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Show I " s 5 ' 's?i &jZ'J -- .r p '. s.if! by Margaret VanNoy Profiles Writer Most of us, when we quit this earth, will leave few visible reminders of our existence a home, trees, our china, and perhaps some furniture, most of which will Ire valued only by our families. But Harvey Wright has had the rare He9 SepeFiimlteedlemi Of Tike Yeaur s, pair of aching feet, a stiff back ''Vrftiia On haCfijled with a million hds bf hell that only a construc- Center parking plaza, he found that the lot size was 124 feet out of square. We could come only half way across the alley Itecause someone else owned the rest of the air. The building goes up to the second floor and then squares itself. The church parking plaza presented problems also. The outside walls were built from the top down lecause the excavation was close to existing building structures, streets and utilities. The adjoining church office skyscraper sits on 30 huge pyramid-shapepilings located 70 feet below the surface. Harvey said each piling required from 60 to 130 cubic yards of concrete. These pilings support steel columns sshich continue through the entire structure. job super is half artist and half slave driver. . . a genius with a blue print in one hand and a bull whip in the other. As a boy growing up in Tooele, Harvey had no thoughts of going into construction work. He possessed a keen mind and a pair of hands that liked to work. He thought he would go into auto mechanics and enrolled in Utah State . University with that in mind. But in 1948 he went to work as an apprentice carpenter for Paulsen Construction, building the new Tooele High School. In 1953 he began working for Jacobsen and built the last 100 igloos constructed at Tooele Army Depot.. He has been supervising jobs ever since. Lots of Opportunities Jacobsen gave me lots of opportunities to use my talents. Ive tried to do my best. Harvey said of those years of steady promotions to the top. He built eight buildings at Dugway including the high school and gymnasium, then helped supervise Z.C.M.I. parking center. From there he went on to Glen Rock, Wyoming and built the electric steam generating plant on the North Platte River along with a diver- sion dam. n Each of the dollar jobs took two or more years, filling Harveys days with momentous accomplishments. multi-millio- Electrician, Carpenter, Welder The job superintendent is responsible that new job started." So he hitches up his pants, kicks the mud I off his boots, tightens his belt, slaps on his tin hat. . . and maybe. . . just maybe. . . he grins through the dust on his face. . . because he knows he has the craziest, toughest, most thankless job in the world. And he wouldn't swap any man. places with That is why he is the job super! great day comes when the building is complete! The builder has his picture in the paper with the mayor. . . The architect exhibits a scale model in the art museum. . . The subcontractors stagger to the bank under their load of money. . . ' Harvey Wright of Jacobsen Construction Company was given the Superintendent of the Year award by the Utah Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America. special constructions and unique prob- lems he has had to solve. Can Build Anything I havent found anything you cant accomplish if you study and work at it, he said. He added that he is confident that he could build anything. It is confi- dence and performance like this that have won him the admiration and honors from his peers in the construction world, Every job that I have seems to have to start at a certain place. If you dont get just the right place, it doesnt work out, he said. A construction super has to build a job visually in his mind before he ever starts on it. This takes special talent and skill. Every job has its own special chal- lenge - part of th e reason Harvey loves his pillar obstructions, Harvey recalls that just six weeks be- fore Bill Cosby was to open this 15,000 seat sports center, a mismanufactured flushometer broke in one of the hallways and flooded the new floor which had just been finished. He met this challenge by cutting the floor into eight foot lengths loaded it ond a truck. It was ready to go in time for the opening. And in adding identical wings onto the Hotel Utah, Harvey had to figure out how to support the north end of the east existing wing to keep it from moving. We went down two stories underneath the existing footings and placed new footings and new columns. We had (o prestress or load existing columns so that when we transferred the load to the new columns, the building wouldnt move, more than l16th of an inch. All this work so. I have built some buildings from the time, the hotel was using some of the top down, Harvey said. We stood col- - rooms above, umns up from the footings and then framed the top floor first. We poured the concrete up there and then lowered it from one floor to the next. A unique construction. At the airport he cant work on some phases of construction until after 11 p.m. because of the conflict with public areas. We are under a $1,000 security fine if we let even one person get out into the construction area. Number One Fan Harvey is revered and admired by builders throughout the west, but his numlier one fan is his wife, Connie. Most of these huge building jobs took two to three years to complete, and the family moved with him unless the children were in school. Mrs. Wright loves construction work just as much as her husband. I love to see building rise or see old ones renovated, she said. Its the best life there is. As a contractors wife, she gets up by 5 a m., and many times as early as 3 or 4 a.m. and sees that he gets a good breakfast. He works real hard for his family, she said. He often has late hours too, as he stays until a particular job is finished. I sometimes think that it was a construction wife who invented the warming oven, she laughed. Harvey is pleased that his sons have decided to follow him into construction work. John has just completed an assignment as assistant superintendent of the Seattle LDS Temple also built by Jacobsen. He will join his father on the airport Son Terry who assisted Harvey at the Orem Water Treatment plant will soon receive his degree in civil engineering crane breaks down; whos fault is it? The job super! A carpenter skins his shin; Who do they call for? The job super! The truck drivers strike in the middle of a pour; Who is to blame? The Ironically, Harvey is called upon to lecture at these same universities, telling young, would-b- e engineers of certain built, it was the largest unsupported wooden dome in the world. The roof is set on a steel tension ring making beam supports unnecessary and eliminating Workers had to literally suspend the north east wing of the Hotel Utah while they transferred its weight from old to pew columns. The new addition on the north end duplicates the original architectural design right down to the terra cot" ta trim. I ,.ii ...vi. lieu relegated to a place in the ashes r like Cinderella. I GUESS one of the reasons I have such a complex is that whenever I make something from scratch, it turns out to be a grand fiasco as far as appearance goes. After several horrendous experiences, I refuse to contribute anything to bake sales, bazaars, or pot luck dinners. How would you feel if your pumpkin squares were the only dish left completely intact at the Thanksgiving buffet, or if none of the ladies at the Relief Society banquet in dividing up the leftovers want to take your chocolate crunchies home, or you find that the dog has hidden your spaghetti turnovers under a bash? I guess I came by my aversion naturally. As a kid, I hated mixing the Uttle red packet of coloring in the margarine almost as much as churning the butter, and I always opted for bakers bread and Camp- Jus Talkin job. A Largest Unsupported Dome The roof of the U. of U. Special Events Center is a unique project Harvey is proud of. The centers domeshaped roof is made of laminated pine timber beams, covered by wood decking on the exterior and muted by acoustical panels on the interior. At the time it was job super! A terrible thing happened to me last Saturday night. . . I was forced to cook from scratch. Oh, I know, lots of people cook from scratch, nowadays - things like cakes, or bread, or even g (you know, the kind I mean made with uncooked rice.) I HAVE never been too impressed by people who brag about cooking from scratch, as though they were eligible for some kind of award or for membership in the order of the limp garter. Big deal! I get a little annoyed at them for looking down their noses at us mixies. In fact. Im getting a guilt complex. Its as though I have done something naughty or that I have some kind of unmentionable pud-din- bells soup. IT WAS against this back- -- ground of prejudice that I came to trial by fire Saturday night. It was late that night when my husband came home from a meeting and announced that he hungered for, of all things, pancakes. Now there is nothing in the whole world so simple to whip up as pancakes: Just pour some water into the mix and - viola - there you are. I RUSHED to the pantry shelf and reached for the Krusteas. The box was empty. Now in a pinch, I can throw a cake together, or even stir up my own pie filling, but pan- disease. The unusual dome construction of the U. of U. Special Events Center is completely of wood resting on a steel rim. Hanging in the center is a cloud which supports the sound system, floor lighting and accoustics barrier. Construct- ed of 100 tons of structural steel, it was erected on the ground and raised with 16 hand winches placed equally around the roof of the dome. Its gotten so I always look over my shoulder before I dare reach for a package of ready to cook biscuits from the supermarket shelf. And I dont dare mention a dirty word like Duncan Hines, for fear Ill have my mouth washed out. HAVE YOU ever taken a piece of cake on your plate at the ladies aid society and just as you are u ready to chew, some matron says with a sneer, Is this cake made from scratch? You freeze midbite. Somehow the cake in your mouth suddenly tastes like cakes? Do you remember what is involved in mixing up a batch of pancakes from scratch? And the result is usually flat or lumpy or gooey. I looked at the clock. All the stores were closed. I put on my coat. - holier-than-tho- MlLLtL WHERE ARE you going? asked my husband. Harmons in Granger cement. After an experience like that I feel compelled to run to a mirror to see if it shows or to run through the a Much of this water treatment plant at Orem is underground. The water is filtered through coal and sand. 4 already two weeks late getting But finally that for the final product from the initial layout on. It is his vital decision as to which way the project starts. He sets the priorities, organizes and supervises the confers with the architect and owner many times. He has to be an electrician, carpenter, welder, etc., so that he can evaluate the other mans product and the quality of his work. How does a man learn all these skills? Schooling, said Harvey, both formal and experienced. Although he never graduated from a university, he has taken courses from both the University of Utah and Brigham Young. boss: We-r- e d ' A Harvey has just !een reelected to the city council for the third time. He did not plan to run, but was encouraged to do so by many, many citizens. He said he would jtist have to make time to fill this position. We all should try to do something for the community that we live or work in," he said. Theres too much of a tendency not to want to get involved. Its much easier just to complain. He has also always found time to lie active in the LDS Church and at present is the High Priests leader in the 11th ward. space. While building the Walker A tion jobcan brew.. BYU. Iwttom of Lake Bonneville and rolled out a mammoth elephant tusk six or seven feet long and eight or nine inches in diameter. And while working on the heating plant at the U. of U., workers unearthed an Indian skull. Because property is so expensive in downtown Salt Lake City, every inch of it is jealously accoimted for including air opportunity to change the skyline, to leave his stamp for all posterity to see. For Harvey is a builder of moniii-menthuge ones. Such edifices as the University of Utah Sports Complex (including the Special Events Center), the new addition to the Hotel Utah, the water treatment plants at Orem and Jor-- . dan, the LDS Church parking plaa, an electric stcain generating plant and dam at Clen Rock, Wyoming, 2400 apartment unit in Houston are mementos to his skills - and the list goes on to his present project, the east expansion of the Salt Lake City Airport. d All in all, he has lieen the builder over a hundred million dollars worth of steel, concrete, glass, and wood. Small wonder then that on January 25, Harvey was honored by his colleagues of the Utah Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America as Superintendent of the Year. Appropriately enough the ceremony took place in the newly remodeled Hotel Utah, part of Harvey's handiwork. Loved Every Minute As superintendent for Jacolrsen Construction Company, he has spent most of the last 27 years supervising huge construction projects. He has loved every minute of it. Each job comes with its own special set of problems; each day has seen a new challenge to his ingenuity . and creativity; And the job superintendent? He gets a note from the Get out to Swampville and will go on to get his masters. Daughter Kathy is a sophomore at Elephant Tusk Sometimes there are other dividends. While working three floors below the surface on the LDS Church parking plaza, Harvey's men excavated through the The North Platte River flows past the electric steam The circular ramp of the LDS Church parking pla- za rises amid the steel columns which are to support the generating plant and on through the diversion dam both built under Harvey Wrights supervision. church office skyscraper. streets crying unclean, unclean. I can just see us all in that great kitchen in the sky. Those who spent their days making from scratch, floating around, feet not touching, righteous bosoms heaving, with little halos shining, while those of us who cheated will be ) ! , . is open all night. ' ' Are you crazy? he growled. It would be midnight before you got back. Make it from scratch! AND SO it was that I got out my bowl, sifter, beaters, measuring spoons and cups, the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, shortening, milk and eggs and started. . . The clock was just striking 12 when I shook him awake to announce, Your pancakes are ready. - ... . |