Reilly, M. G. (2008). Conversations with Retirees: Introducing the People Behind the Stories. United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/65901
Reilly, Marili Green. Conversations with Retirees: Introducing the People Behind the Stories. United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway, 2008. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/65901.
Reilly, Marili Green Conversations with Retirees: Introducing the People Behind the Stories. United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway, 2008, ROSA P. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/65901.
From January through April 2008, I had the pleasure of interviewing several retirees whose careers date back to the late 1940’s. During individual interviews, they shared their memories of working for the Bureau of Public Roads and Federal Highway Administration out of our Vancouver office. In honor of the Federal Lands Highway Program 25th Anniversary, I am preparing a series of stories and vignettes in which I will be sharing some of their memories with you. This chronological overview of each of their careers is offered as an introduction to those stories. – Marili Green Reilly.
In 2008, the Federal Lands Highway Program celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Looking back at the past quarter century – and more – a number of retirees
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The Bureau of Public Roads' instituted the Highway Engineer Training Program which was an important training and recruiting tool that has continued to
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Nearly 500 feet above the Moyie River in northern Idaho, this bridge was constructed during the 1962-64 construction seasons and required much intesti
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Moving the Federal Projects Division into Vancouver required a series of upgrades to the buildings and office space, and the Vancouver Newsletter chro
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From the 1950’s to the 1970’s, the Federal Highway Administration was involved in the maintenance of timber roads on lands belonging to the Bureau of
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The Western Oregon Roads Maintenance Program had been headquartered in the Federal Highway Administration Division Office in Salem, Oregon, since its
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The Western Oregon Roads Maintenance Program had been housed with the Federal Projects Office in Vancouver since 1972. Negotiations between FHWA and t
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Having a contractor unused to FHWA’s work ethic created interesting challenges for Project Engineer Gary Hunter. The fact that it was the first WFLHD
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Regardless of who comes up with the solutions, it is ultimately the Project Engineer who is responsible for making sure that all problems are addresse
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First there were the room-filling IBM mainframe computers, then the Texas Instruments calculators and the Wang word processors. By the 1970's we had m
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United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway
Some projects can generate unexpected publicity. Two retirees presented their perspectives on an Oregon project that became the center of controversy
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Over the years, there have been many changes to what is now known as the Federal Lands Highway Program. For a period of time, the Vancouver office Bur
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Under ideal conditions, WFLHD staff all works together to get the job done. Project Development comes up with the design, Contracting writes the contr
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While most projects are completed, some designs never make it to construction. Other projects develop a life of their own and end up bigger than antic
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While sharing Federal Lands memories, several of WFLHD’s retirees recalled their experiences while on survey crews or construction crews when they sta
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The tents and trailers described in Part One were one kind of camp experience, but there were often other options. On many projects, vacation inns and
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In retrospect, some retirees felt that getting hired at the Bureau of Public Roads had been relatively easy. Getting ahead, however, sometimes took a
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As Bureau of Public Roads employees moved up the ranks, they were often supported by others in higher places. Retirees recalled the times they offered
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Retirees have recalled the early years of the training program and their experiences coming to work for the BPR. Whether hired from college or straigh
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The Federal Highway Administration training program has evolved through the years. In this second look at “getting hired,” retirees recall their train
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There were several avenues to getting hired at the Bureau of Public Roads during the 1950's and 1960's. These included hiring on as a summer temporary
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During the late 1960's, writes Glen Bedell, Federal agencies were beginning to discover the environment. He sent in this story about something that ha
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Retirees' memories of the camps were not always centered around the work. When roads were being surveyed for the Libby Dam project in Montana, the cre
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Jobs in remote areas were often prone to interruption by the whims of Mother Nature. Long distances or convoluted transportation between the camps and
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After reading some of the other stories in this series, Paul Anderson sent an email recalling his experiences at the Clearwater Camp while working on
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A number of retiree memories of construction and survey tent camps have been combined in other stories. Vern Ford shared the following experience duri
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Approximately 30 years after Western Federal Lands Highway Division became involved in road improvement projects on the Prince of Wales Island, the ro
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In the 1950’s the Smith River Camp was one of the largest Pacific Northwest construction camps being used by the Bureau of Public Roads. It served as
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The North Cascade Scenic Byway in north central Washington, which provides access to the North Cascades National Park, runs through some of the most r
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When the Bureau of Public Roads started surveying in remote areas for what is now the North Cascades Scenic Byway, crews worked out of tent camps that
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During the 1950's, Direct Federal construction management for the Northwest was housed in the Region Office in Portland, Oregon, with the head of the
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Meetings with partner agencies are crucial in deciding which projects deserve Federal Lands monies. However, sometimes not all participants can agree
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While employees of FHWA are building relationships with the public and our partners' front-line staff, managers dealing with their counterparts are se
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Every job requires the coordinated efforts of many people, and the negotiation of changes if intended outcomes are misinterpreted. Whether it is a sma
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Our partner agencies have always helped the Federal Lands program succeed, and employees of BPR and FHWA have worked hard to deliver the product they
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This postcard describes events occurring while retiree Paul Anderson was working on a construction project on the North Cross-State Highway near Newha
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As partners with the Forest Service, Western Federal Lands Highway Division is often involved in building or improving roads through the rough back co
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Hands-on training and the opportunity to contribute to the success of the project through new skills provided a firm foundation for a future career fo
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A temporary job with the Bureau of Public Roads gave Larry Brown a firm foundation of skills in surveying and construction inspection. His memories of
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Spending five summers as a temporary with the Bureau of Public Roads, Idaho Division, Scott Rustay had some choice experiences. He writes that “the fa
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One of the many roads to employment with the Bureau of Public Roads was to hire on as a summer temp. Scott Rustay took this route following his freshm
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Road building sometimes requires extra care and special design considerations to avoid sensitive properties and treacherous terrain. Larry Adams wrote
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The National Environmental Protection Act was passed into law in 1969 and government agencies, including the Bureau of Public Roads, began to put more
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As the National Environmental Protection Act was implemented, federal agencies had to make changes in how they managed their programs. At Federal High
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When Federal Highway Administration became involved in road building on Prince of Wales Island, it was to create a “backbone” of roads to tie together
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Montana sometimes welcomes survey teams and construction crews with below-zero temperatures, blizzards, and frozen rivers. Keeping roads open for loca
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Cross-training and job variety were part of the work tradition at the Bureau of Public Roads. Those working on survey and aerial mapping crews could l
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Reilly, M. G. (2008). Conversations with Retirees: Introducing the People Behind the Stories. United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/65901
Reilly, Marili Green. Conversations with Retirees: Introducing the People Behind the Stories. United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway, 2008. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/65901.
Reilly, Marili Green Conversations with Retirees: Introducing the People Behind the Stories. United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Federal Lands Highway, 2008, ROSA P. https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/65901.
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