New England 15, July 19, 2023

Chadwick-BaRoss held a live demonstration of Ponsse tree harvesting equipment June 14, 2023, in Sandwich, N.H.

A wooded area of rural New Hampshire provided an ideal setting for Chadwick-BaRoss and representatives of Ponsse to demonstrate the Ponsse Scorpion King harvester and the

Ponsse Buffalo forwarder.

Chadwick-BaRoss has long been the exclusive Ponsse distributor in New England.

At the demonstration site, Chadwick-BaRoss customers and prospective customers were able to watch the Ponsse

Work to Start in 2024 On Car-Free Mystic River Bridge Linking Two Boston Suburbs

A new motor vehicle-free bridge to connect the Boston suburbs of Everett and Somerville over the Mystic River is on schedule to begin construction in 2024, according to Massachusetts officials.

The elegantly designed bicycle and pedestrian span would provide a direct link between the Encore Casino and the Northern Strand Trail on the northern banks of the Mystic River in Everett to the Assembly Square neighborhood and its Orange Line station in Somerville, on the southern bank.

In the fall of 2021, former Gov. Charlie Baker committed funding to finish designing and permitting the bridge, StreetsblogMASS, reported June 20.

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Sales Auction Company Holds Retirement Auction in Conn.

By Sheila Capetta CEG CORRESPONDENT

Sales Auction Company was onsite June 28, 2023, at Milton C. Beebe & Sons Inc., located at 12 Beebe Lane in Storrs, Conn., to conduct a retirement and closing sale.

Since 1947, founder Milton and wife Doris and their sons, Ron and Wesley, daughter, Natalie, and family have supported the community and state, from services offering foundation excavation and expanding to large-scale site work contracting. In the early 2000s, Ron Beebe became president, and Natalie Jurkovics became vice president, making them co-owners.

“I have known Ron for several years, and we have grown to be awesome friends,” said Sam Sales of Sales Auction Company. “It is truly an honor to be here today to sell this gear. This is the best stuff in today’s market.”

see AUCTION page 12

Aerial view of Milton C. Beebe & Sons Inc. during the company’s retirement and closing sale conducted by Sales Auction Company.

Various crushers and compactors went on the auction block.

Ron Beebe, owner and president of Milton C. Beebe & Sons Inc., stands in front of a 2021 Kenworth T880 triaxle dump truck, which sold for $193,000.

Some of the Beebe family (L-R) are Ryan Ferrell, Reagan Ferrell, Tammy Ferrell, Jason Ferrell, Ron Beebe, Karen Beebe and Chris Higgins. Bidders make their way from lot to lot following the auction truck.

Of Milton C. Beebe & Sons (L-R) are Linda Lemire, project manager for four years; Natalie Jurkovics, coowner, vice president and EEO officer; and Angie Duval.

ASV

WE’RE IN THE BUSINESS OF KEEPING YOU IN BUSINESS.

Chadwick-BaRoss Holds Ponsse Demonstration Event

machines at work in their natural element. The Scorpion King Harvester maneuvered its way through the forest and sawed the timber from its base to cut them into length in hilly terrain. The Ponsse Scorpion King offers productivity along with cost efficiency and comfort even in the most challenging terrains, according to the manufacturer.

Traveling along behind the Scorpion King harvester was the Ponsse Buffalo forwarder, which was assigned the task of retrieving each log with its crane and grapple system and loading it into the harvester for transportation out of the forest.

Event attendee Lane Gagne of Pat Gagne Logging has operated a Ponsse Buffalo forwarder since his father purchased one in 2018.

“We have put 6,500 hours on our Buffalo forwarder and have no issues with it at all,”

he said “My father and I operate our business five days a week, just the two of us, and we really rely on our Ponsse machines. I have been operating this 2023 machine all day and I’m really impressed with some of the new technology, particularly the Action Crane feature, which is a new way to control the loader that dramatically simplifies the grapple operation, making the whole forwarding operation easier.”

Pat Gagne, owner of Pat Gagne Logging, who was tasked with operating the Ponsse Scorpion King harvester during the demonstrations, said he was “very impressed with the visibility, quiet operation and stability of the Scorpion King. The machine is very powerful. I was pulling and cutting trees well over two feet in diameter effortlessly.”

Sy Corser of R.M. Timber Harvesting, another of the event attendees, said, “I am very impressed with the Ponsse Buffalo forwarder. The visibility, the speed, and the stability really caught my attention.”

Ponsse is a manufacturer of cut-to-length tree harvesting equipment whose roots are deep in the forest and has a passion for the forest ecosystem and ensuring its sustainability while engineering, designing and manufacturing some of the most respected equipment in the world, the manufacturer said.

For more information on forestry equipment available throughout New England, visit www.chadwick-baross.com.  CEG

(All photographs in this article are Copyright 2023 Construction Equipment Guide. All Rights Reserved.)

The Ponsse Buffalo forwarder returns from the wooded area and uses its grapple system to stack a load of cut logs.

The Ponsse Scorpion King harvester can cut trees to the desired log length and set them to the side for pickup by the forwarder.

The loggers in attendance appreciated the opportunity to get hands-on with the Ponsse products.

Demonstration attendees had the opportunity to closely inspect the business end of the Ponsse Scorpion King harvester.

Lane Gagne of Pat Gagne Logging has operated a Ponsse Buffalo forwarder since his father purchased one in 2018.

Pat Gagne, owner of Pat Gagne Logging, was tasked with operating the Ponsse Scorpion King harvester during the demonstrations. PONSSE from page 1

Milton C. Beebe & Sons Equipment Goes On Block in Storrs

AUCTION from page 4

“We have had the most amazing employees,” said Ron Beebe’s daughter, Karen Beebe. “Some of them have been here most of their lives.”

The company, at its largest, had more than 100 employees.

The auction offered more than 2, 500 lots and had 590 registered bidders onsite and 970 registered online, with total sales of

more than $7 million from the auction. The 2021 Caterpillar 330 excavator was the biggest ticket item, which sold for $290,000. A 2017 Caterpillar D6T XW dozer sold for $282,000, a 2021 Kenworth T880 triaxle tractor sold for $220,000, and a 2021

Kenworth T880 triaxle dump truck sold for $193,000.  CEG

(All photographs in this article are Copyright 2023 Construction Equipment Guide. All Rights Reserved.)

Caterpillar wheel loaders are ready to go up for bid.

Kevin Samoskevich of KMS Company in Shelton, Conn., attended his first Sales Auction Company auction.

Bryan Wickson of Equipment Exchange, located in Windham, N.H., with the 2020 Caterpillar 336 Next Gen hydraulic excavator.

Long time employees of Milton C. Beebe & Sons Inc. (L-R) are Tony Kasacek, employee for 23 years; Matt Allen, mechanic for 10 years; and Jon Knowlton, truck driver for 21 years.

Attending the auction is Joshua Suchocki of Suchocki and Son Inc., located in Old Lyme, Conn.

Long-time employee of Milton C. Beebe & Sons is Gregg Corcoran, head mechanic and maintenance supervisor for 45 years.

(L-R): Jeff Abele with son, Reece Abele, and Greg Gainor of Abele Tractor & Equipment of Albany, N.Y., stand in front of a 1962 Mack B61 T/A water truck.

A wide variety of mini-excavators and crawler dozers went up for bid.

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Boston Mayor Signs New Construction, Demolition Project Safety Rules Into Law

Citing a string of major construction problems in Boston in recent years, Mayor Michelle Wu signed new rules June 1 that require large construction and demolition contractors working on projects in the city to file detailed safety plans in order to get a building permit.

The new ordinance also was designed to beef up enforcement by municipal inspectors.

At a ceremony at the Brazilian Worker Center (BWC) in Allston — and joined by Alicia Anacleto, whose partner Peter Monsini died in an accident last year during demolition work at the city’s Government Center Garage — Wu said the rules are aimed to ensure that builders and developers follow detailed safety plans and train their workers on them as well.

“Every worker deserves to go home,” she said.

It was the first visit to the BWC by the mayor and her team.

Also standing alongside Wu at the press conference were leaders of Boston’s Worker Empowerment and Operations cabinets, the DREAM Collaborative, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and other community partners.

The measure, which was passed by the Boston City Council in late May, requires contractors to file safety plans as part of the permit application process on any building larger than 50,000 sq. ft., and for demolition projects on structures of four stories or more.

It also requires an onsite safety coordinator, trained by OSHA, safety orientations for workers who are new to a job site, and pre-shift meetings to highlight any potential hazards, the Globe reported. The rules were created in collaboration with building trade unions, worker advocates, construction companies and OSHA.

Boston has had a series of high-profile construction issues, some fatal, in the last few years. In 2021, the construction fatality rate was two and a half times the national average. 

Bridge Work to Begin in 2024

BRIDGE from page 1

However, there had been no public updates on the bridge since then. Last year, the federal government declined to fund the project from its competitive RAISE grant program.

During MassTrails grant announcements in Billerica in mid-June, StreetsblogMASS asked Kurt Gaetner, assistant secretary for environmental policy at the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, for an update on the Mystic River bridge project.

Gaetner promised an answer before following up with an email to the online news service on June 16.

In it he confirmed that the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) continue to make “good progress” on the design and permitting of the Mystic River Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge.

“We are on schedule for the project to go out to bid at the end of the calendar year,” Gaetner wrote.

Bridge proponents — particularly the Encore Casino — had also hoped for cooperation from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to build a

new Assembly station entrance on the east side of the Orange Line tracks to provide a direct walking connection from the light rail line to the new bridge.

The current Assembly station’s entrances are all situated to the west of the MBTA Orange Line tracks, facing the Assembly Row development, StreetsblogMASS noted.

The MBTA’s latest Capital Investment Plan, though, a five-year budget for upcoming construction projects, does not include any projects for the Assembly station.

That means that even though the Somerville end of the new bridge will land right next to the Assembly station, MBTA riders will only be able to get there by walking a half-mile out of their way to cross under the Orange Line at Artisan Way.

A new Mystic River bike and pedestrian bridge is seen by the state, and the two cities, as a major missing link in the regional greenways network.

At the time of former Gov. Baker’s announcement, Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria, a longtime champion of the bridge proposal, said that with the completion of the river crossing, “we’ll finally have access to our waterfront and to [MBTA] stations, and finally have true equity in the city of Everett.”

Mayor Michelle Wu Twitter photo

Mayor Michelle Wu signed new rules June 1 requiring construction and demolition projects to submit a Site Safety Plan Affidavit.

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Maine Gov. Signs Sustainable, Reliable Highway Budget Law

To the delight of lawmakers and the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), the state’s highway budget will now have reliable and sustainable funding.

Gov. Janet Mills signed the budget into law June 16 after it passed through the state’s House and Senate with overwhelming support earlier in the week.

News Center Maine in Portland reported that the budget bill gained the needed votes after Republican lawmakers worked with the Mills administration on a compromise and a key amendment was drafted by Sen. Peggy Rotundo, D-Lewiston.

“The safety, economic opportunity and quality of life of every Maine person just took a big step forward today,” said MaineDOT Commissioner Bruce Van Note shortly after the bill’s signing.

He added that securing the highway funding had been in the works since he became MaineDOT’s top official almost 20 years ago.

Forty percent of Maine’s 5.5 percent sales tax on motor vehicle purchases will go toward funding the new budget, coupled with another 40 percent of sales and use taxes from the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). In total, those monies are expected to be $100M annually.

Mills also told reporters the new highway budget will allow the state to secure nearly $1 billion from federal sources.

Budget Passed Before July 1 Deadline

Legislators from both sides of the aisle stood behind the governor as she inked the budget. Many of them described the compromise deal as “historic.”

“It’s been a real collaborative effort and that’s what you need when you’re going to do these big things,” said Rep. Wayne Parry, R-Arundel, the Maine House’s ranking member of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee.

He said using taxes from vehicle purchases and the BMV to fund transportation proj-

ects makes perfect sense.

While Mills and her administration have made a push to repair hundreds of bridges and thousands of miles of roads across Maine, the budget also will fund other sectors of the industry like bus and ferry services, airports and maritime ports.

Its signing also came just days before a July 1 deadline that would have paused some projects around the state.

State Sen. Ben Chipman, D-Cumberland, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the funding from the new budget signing will provide certainty to MaineDOT and BMV employees that their projects can move forward.

“[This is the] largest transportation budget in the history of Maine,” he added. “We’ll be able to do lots of great work over the next few years as a result.”

His colleague, Sen. Brad Farrin, RSomerset, explained that the budget will allow the state to do “full-depth reconstruction and start really building back our roads.”

While there was certainly a moment of celebration among Maine lawmakers over the law, Farrin, Chipman and other lawmakers told News Center Maine that it is a good step forward, but more work needs to be done to secure even more long-term transportation funding.

Every year, MaineDOT creates a threeyear plan and, in years past, Van Note said it was difficult to budget for projects due to not knowing if money would be available.

“And for the first time we’re going to have something we can rely on,” he added.

According to the MaineDOT, the current plan includes 302 bridge projects, 1,178 mi. of preservation paving, more than 2,000 mi. of light capital paving, 271 mi. of highway construction and rehabilitation, and 264 highway safety and spot improvements.

Farrin said the state has $265M in unmet transportation needs and future legislative work will need to continue to cover those costs and complete all the state’s proposed projects. 

Legislators from both sides of the aisle stood behind Gov. Janet Mills as she inked the budget.

Maine.gov photo