Ex-Leaders of Contractors Rudolph & Sletten and E.E. Cruz, and designer Hardesty & Hanover Die
Edward Cruz, co-founder and former president of New Jersey-based heavy-highway contractor E.E. Cruz & Co. that was eventually sold to German giant Hochtief AG in 2010, died on July 14 at age 74 in Bayhead, N.J. The cause was cancer. Portugal-born Cruz founded the firm in 1984 with his cousin to focus on transportation, deep foundations and water infrastructure work in the New York City region.
Ranked among ENR’s Top 400 contractors before its sale, the firm pioneered the use of micro-tunneling to install deep sewer tunnels on area projects. Cruz was a former president and honoree of The Moles, a heavy construction professional group, and led the National Utility Contractors Association and the General Contractors Association of New York City. He also had completed a memoir in 2014, entitled A Bold Journey.
Richard W. “Dick” Christie, 87, former partner of New York City-based transportation engineer Hardesty & Hanover, died May 20 in Morristown, N.J., after a short illness, the company announced last month. The Yale-educated structural engineer joined the firm in 1951 and was elevated to partner in 1972. Before retiring in 1994, the firm says he managed signature projects that include the I-95 Piscataqua River bridge between Maine and New Hampshire and the Stratford Avenue vertical lift bridge in Connecticut. His recognitions include the Roebling Award in 1989 for lifetime achievement in bridge structural engineering from the NY Metropolitan section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
John H. Rudolph, who had led California contractor Rudolph & Sletten Inc. as a fifth-generation of his family in construction, died on Aug. 7 in Morgan Hill at age 64. The cause was cancer, says his wife Catherine C. Rudolph. Rudolph was a 25-year firm veteran of the firm founded by his father; he served as president and CEO from 1997 to 2001. Rudolph later became an Anglican church deacon and award-winning winemaker. Rudolph & Sletten was acquired in 2005 by Tutor-Perini; at the time, it posted revenue of $697 million. A service is set for Aug. 22, 10:00am, at Christ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles.
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