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Southeast Edition
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October 24 2018 Vol. XXXI • No. 22
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215-885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
‘Just Major Damage’...
Suppliers to Assist Cleanup Following Hurricane Michael
Fluid Analysis Protects Machinery Investment…8
By Craig Mongeau
When Hurricane Michael slammed the Gulf Coast earlier and Joe Barron this month, it left an unprecedentCEG ASSOCIATE EDITOR ed trail of destruction that will cost millions of dollars and months, if not years, of effort to repair. In the aftermath of the first Category 4 hurricane to strike the Florida Panhandle since record keeping began in 1851, equipment dealers faced the twin challenge of supplying dozers and excavators for government cleanup efforts while at the same time recovering from the damage to their own businesses. “In Mobile, we’re about two-and-half hours away, so we didn’t get hit, but our Panama City branch was hit pretty hard,” said Garlon Rainey, vice president and construction division manager, Beard Equipment, speaking by phone from the company’s headquarters. “The scene in Panama City is just … just major damage.” Michael made landfall Oct. 10 at Mexico Beach with top winds of 155 mph and peak water surges of 14 feet. Panama City, which lies only 24 miles away, suffered some of the worst devastation of any community in the hurricane’s path. The largest hospitals were shut down, roads were blocked by water or debris, and buildings were torn apart by the wind. Beard Equipment had some staff working in Panama City, but the branch was “not really up and running,” Rainey said. “There are people there, but we are forwarding phone calls to our switchboard and handling them from other stores,” he said. “Our people who work in Panama City have lost property, animals and everything else. People are still trying to figure what the next move here. I suspect that most dealerships in that area are having trouble. You can’t even get into town unless you’re a first responder. So, you can’t even proactively get equipment out for sale or rent at this point.” Advance planning, which has become habitual for emergency contractors along the Gulf Coast, has been crucial to dealing with the emergency, and Beard began supplying them with equipment while Michael was still gathering strength in the Gulf of Mexico. “We work with some of the largest emergency cleanup contractors in the country, based out of the Mobile area, and we have some equipment that we’re working on with them right CEG EDITOR IN CHIEF
The current phase of the parking project is being handled by Banks Construction, an asphalt and paving contractor with 70 years of experience with similar jobs across South Carolina’s low country. Dealer Tricks Out UTV for Football Games…22
New Dozer Designs Boost Reliability…54
Table of Contents ................4 Parts Section ................37-38 Paving Section..............39-51 Crawler Loaders & Dozers Section ..........................53-65 Business Calendar ............82 Auction Section ............84-91 Advertisers Index ..............90
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Parking Expands in Phases at Busy Charleston Airport By Eric Olson
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Construction crews at the Charleston International Airport are working to complete an initial expansion of parking capacity before the always hectic holiday season sets in. By Thanksgiving, vehicle parking at the Palmetto State’s busiest airport will increase by about 250 spaces, with another 1,300 being overhauled — all of them in outlying lots south of the main terminal. But the work is just the prelude to the construction of a new five-tier parking deck designed to contain 3,000 spaces. That phase of the project will commence early next year. The new structure will be located just south of the current three-level
deck, which holds 1,268 parking spaces, and both will be connected to short-distance walkways leading to the main terminal. The building site for the new deck currently serves as the airport’s main outdoor surface-level parking area, which has accommodated cars and light trucks for years. Parking will soon be redistributed to other nearby lots prior to the holidays to make way for the new five-story deck. The upgrade and addition of new parking should ease the crunch expected once construction begins on the new structure. Current Project in the Final Month The current phase of the new parksee AIRPORT page 85
see HURRICANE page 36