A Man to Remember
By Gene Morris, P.E., Vice Chairman
RPA Technical Advisory Board
On October 16, at the age of 70, Paul Oliver, known as "Pa
Pa" to his young grandson, Shane, died of a heart attack.
Many people in the industry today did not know of Paul or how
he contributed to the success of the industry.
Paul was an unlikely candidate to make significant
contributions to the industry. He was raised in the rural Laveen
area, southwest of Phoenix, AZ. He married his high school sweetheart,
June and went to work on her family's farm. As a farmer, Paul
could care less about pavements or construction unless it related
to the farm. Of course, being a farmer he learned a great deal
about equipment and heavy machinery and the improvising one had
to make to get results. Upon selling his farm, Paul joined Sahuaro
Petroleum as a bag buster in 1978. It wasn't long until the company
recognized Paul's mechanical talents and placed him in charge
of the Sahuaro shop. When International Surfacing Inc. took over
the Asphalt-Rubber operations of Sahuaro, Paul became the General
Field Superintendent and Equipment Manager.
By the time Paul joined the Asphalt-Rubber industry,
much of the work on developing the material in various uses had
been accomplished. One huge barrier to it being adopted as a
standard construction procedure remained. That barrier was equipment
and the technology to consistently
supply a uniform distribution of rubber and asphalt in the blend.
Maintaining any consistency for a reasonable
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period of storage on a project was difficult.
We could supply Asphalt-Rubber to a hot plant that used a pug
mill for mixing but could not even begin to feed any type of
a continuous plant. Working with Ken Hill of Bearcat and others,
Paul developed the necessary blenders, high speed mixing screws
and retort capabilities to solve these problems.
Special pumps tied to the aggregate belt scales
were developed for hot plant applications. Using his ability
to mechanically analyze and solve problems, Paul could take an
idea, build it and make it work. He did more for the advancement
of equipment technology relating to field usage than anyone in
the history of the A-R industry.
One of the other major problems was Quality Control.
During these years highway contractors for the most part relied
on the state to insure quality. However, most government
employees had very limited knowledge of Asphalt-Rubber. If contractors
wanted to sell their product, it was incumbent upon the supplier
to ensure a quality material. Paul coined the motto "WE
TAKE PRIDE IN BEING THE BEST." This motto, painted on every
piece of ISI equipment, forced the field crews to keep their
equipment in top shape and to have pride in its appearance. Any
employee bringing equipment back to the yard in dirty condition
heard from Paul Oliver.
A Man to Remember? If talented men like Paul Oliver
had not addressed the problems in equipment and Quality control,
it is highly doubtful that Asphalt-Rubber would be around today.
Most importantly Paul Oliver was a good and faithful friend and
a devoted family man. |
Olympics
without benefit of a team or full time coach. In a letter written
to RPA, Shane said, "At the opening ceremonies everyone
marched with their team and coaches. Since I am on my own, Papa
marched with me as my coach. We wore purple shirts and purple
Diamond Back hats. Everyone knew I was from Arizona."