The mother of all earthmoving equipment clearance sales – the dispersal of Hewatt Earthworks' fleet – could raise as much as $10 million next week.
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Organised by Slattery Auctions, the event is to be held at Murrumbateman, near Yass, on July 10.
Almost 100 items, including graders with a replacement value of more than $600,000, $400,000 bulldozers, and tip trucks that would have cost close to $300,000 new are all going under the hammer.
When the Hewatt group unexpectedly went into voluntary liquidation in May, there were fears the collapse would lead to delays and cost blow-outs on the $288 million Majura Parkway project. But Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said on Tuesday work remains on schedule and on budget.
''Good progress continues to be made on site,'' he said. ''The bridge over the Molonglo River is now underway and the community can expect to see the main northbound section being progressively launched over the Molonglo River in coming months.''
Mr Rattenbury said the Majura Parkway should be finished by June 2016.
The exercise paddock at the Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds is already starting to fill as dozens of pieces of equipment are trucked in from worksites around the state.
Paddy Slattery – a director of Slattery Auctions, which is handling the sale on behalf of the administrators, PPB Advisory – said there had already been a lot of interest and he was keen to drum up more.
''Our main job is to make sure everyone knows it [the auction] is on,'' he said. ''There has been a lot of advertising, and there is still more to kick in.
''I took a phone call from a farmer up west of Rockhampton on Monday who was interested in one of the items.''
Mr Slattery said he wouldn't be surprised if several hundred people turned up at the auction. ''There has even been talk of people getting together to bring a busload from Newcastle.''
He said the reserve prices would be set by the administrator once the valuations were complete. He stressed, however, that every effort was being made to get the best possible return.
The lots can be inspected on site from July 7, and Mr Slattery said holding the auction at the home of Murrumbateman's well-known annual field days meant "everybody knows where to come''.
Hewatt, which had been in operation for almost a quarter of a century, had built up a large, modern and well-maintained fleet of vehicles. Only 13 of the 96 items on offer pre-date the turn of the century, and almost half of the road rollers have been bought since 2011.
The oldest machines on offer are two 1978 diesel scrapers.
When Hewatt went into administration, it had 40 field workers and 11 ''professional staff'' working on the Majura Parkway. The group had more than 200 full-time employees in total.
It is understood Fulton Hogan, the lead contractor on the parkway, picked up eight of the 11 professionals, along with the contracts of almost all of the subcontractors and suppliers who had been working with Hewatt.
Mr Slattery said that while the Hewatt dispersal sale was not the largest his company had been involved in, it was certainly right up there.
The relative youth and good condition of the fleet is expected to be reflected in the final outcome, with bidders likely to include miners, broadacre farmers, civil contractors and local government.