MinerAlert
MinerAlert
International Airport
El Paso International Airport leaves a lasting impression. Constructed in 1928, the airport's first expansion would not be until 1971, when construction engineer Brad Roe helped build the East Concourse. Several decades later Ed Drusina, Director of Public Works for the City from 1997-2004, oversaw the construction of the airport’s front entrance, with its copper roofs and vast atrium featuring a two-story American Flag. More recently, other UTEP alumni have left their mark on the airport, including Robert Navarro and William Correa who renovated the East Concourse by widening the terminal and installing eye-catching large glass and steel windows.
Aeropuerto Internacional
El Aeropuerto Internacional de El Paso deja una huella perdurable. Construido en 1928, la primera expansión del aeropuerto no sería hasta 1971, cuando el ingeniero de construcción Brad Roe ayudó a edificar el Vestíbulo Este. Varias décadas más tarde, Ed Drusina, Director de Obras Públicas de la Ciudad de 1997 a 2004, supervisó la construcción de la entrada principal del aeropuerto, con techos de cobre y un amplio atrio con una bandera estadounidense. Más recientemente, otros ex alumnos de UTEP han dejado su huella en el aeropuerto, incluidos Robert Navarro y William Correa, quienes renovaron el Vestíbulo Este ampliando la terminal e instalando grandes y llamativas ventanas de vidrio y acero.
CE: What projects in the El Paso area have your worked on?
WC: I actually could give you projects all around the country and even out of country but in El Paso for example, we worked for several years at Western Refining on those projects. We were involved in you know, structural elements having to do with the refinery as well as the welding of facilities and structures and the coding's of all of those systems, those conduits, those pipes, that the type of industry requires by at the same time we did a lot of work at the airport, the terminal work that was done when the airport was expanded several years ago and in the last so many years. We ended up whitening and opening up the terminal building so you could see the mountains and do away with the small windows that were along the concourse at the airport that was a struggle for anybody to see outside and today we've got you know, a much open and wider area at the terminal, at the airport. We've done work with Sun Metro in the bus rapid transit systems. We managed that entire BRT program 15 miles on Alameda from downtown all the way to the Americas and of course many, many years ago as a matter of fact this was the job that I had while I was at UTEP while in school. I was a designer of Horizon City, which today developing and growing but in those days was just drawings that we did on designing all the road ways throughout Horizon City. I did many of those in my young years.
William Correa
Title: Structural Engineer
CE: What projects in the El Paso area have your worked on?
ED: When I was a young engineer, I worked at Fort Bliss. We helped upgrade a lot of the barracks and roadways, built sportplexes, and did a lot of work regarding storm drainage. I was project manager manager for the international airport expansion. We did the expansion to the Civic Center when the Democratic Convention was coming to El Paso, then went private sector and worked on the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Plant. I then jumped over the International Boundary and Water Commission. President Obama appointed me to that position, which was very rewarding. I worked on projects all over the region and in other parts of the international boundary. It took me away from El Paso quite a bit, but my heart is still right here.
Ed Drusina
Title: Construction Manager
CE: What projects in the El Paso area have your worked on?
HH: I startd my first job was in aerospace and I worked at the Douglas Space Center in Huntington Beach, California, which is now the Boeing Space Center. And I was there five years and the last two years I was project engineer in charge of the testing the configuration which is a second stage of the Apollo program, this Saturn program. So, for two years I was responsible for testing the thrust structure, and then you had the oxygen tanks and the liquid hydrogen tanks. So, it was the full testing, which was testing the process from after liftoff, the second stage would go ahead and ignite and take the Apollo to Earth orbit. And once it was in Earth orbit, the engine had to ignite and take it towards lunar orbit. And so that's the certification that I was responsible for those two years. Then I returned to El Paso in 1966. So, this was five years later. And I got a job with Kemlins Incorporated, was the largest civil engineering firm in El Paso and knowing computers from aerospace I computerized the entire operation. So, make the long story short, we developed all of Cielo Vista. At that time, the airport, there was just desert, there's just dirt all around the airport. So, we developed all of what is now Cielo Vista. And with a computer, we were developing 6,000 lots per week, so that was just a monstrous process of generating that many lots. Now, we also started Horizon City at the time through Kremlins we actually did all the airport work and we did most of the major land development projects in El Paso. So, that's what I did for four years with Kremilins, and that was most of my work in El Paso.
Hector Holguin
Title: President of Operations and Design
CE: What projects in the El Paso area have your worked on?
BR: My first job when I got out of the ARMY was working for Robert E. McKee. I was the engineer in charge of the construction of the Student Union. I also worked on the El Paso International Airport. I did the East Concourse and the East Satellite Building for Robert E. McKee. That was a bit of a hairy project because the east side lies in the shape of a hexagon, so the main thing was the layout and coordination of the subs.
Brad Roe
Title: Construction Engineer