If there was a “Championship Bowl” in northeastern Pennsylvania, Linde Enterprises Inc., The Norwood Company, Cleveland Brothers and Caterpillar could be the “Four Horsemen” of this team.

Linde is performing all fast track site preparation work for The Norwood company of Allentown, PA, general contractor on a $9-million Mazda Distribution Center being built in northeastern Pennsylvania. Caterpillar, along with its regional dealer, Cleveland Brothers, are being relied upon to provide the major earthmoving equipment.

“The Mazda Distribution Center is a challenging project with difficult soil conditions to work with, particularly during the winter months,” said Thomas Horan, vice president of Site Development of Linde.

“We are moving about 200,000 plus yards of dirt and rock to make room for the 400,000-square-foot facility to meet the aggressive completion schedule of spring 2004. This has been a difficult task with the high moisture content of the soil and various rock composites,” explained Horan.

Linde’s contract responsibilities include all phases of site work including excavating for foundations and all underground utilities work. In addition, it is supporting building subcontracting.

The project, along with the soil conditions, required reliable, tough, productive equipment, which Linde found in Caterpillar machinery from Cleveland Brothers, of Harrisburg, PA.

“Even with a late start,” said Horan, “the machines, which include 16 Cat machines on this job — 627 F pans; four 740 and four D30 rock trucks; D8, D9 and D6 dozers — were hustling with minimal downtime.”

Project Manager George Spencer, a 10-year Linde veteran with many years of earthmoving experience, appreciated the reliability and productivity of the equipment recommended and provided by the Cleveland Brothers’ team, which includes Mike Roberto and Larry Sunday.

Linde’s crew of more than 20 experienced operators worked rotating multiple shifts to complete the 10-plus-acre building pad in 60 days.

Linde was incorporated in 1965 as a utility contractor from C. Linde and Son’s World War II anthracite coal mining company. Over the years, the company has expanded its scope to include site preparation and all forms of utility work. Currently, the company employs more than 200 men and women.

The Linde family has been doing business with Cleveland Brothers throughout the entire 30 years Cleveland Brothers has been northeastern Pennsylvania’s Caterpillar dealer. These entities informally “partner” with the contractor in order for everyone to succeed.

What ranks Caterpillar and Cleveland Brothers as being unique, according to Horan, is the unsurpassed equipment availability for a full line of heavy equipment in addition to its new support lines such as large water pumps.

Horan praised Mike Roberto, Linde’s account manager of Cleveland Brothers in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area. “Mike is always there for us, and when we need something, we can consider it done, and done right. We are happy to partner with Cleveland Brothers, Caterpillar and Mike.”

Teamwork is the name of the game, and this team knows how to work together to get a difficult job done.

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