Property, plant and equipment

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Note 11. Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment of our insurance and other businesses is comprised of the following (in millions).


	Ranges of estimated useful life		March 31,			December 31,
	Ranges of estimated useful life		2013			2012
Land		—	$	1,058		$	1,048
Buildings and improvements		2 – 40 years		6,074			6,074
Machinery and equipment		3 – 20 years		15,509			15,436
Furniture, fixtures and other		2 – 20 years		2,863			2,736
Assets held for lease		12 – 30 years		6,844			6,731

				32,348			32,025
Accumulated depreciation				(13,200	)		(12,837	)

			$	19,148		$	19,188

Depreciation expense of insurance and other businesses for the first quarter of 2013 and 2012 was $496 million and $477 million, respectively.

Property, plant and equipment of our railroad, utilities and energy businesses is comprised of the following (in millions).


	Ranges of estimated useful life		March 31,			December 31,
	Ranges of estimated useful life		2013			2012
Railroad:
Land		—	$	5,957		$	5,950
Track structure and other roadway		5 – 100 years		38,488			38,255
Locomotives, freight cars and other equipment		5 – 37 years		6,657			6,528
Construction in progress		—		1,014			963
Utilities and energy:
Utility generation, distribution and transmission system		5 – 80 years		42,490			42,682
Interstate pipeline assets		3 – 80 years		6,371			6,354
Independent power plants and other assets		3 – 30 years		2,110			1,860
Construction in progress		—		2,859			2,647

				105,946			105,239
Accumulated depreciation				(17,827	)		(17,555	)

			$	88,119		$	87,684

Railroad property, plant and equipment includes the land, other roadway, track structure and rolling stock (primarily locomotives and freight cars) of BNSF. The utility generation, distribution and transmission system and interstate pipeline assets are the regulated assets of public utility and natural gas pipeline subsidiaries. Depreciation expense of the railroad, utilities and energy businesses for the first quarter of 2013 and 2012 was $795 million and $732 million, respectively.

- 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.

+ References+ Details