James W. Poirot, who chaired Denver engineering and construction giant CH2M Hill Cos. Ltd. for a decade and spearheaded an epic, although controversial, project to boost construction quality industry-wide, died Aug. 4 of congestive heart failure. He was 79.
While chairman of CH2M Hill in the late 1980s, the longtime quality control advocate also pushed to develop a professional practice quality manual through his involvement in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The effort had its roots in the collapse of a hotel walkway in Kansas City in 1981.