Published Nationally ®
Southeast Edition
July 13 2011
$3.00
Vol. XXIV • No. 14
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded 1957.” 470 Maryland Drive • Ft. Washington, PA 19034 • 215/885-2900 • Toll Free 800-523-2200 • Fax 215/885-2910 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com
Inside
‘Pennies for Progress’ Funds Road Repairs By Peter Hildebrandt
for Progress handled funding for this project. “This Pennies for Progress was a catchphrase we came up with back in 1997 when we started the very first capital sales and use tax that allows us to do this,” explained Leazer. “The first one started in the state of South Carolina was in York County. Our leaders really lobbied hard to get this new law into effect.” This paved the way for other counties to take advantage of it. In 1997 it went to the voters and passed 51 percent to 49 percent. What was set out for that program was accomplished. Because of the way that the law reads, in seven years York County residents had to vote on whether or not they thought there were additional roads needing to be done. In 2003, a second referendum was approved by 73 percent of the county’s voters.
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Denali’s Husband-Wife Team Mines Success…8
Hills Machinery Hosts Triple Threat Rodeo…28
Mart in & Marti n Hold s Sale for A. T. Si stare… 82
Table of Contents ........4 Paving Section ......31-44 Attachments Section...... ..............................49-59 Parts Section ..............60 Business Calendar ......70 Auction Section ......84-91
Advertisers Index ......90
When road work needs to get done, a penny sales tax in the area to be served by the road is one way to finance it. Though York County, S.C., residents just barely passed this tax method the first time around, by the time there was a call for it a second time, with the Mt. Gallant Road project, it passed by an overwhelming majority. John Huskins is a construction engineer with the South Carolina Department of Transportation in York County, which is managing the construction project on the busy local Mt. Gallant Road. They are widening Mt. Gallant Road and installing storm and gutter drains the entire length of the stretch from the intersection of Anderson Road and U.S. 21 bypass to Route 161, Celanese Road. Work started in June 2010. Completion is expected by November 2012. The total construction cost of the job is 3.9 million dollars. York County identified this as a good fit for its sales tax initiative. “I think the amount of traffic volume on this road had a lot to do with the decision to proceed on the project,” said Huskins. Phil Leazer, project manager of Pennies
see PENNIES page 45
United will be placing some medians down the center of the road, adding some turn lanes and widening out the road by about 5 ft. (1.5 m) from existing line of pavement, making the entire thoroughfare about 10 ft (3 m) wider.
Industrial Tractor Locations Acquired by Beard Equipment On June 3, after 38 years in business, Industrial Tractor Company’s Cassidy family is officially exiting the business. Beard Equipment Company, based in Mobile, Ala., acquired the company’s three Florida locations — Jacksonville, Lake City and Palatka. Now a seven-branch operation, Beard will serve its new marketplace with the same product lines that were previously carried, including: John Deere construction, forestry and CWP products, Hitachi, Bomag, and NorAm products. It will add the Terex Cedarapids paver line to its newest locations and company officials stated that other new
product lines may come about from the acquisition. “Timing and the market conditions were right for this,” said Beard General Manager Drew DeLaney. “We’re prepared for market recovery mode and we’re excited to have more opportunities for our employees. I think this will translate into better service to the customer and enrichment for our employees. “We feel the additional locations give us some market diversity,” DeLaney continued. “Alabama see BEARD page 74
Caterpillar Equipment Sales Grow PEORIA, Ill. (AP) Caterpillar reported another strong month of global sales growth in May when sales improved 52 percent over last year, but the results were slightly weaker than the recent months. Sales in May were strongest in the region of Europe, Africa and the Middle East where sales grew 65 percent. Caterpillar’s Asian region posted the weakest results, but sales there were still up 38 percent. Caterpillar’s sales figures are considered an indicator of the health of the economy, so they are watched closely. Before May, Caterpillar reported annual sales growth of 66 percent in April, 61 percent in March and 59 percent in February.