Thoughts from the first years of my 30 years with CH2M HILL are a joy— for the most part. Only a relatively few will remember the setting—the old Corvallis office on Western Boulevard. Isn’t it great that, if we can remember anything, it tends to be the pleasant happenings? Cornell, Howland, Hayes, and Merryfield hired me in 1957 (employee # 44), about 10 years after “the Firm” was started. Many successful water and sewage (later to be called wastewater) projects as well as the partners’ vision, paved the way for growth that resulted in a need to hire more people — like me. Hurray!

Getting Started
I graduated from OSU on a Monday, reported for work (with my K & E Log Log Duplex Decitrig (fancy slide rule) on Tuesday, and our first child arrived on Wednesday. A couple of weeks later, I became a resident inspector on a significant water project: the water supply system for the new Georgia Pacific pulp mill at Toledo, Oregon.

A Big Job
Among other things, the Georgia Pacific project included 1.5 miles of 28-inch concrete cylinder pressure pipe. Those of you familiar with concrete cylinders may recall that the pipe came in about 33-foot lengths and, in 1957, the interior of the joints had to be filled by hand with concrete grout. This meant that the inspector had to crawl into this very dark hole, sometimes several hundred feet, and back out the same way. Access manholes were neither essential nor provided. One of the unrecognized talents of my youth was the ability to turn around in a 28-inch pipe. Ooh — now it pains me to even think about such a contortion.

Bob, Circa 1970

One Potato, Two Potato — 500,000 Pounds Per Day
In 1960, near the end of my second residency — the Eugene, Oregon, wastewater plant expansion — Boise Office Manager Earl Reynolds had a job for us with a potato processor in Idaho Falls. I had never seen a potato processing plant. So how do you get to Idaho Falls? Oh, you fly on a West Coast Airlines DC3 (an unpressurized plane from the mid-1930s). It makes a few stops between Corvallis and Idaho Falls, including Portland, Pendleton, Baker City, Ontario, Boise, Sun Valley, Burley, Pocatello, and Twin Falls. The flight ruins a full day.

You Only Had One Job?
I retired in 1987 after 30 years with only one engineering firm. The Cornell, Howland, Hayes, and Merryfield Company that hired me had metamorphosed several times during 30 years. How did this happen? Lack of control. Most businesses don’t survive 30 years (much less 60+).

Retired? How Do You Keep Busy?
I found a hands-on water project on Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on a Takitumu Reserve for the endangered Rarotongan flycatcher (Google it). The project encompasses a water intake, pump station, surge tank with automatic float valve, pressure pipes, and point­of-use fixtures at the visitors centre. The intake is on a very small tropical stream (no permits required). This work only required three onsite visits of three 3-week durations, spread over 4 years. The project was completed on time and under budget — or close, I think. No help requested.

Postscript
It is wonderful to have a somewhat captive audience of people who have heard of CH2M HILL and have an idea of what they do. How do you answer in one sound byte, “Who did you work for?” or “What does CHtooemel do?”!