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oples Gas | Amoco | Caterpillar | City of Joliet | Texaco | Waste Management unty Highway Department | Mobil | Exxon | Argonne National Laboratory | Intnal Bank of Joliet | Dike Construction | Joliet Federal Savings and Loan | Mobil Oods | ICG Railroad | Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago e Airport | New Lenox State Bank | White Eagle Country Club | Indiana Departl Express | Walmart | Village of Bolingbrook | Arlington Park Racetrack | UPS Ft. Worth | City of Dallas | Seven Bridges Golf Course | Will County Forest Presrt | Fermilab | Kerr McGee | Northwestern Steel | IPSCO Steel | Cracker Barrertners | City of Arlington | Motorola | Panduit | Route 66 Speedway | City of Evebartolo | Ritchie Brothers | Montgomery Watson | Bovis Construction | McHuay Associates | Joliet Park District | Ryan Co. | Graycor | K-Five Construction |ht | Bechtel Corp. | Sunflower Electric Co-Op | Texas Toll Authority | Peoples GCommonwealth Edison | Will County Highway Department | Grundy County Hwer | Olin Chemical | Kenny Construction | Dow Chemical | First National Banepartment of Transportation | Illinois State Toll Highway Authority | Cub Foods an Airlines | City of Chicago | Yellow Freight | City of Orland Park | Kankakee Aansportation | Nucor Steel | City of Lockport | Burlington Northern | Federal Eiver Authority of Texas | Midwest Steel | Gallagher and Henry | Sears | City of FJ. C. Penney | Midway Airport | Lewis University Airport | Target | DFW Airp
haumburg Airport | Texas Motor Speedway | Menards | Jewel/Osco | Metrovest on | Veterans Administration National Cemetery | City of Des Moines | Simons-Darbour Contracting | Panattoni | Hensel Phelps Construction | Kmart | Raceway
Bridge & Road | Kiewit | Silver Cross Hospital | City of Los Angeles Pow
| Allied Waste | Commonweath Edison | Will County Highway Department | Gtermountain Power | Olin Chemical | Kenny Construction | Dow Chemical | FiOil | Illinois Department of Transportation | Illinois State Toll Highway Authority
| American Airlines | City of Chicago | Yellow Freight | City of Orland Park | tment of Transportation | Nucor Steel | City of Lockport | Burlington Northern | Trinity River Authority of Texas | Midwest Steel | Gallagher and Henry | Sears
serve | J. C. Penney | Midway Airport | Lewis University Airport | Target | DFWel | Schaumburg Airport | Texas Motor Speedway | Menards | Jewel/Osco | Metvanston | Veterans Administration National Cemetery | City of Des Moines | Sim
ugh | Harbour Contracting | Panattoni | Hensel Phelps Construction | Kmart | | Austin Bridge & Road | Kiewit | Silver Cross Hospital | City of Los Angeles Pow
Gas | Amoco | Caterpillar | City of Joliet | Texaco | Waste Management | Alliedighway Department | Mobil | Exxon | Argonne National Laboratory | Intermounk of Joliet | Dike Construction | Joliet Federal Savings and Loan | Mobil Oil | I| ICG Railroad | Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago | AAirport | New Lenox State Bank | White Eagle Country Club | Indiana Departmxpress | Walmart | Village of Bolingbrook | Arlington Park Racetrack | UPS | T
Ft. Worth | City of Dallas | Seven Bridges Golf Course | Will County Forest Preseort | Fermilab | Kerr McGee | Northwestern Steel | IPSCO Steel | Cracker BarrPartners | City of Arlington | Motorola | Panduit | Route 66 Speedway | City oDebartolo | Ritchie Brothers | Montgomery Watson | Bovis Construction | McHy Associates | Joliet Park District | Ryan Co. | Graycor | K-Five Construction |
wer & Light | Bechtel Corp. | Sunflower Electric Co-Op | Texas Toll Authority
4
As I reflect on our history–and how
we came to be one of the nation’s most
respected earthmoving companies–I realized
I needed to share the honors with those
who have helped us achieve greatness in
becoming an earthmoving empire:
Our employees–the men and women
who do the heavy lifting, along with those
who keep the computers humming–are
exceptional folks. They work hard. They are
loyal, and have the integrity which makes
a company great. We appreciate them.
Our partners–those firms who have
joined TJL for special projects, adding their
strengths to ours–to get the job done.
These folks are in the trenches with us and
have shared our turmoil and our success.
Our suppliers–manufacturers, raw material
vendors, and service providers–who deliver
their products and services on time and within
budget to assure that we can do the same.
That level of success does not happen
overnight or without the commitment of
many people. I want to personally thank
all of our employees and sub-contractors
whom I have had the privilege to work with
over the past 60 years.
My special thanks to my partner for
40 years, La Verne "Bitz" Brown, and my
son Thomas J. Lambrecht (who had the
vision to take this company to greater
heights than I could imagine) and LAST
but not LEAST our wives for their support
and understanding over all these years.
I also offer a special thank you to Lisa
Hundley for her diligence and leadership
in making this historical overview project a
reality and to David Ludgin for his persever-
ance and enthusiasm to tell the story.
I wish everyone in the T.J. Lambrecht
Construction Co. family continued prosperity
and good health in the years to come.
G o d B l e s s A m e r i c a
P a u l A . L a m b r e c h t
From Earth To EmpireThrough the Years with T.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc.
By David A. Ludgin
Designed by Gammon Group, Inc.
Published byT.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc.10 Gougar RoadJoliet, Illinois 60432
Phone: 815-726-7722Fax: 815-727-6421www.tjlambrecht.com
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2008by T.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc. and David A. LudginNo copyright claimed with respect to reprinted material.
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Table of ContentsIn the Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Day by Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Location, Location, Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Moving Earth Beyond Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
A Scenic Detour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
How to Rebuild an Expressway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
The Natural . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Earthmoving in the Lone Star State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
The Most Awful Thing Has Happened . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Lone Star Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
The People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64
The Living Legacy of Tom Lambrecht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
9
T h i s B o o k H o n o r s t h e M e m o r y o f
T H O M A S J . L A M B R E C H T
1 9 4 9 - 2 0 0 3
Paul Lambrecht and LaVerne “Bitz” Brown.
In the Beginning
In early 1946, Paul Lambrecht was
mustered out of the Army Air Force. To
ease the transition into civilian life, the
govern ment offered returning soldiers a
benefit that came to be known as “52/20.”
The plan paid returning soldiers $20 per
week for up to 52 weeks. At that time, $20 a
week was real money. Paul was content to
participate in the 52/20 plan and, by his
own admission, was “pretty much doing
nothing.” This did not sit too well with
Paul’s folks. Paul’s dad was an insurance
broker. He represented the Great American
Insurance Company of Chicago. Before
long, Paul reported there for work, where
he was assigned to the farm department.
It takes a small army to run an insurance
company. Paul found himself in a large
group of similarly situated young people.
In the course of his work at Great Ameri-
can, he made a favorable impression upon
Vicki Gerodimos, who was also employed
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
T.J. Lambrecht Construction, Inc. celebrated its 60th year in business in April 2007.
April 2008 made 61. This is a significant milestone for any company, especially for a heavy
construction contractor. Construction is a very risky business. Many heavy and highway
contractors never make it to their 20-year anniversary, much less to the 60-year mark.
This success story is one that should be recorded, told and re-told. It can serve as an
inspiration for those who will carry the company’s mission forward. To understand how
it all happened, one must go back to the beginning. Back to when the company was born
through the efforts of Paul Lambrecht and LaVerne “Bitz” Brown.
Bitz and Paul take delivery of three DW-21 scrapers while Swede Carlson
sits in the front unit and Bill Brown mans the unit on the far left.
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
there. Vicki originally was from the
Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago’s
South Side, but by this time she and her
family had moved to the south suburb
of Flossmoor.
By coincidence, or perhaps by fate,
Paul’s good friend Wes Thurlow was dating
Vicki’s college roommate, Mary Lou Gray
from Joliet, with whom she was taking a
trip to Boston. They met at the train station
in Chicago. All summer long Wes kept
telling Paul, “let me get you a date with
Mary Lou’s roommate, I know you would
like her.” Paul did not pick up on this.
But fate intervened one more time and
they met at the Great American Insurance
Company in Chicago where Vicki worked
during the summer. They even worked in
the same department.
Paul offered to take Vicki to a wedding
of a co-worker in Chicago. They spent the
whole day together, morning through the
wedding reception and into the night
where, unknown to Vicki, they met Wes
and Mary Lou at the Blackhawk for an
evening of entertainment.
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
13
“
”
When I
returned to
civilian life in
1946, $20
a week was
good money.
- Paul Lambrecht
Paul was smitten. He told his mother the
next morning, “yesterday I was with the girl I
am going to marry.” They were soon engaged
and were married on March 2, 1947.
One way or another they were supposed to
meet. There are no accidents in life.
Paul’s stay at Great American Insurance was
brief. His next stop was the credit
reporting firm of Dun & Bradstreet.
This job took Paul out of the office and
on the road to call on customers in the south-
eastern portion of the Chicago
metro area. Newly married, Paul realized
pretty quickly that he was ready to try some-
thing else.
LaVerne Brown, known to the world by the
name his infant cousin called him,
“Bitz,” was the son of a machinist who worked
at the Joliet Arsenal. Bitz graduated from
Joliet Township High School in the spring of
1942, and headed into the armed services.
Learning that the Navy had an ROTC pro-
gram at Northwestern, he
enrolled there. Bitz earned a degree in
Mechanical Engineering, graduating in early
1945. He and his classmates were taken to the
Great Lakes Naval Station
near Waukegan, Illinois and commissioned as
officers.
They were immediately assigned to
active duty. Bitz was sent to the Pacific.
Coincidentally, both Bitz and Paul were in the
Leyte Gulf at the same time, although Bitz was
on a ship and Paul was on land.
One of the ships in Bitz’s group was with-
out a chief engineer. An acquaintance from
Joliet mentioned to his commanding officer
that he knew a fellow who was a
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
Bitz (third from left)
and Swede (fifth from
left) at the 1948 Road
Show (forerunner to
CONEXPO).
Swede Carlson (center) and two
colleagues overhaul a D8.
16
mechanical engineer. As one might guess, be-
fore long LaVerne S. “Bitz” Brown was the chief
engineer.
The war ended in August 1945, but Bitz and
thousands of his fellow servicemen were not
discharged immediately. Bitz
and the crew brought their ship back across the
Pacific, through the Panama Canal
and eventually into port. Bitz was finally
discharged in February 1946.
During the war, Bitz met a gentleman,
named Bill Cobb, from Memphis, Tennessee
who ran a small construction outfit, using
mostly D6 dozers. Bitz went to work for him in
Memphis, but his heart was still in Illinois.
Every chance he had, he would point his car
straight north to visit his
fiancée, Dottie Maxwell.
Dorothy Maxwell, called Dottie by
her friends, had been a classmate of Paul Lam-
brecht at Joliet Township. Paul, Dottie and Bitz
knew each other well. During the war, Dottie
worked at the Joliet Arsenal.
At some point in late 1946 or early 1947, Bitz
came back to the Chicago area and took an en-
gineering job at International Harvester. I-H
had a tractor works in Hodgkins, Illinois. Bitz
recalls putting
tractors on a dynamometer, a scientific
instrument that predicted how the
machines would hold up under actual working
conditions. Eventually, it dawned on Bitz that
16
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
In mud like this, only a track machine will do.
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
18
his boss, who had been
working there for years, was not making
too much more than he was. Bitz could
imagine the probable contours of a career
at I-H, and did not much like what he saw.
He also wanted to marry Dottie, which he
did in August 1946.
There was much discussion among the
young couples as Paul, Vicki, Bitz and
Dottie contemplated their futures. Finally,
Bitz and Paul decided they would form a
construction company. They borrowed
$3,500 each. With the money they bought
a new 1947 Dodge dump truck and an
International TD9 dozer, with a Bucyrus-
Erie hydraulic blade. They also cobbled
together a four-wheel trailer (one wheel
at each corner), which they towed behind
the dump truck, to haul the dozer. Several
months later, they purchased an Insley
cable backhoe. With this modest equip-
ment spread, they set down to work. For
a brief time, the new partners considered
calling the company “B&L Excavators,”
but someone told them they should use
their full names if they wanted to attract
business. So they did, and Brown and
Lambrecht Earthmovers, Inc. was born.
18
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
B&L began as a partnership.
A decade later, Bitz and Paul
incorporated the business.
The superintendents’ fleet circa 1962.
18
Bill Block operates an early track loader.
No one said this would be easy.
In the early years Bitz and Paul did a little bit of everything and got
their hands plenty dirty. Here, Bitz pilots the rescue dozer as he
prepares to pull a D8 from a spoil pond near Braidwood, Illinois.
Paul and Bitz check cost and repair data.
Day by DayStarting out, Bitz and Paul laid it all on the
line. Not just the money they used to form the
company, but their livelihoods, their families’
well-being and a reasonable dose of pride. They
were light on capital, but long on stamina and
drive. Bluntly put, they worked like the devil.
Early on they landed a trucking job, hauling
backfill material to a pipeline contractor.
Pipeliners literally work while the sun shines
and sometimes all night, too. Paul recalls that
they hauled material for 42 days straight. No
one was happier than they were when a rainy
day came to give them a break.
Dottie herself worked as the company’s
bookkeeper in the early years. Just as a small
grading job was finishing, she would drive out
and present the owner with the bill, in hopes
that the company could be paid right away.
Bitz, Dottie, Paul and Vicki had lived through
the Depression. Indeed, there was considerable
concern in the first years after the war that the
Depression might come back. One consequence
of this mind set was that Dottie and Vicki knew
how to save money. Dottie’s goal was to buy a
home for herself and Bitz. She put off that goal
again and again. As she recalls, “Each time the
equipment salesman came by I knew Bitz and
Paul would buy some machine, and there
would go my nest egg.” Bitz would remind her
that while you couldn’t depreciate a house you
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
23
A good business
partnership has
much in common
with a good
marriage.
Fortunately they
got along well, for
Bitz and Paul
spent most of
their waking
hours together.
24
could sure depreciate a machine, but that
wasn’t much comfort. Dottie remembers
quite clearly that one Easter she and Vicki got
an especially thoughtful present--a new dump
body for a truck.
A good business partnership has much in
common with a good marriage. Fortunately
they got along, for Bitz and Paul spent most
of their waking hours together. When they
began to bid road work for the State of Illi-
nois, most lettings took place in Springfield.
They traveled there frequently to gain every
moment of time before the bid deadline. On a
job where B&L was the grading subcontrac-
tor, they did not want to deliver their bid to
the general contractor one minute sooner
than was absolutely necessary, because he
might “shop” it among their competitors in
an attempt to drive the price down. When
B&L was the general contractor, its subcon-
tractors in turn would not submit their bids
until the eleventh hour.
One time, as Bitz was leaving for
Springfield, an acquaintance from another
firm lamented that he had been unable to
book a hotel room. “Well,” offered Bitz, ever
the gentleman, “you can stay with me.” Thus
began the longest night of that man’s life. At
about 1 a.m. the phone rang in Bitz’s room,
with some subcontractor calling in his final
price. An hour or so later, the phone rang
again. By this time Bitz’s roommate really was
tossing and turning. Bitz got up for good at 5
a.m., cheerful as spring in Georgia, ready to
24
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O NAll the Tulips in South Holland
There came a time whenBitz was negotiating to buy a tract of land in the south suburbs of Chicago. Thewould-be seller was theproverbial stubborn Dutch-man. The final negotiationsdragged on through most of one very long evening.Worse still, the Dutchmanliked to drink, and Bitz had no choice but to pretend atleast to keep up with him.
Finally the parties struck a deal. The Dutchman’s primary business was sellingflowers. In a post-handshakemoment of euphoria, theDutchman shouted “Here,take some flowers home toyour wife!” He proceeded to give Bitz bushel uponbushel of cut flowers. Bitz and Paul had been on a belt-tightening campaign, and neither of them haddrawn a paycheck for sometime. When Bitz finally gothome that night he sailedthrough the front door andgreeted Dottie with two armfuls of flowers and a B&Lpaycheck clenched in his teeth.For just that moment, Bitz was the happiest man alive.
Ten years after the company’s found-
ing, everyone had a reason to smile.
Back row, left to right: Paul, B.C. Patten
(the Northern Illinois Caterpillar
dealer), Bitz and Gene Harris (Patten’s
salesman who handled the B&L ac-
count). Front row, left to right: Mrs.
Patten, Vicki Lambrecht, Dottie Brown
and Mrs. Harris. Taken at the 1957
Road Show in Chicago.
A D9 climbs onto a Talbert lowboy,
ready for the next job.
From tiny acorns. . . the company’s New
Lenox office, shop and yard, circa 1958.
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
Location, Location, Location!
B&L set up shop near Joliet, Illinois. For a
road builder, this was the perfect place to be.
Joliet sits at the crossroads of two coast-to-coast
highways. It is also the southwest gateway to
one of the world’s great railroad hubs.
U.S. Route 6 intersects U.S. Route 30
(Lincoln Highway) in Joliet. More important
still, Route 66 (the “Mother Road”) runs
through Joliet’s downtown. This fabled road
connected Chicago to Los Angeles.
When Congress enacted the Interstate
Highway Act in 1956, the planners decided
that one of the main transcontinental routes
should essentially shadow Route 30 for much
of its length. In Illinois, Interstate 80 runs from
the Indiana Line in the east to the Quad Cities
along the Mississippi River. For Brown and
Lambrecht, much of this work was quite
literally in its front yard. It comes as no sur-
prise, then, that B&L won numerous contracts
to build I-80 in Illinois. The same can be said
of Interstate 55, which succeeded Route 66.
Joliet sits roughly at the center of a huge
industrial region running nearly uninterrupted
T . J . L A M B R E C H T C O N S T R U C T I O N
27