Construction has started at the Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc. plant planned on the West Plains, and local subcontractors are moving earth and laying the foundation work for the huge facility.

Caterpillar declines to disclose the cost of the plant. Building permit information on file with Spokane County, however, estimates the construction cost alone for the 554,200-square-foot plant at $42.7 million.

Clayco Inc., of St. Louis, Mo., is the contractor on the project, which is located on 72 acres of land at 9610 W. Hallett Road, east of the Peirone Produce Co. building and the Interstate 90-Medical Lake interchange.

Anthony Johnson, Clayco's project executive, estimates the project will provide 300 to 400 construction jobs, although he says he doesn't know how many of those will be filled locally.

When completed, the plant will provide 100 to 150 permanent jobs, says Bridget Young, Caterpillar spokeswoman.

Local subcontractors include Divcon Inc., of Spokane Valley, which is pouring the foundation. Piersol Construction Inc., of Airway Heights, is performing the earthwork for the project, Johnson says. Spokane Valley-based Central Pre-Mix Concrete Co. is supplying the concrete.

Divcon is pouring about 1,000 cubic yards of concrete a day, and expects to have the half-million-square-foot slab for the plant completed within two weeks, says Shane Miller, Divcon's president.

"It's a nice shot in the arm for Divcon following a second quarter that was flat," Miller says of the Caterpillar job, adding, "It's also good for Spokane."

Meidling Concrete Inc., of Spokane Valley, is working with Divcon to perform the finish work on the concrete slab, Miller says.

While many of the contractors and subcontractors on the project are from out of town, some of them are hiring local labor, Miller says.

The project was designed by Clayco affiliate Forum Studio, of St. Louis, Johnson says.

Concrete Strategies, another St. Louis-based Clayco affiliate, is the primary concrete subcontractor and will begin pouring and erecting concrete tilt-up wall panels once the foundation is complete, Johnson says.

Plans on file with Spokane County show the project includes three small offices, mezzanines, and an assembly area within the main building, although most of the building is designed for storage of parts and components for Caterpillar equipment.

Plans also show an outside storage area that appears to cover more than 100,000 square feet of space.

The project includes 74 truck stalls in the facility's delivery area, 20 stalls in its shipping area, and an employee parking area with 125 parking spaces, the plans show.

Caterpillar expects to begin moving into the building in February, and the project is scheduled to be fully complete in April, says Kenneth Jeffrey, a county plans examiner.

"Hopefully we will have good weather," Jeffrey says. "That's a lot of building for this short of a time frame."

Caterpillar Logistics Services, a Morton, Ill.-based subsidiary of the Peoria, Ill.-based heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc., will serve Caterpillar dealerships in the Pacific Northwest and parts of Canada, including Western States Equipment Co., which operates sales and rental outlets here.