Property and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Abstract]

The following is a summary of property and equipment at December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011:



	December 31, 2012			December 31, 2011
Automobiles and trucks	$	1,591		$	1,541
Building and improvements	22,037			13,520
Construction equipment	140,835			132,317
Dredges and dredging equipment	96,927			96,278
Office equipment	4,095			3,882
	265,485			247,538
Less: accumulated depreciation	(136,556		)	(119,440		)
Net book value of depreciable assets	128,929			128,098
Construction in progress	6,949			8,655
Land	14,793			9,354
	$	150,671		$	146,107

For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, depreciation expense was $21.5 million, $22.1 million and $19.4 million, respectively. Substantially all depreciation expense is included in the cost of contract revenue in the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income. The assets of the Company are pledged as collateral under the Company's Credit Agreement (as defined in Note 11).

In January 2012, the Company purchased approximately 18 acres of land, including buildings and improvements, from Lazarra Leasing, LLC ("Seller"). The property, located in Tampa, Florida, was formerly partially rented by the Company.

The purchase price of $13.7 million included construction of dock improvements at Seller's facility, in an amount not to exceed $279,700; rental of a portion of the land retained by the Seller for an initial term of 20 years, with payment of $250,000 for the entire term paid in advance; and leaseback by the Seller of three buildings for up to 24 months following the sale, with the first 12 months rent abated.

As discussed in Note 3 (above), the Company purchased the assets of West Construction for approximately $9.3 million, which increased fixed assets by approximately $4.5 million.

The Company drew from its Credit Facility (as defined in Note 11) to purchase the Tampa property and finance the acquisition of West Construction.

In 2012, the Company committed to a plan to analyze under-utilized property and equipment, and adopted a plan to dispose of such assets. These assets have been separately presented in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as "Assets Held for Sale" and are no longer depreciated. In connection with this disposal, the carrying value of certain of these assets exceeded fair value, and consequently, the Company recorded an impairment loss of $2.0 million on those assets. The loss is recorded in the "Other" section of the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Prior year loss or gain on the sale of assets reflect the sale of assets, less any cost to sell, in the ordinary course of business.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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