mediandivided rural highway, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) designed a project to remove damaged, crumbling asphalt and lay down a new, smooth driving surface from SR 52 in Hall County to the split at SR 17 and U.S. 441 in Habersham County. The population in both counties is projected to nearly triple over a 25-year period, rising from 195,300 in 2005 to 577,090 in 2030. The rate of projected change in employment is expected to increase by more than 3.5 times, rising from 81,400 workers to 307,048 by 2030. The impact on traffic volume is significant and could lead to gridlock conditions, particularly south
Dump trucks lined up and ready for work on the SR 365 project, which involves removing up to 8 in. (20 cm) of damaged asphalt along 21 center line miles/84 lane miles and putting down three layers of new asphalt.
of Lula, according to the study. Two-way, 24-hour traffic volumes on SR 365 vary from a high of 31,000 vehicles per day on two
sections in Hall County to a low of approximately 18,000 vpd in Habersham County, where daily traffic peaks at 29,500 vpd. With
an unusually high incidence of injury and fatal crashes already recorded since 2003 at the intersection of SR 365 at Demorest, the
GDOT has expressed concern for future traffic volume. According to the study, “the State Route 365 study area passes through parts of Hall and Habersham counties. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, both population and employment increased substantially in both counties. Population and employment growth in Hall County has been driven by Gainesville’s status as a regional center for northeast Georgia and the growth of metro Atlanta northward up I-985. Habersham County’s scenic beauty, rural ambiance and mild climate are contributing factors to its population growth. SR 365 also is a factor because it provides access southward to metro Atlanta. Current growth trends are expected to continue, and population and employment are forecasted to increase in the future.” Eighty percent of the funding for the $19.2 million, 20.996-milelong resurfacing project comes see RESURFACING page 2
More Than 1,500 Vie for Iron in Atlanta
M
ore than 1,500 bidders participated online or in person at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers’ multi-million dollar unreserved public equipment auction in Atlanta on Sept. 14. see RITCHIE page 6
Troy Griffin, used equipment manager, Flint Equipment Company, Albany, Ga., was looking for some good Deere machines to add to his inventory.
Comparing notes on some of the machines in the auction line-up are John Noble (L), K.I.T. Equipment, Louisville, Ky., and Frank Hilton, AIS Construction Equipment Corp., Lansing, Mich.
Charles Dowey of Carolina Wrecking Inc., Columbia, S.C., puts a Volvo EC330B LC excavator through the inspection process before putting the machine on his bidding list.