The event was held at Murrumbateman by organisers Slattery Auctions, attracting several hundred visitors from across the state to the village.

Almost 100 items, including graders with a replacement value of more than $600,000, $400,000 bulldozers, and tip trucks that would have cost close to $300,000 new went under the hammer.

When the Hewatt group unexpectedly went into voluntary liquidation in May, there were fears the collapse would lead to delays and cost blow-outs on the $288 million Majura Parkway project in Canberra.

But Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said the parkway should be finished by June 2016.

The exercise paddock at the Murrumbateman Recreation Grounds is brimming with dozens of pieces of equipment that have been trucked in for the past month from worksites around the state.

Paddy Slattery – a director of Slattery Auctions, which is handling the sale on behalf of the administrators, PPB Advisory – said there had already been a lot of interest in the lead up to the auction.

''Our main job is to make sure everyone knows it [the auction] is on,'' he said. ''There has been a lot of advertising, and there is still more to kick in.

''I took a phone call from a farmer up west of Rockhampton on Monday who was interested in one of the items.''

Mr Slattery said earlier this month he wouldn't be surprised if several hundred people turned up at the auction. ''There has even been talk of people getting together to bring a busload from Newcastle.''

He said the reserve prices would be set by the administrator once the valuations were complete. He stressed, however, that every effort was being made to get the best possible return.

Lots have been available for inspection since July 7, and Mr Slattery said holding the auction at the home of Murrumbateman's well-known annual field days meant "everybody knows where to come''.

Hewatt, which had been in operation for almost a quarter of a century, had built up a large modern and well-maintained fleet of vehicles. Only 13 of the 96 items on offer pre-date the turn of the century, and almost half of the road rollers have been bought since 2011.

The oldest machines on offer were two 1978 diesel scrapers.

Mr Slattery said that while the Hewatt dispersal sale was not the largest his company had been involved in, it was certainly right up there.

The relative youth and good condition of the fleet is expected to be reflected in the final outcome, with bidders likely to include miners, broadacre farmers, civil contractors and local government.