Property, Plant and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2013

Property Plant And Equipment [Abstract]

5. Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment consists of the following (in thousands):


	August 31,
	2013		2012
Land and improvements	$	113,534	$	104,235
Buildings		710,643		613,843
Leasehold improvements		369,792		235,902
Machinery and equipment		2,222,257		1,787,071
Furniture, fixtures and office equipment		131,703		109,767
Computer hardware and software		491,211		442,220
Transportation equipment		21,650		20,648
Construction in progress		145,544		43,735

		4,206,334		3,357,421
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization		1,810,736		1,578,266

	$	2,395,598	$	1,779,155

Depreciation expense of approximately $402.0 million, $336.7 million, and $297.1 million was recorded for fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Maintenance and repair expense was approximately $162.4 million, $123.1 million, and $113.9 million for fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets used in the normal conduct of business and not intended for resale. Includes, but is not limited to, accounting policies and methodology, roll forwards, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, including composite depreciation, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, useful lives and method used, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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