"212 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 



TESTIMONY OF EUGENE RATI, VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF ENGI- 

 NEER, J. RICH STEERS, INC. ; ACCOMPANIED BY J. RICH STEERS 

 AND EMIL V. PILZ, ATTORNEY 



Senator Stennis. Mr. Kendall will proceed with his questioning. 

 Yoii have no prepared statement ? 



Mr. Eau. I have no prepared statement, Senator. 



Senator Stennis. Do you have a preliminary statement? 



Mr. Rau. I would like to make a preliminary statement. 



Senator Stennis. Let him first identify you properly for the record, 

 so we can get your connections and background, then you can make a 

 statement as you see fit, and then counsel can ask questions. 



Mr. Kendall. Mr. Rau, first, I believe you are here as a result of 

 a subpena issued by this committee? 



Mr. Rati. Yes, 1 am. 



Mr. Kendall. Wliat is your connection with Texas tower No. 4? 



Mr. Rau. While I was vice president and chief engineer of J. Rich 

 Steers, Inc., I was fully cognizant of the construction. We were doing 

 the construction of Texas towers No. 3 and No. 4. 



]Mr. Kendall. J. Rich Steers was the contractor who built the tower 

 under a joint venture with MoiTison-Knudsen ; is that correct ? 



Mr. Rau. We were the sponsors under a joint venture ; that is right. 



Mr. Kendall. I believe you indicated you would like to make a 

 preliminary statement. You may do so. 



Mr. Rau. Well, to give quickly my past experience 



Mr. Kendall. Yes. 



Mr. Rau (continuing). I am a graduate engineer, graduated from 

 the University of Notre Dame in 1933. 



I joined J. Rich Steers, Inc., about 6 months after graduation and 

 have been associated with this organization ever since, except for 2i/2 

 years of service in the Civil Engineer Corps, U.S. Navy, during World 

 War II. 



I have a professional engineering license in a number of States, 

 and I have the title of vice president and chief engineer which I have 

 held for some 13 years. 



In turn, the firm of J. Rich Steers was founded at the turn of the 

 century, at which time it was known as Henry Steers, Inc., and it was 

 changed to the present name in 1929. 



We are a hea^^ construction outfit doing all types of heavy con- 

 struction, but in general, more marine work than land work. 



Since, during and since the war, we were involved in the construc- 

 tion of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which amounted to some $80 mil- 

 lion ; we were involved in the construction of "V^Hieelus Field at Tripoli 

 in Libya ; Port Lyautey, French Morocco ; Asmara, Eritrea ; the Voice 

 of America station in Tangiers; the rehabilitation of the harbors in 

 Greece under the Marshall plan. 



We were involved with the construction of early warning radio 

 stations in Greenland, and just this past winter we finished a manage- 

 ment contract that we had for the construction of radio station 

 WFAU-FM which, incidentally, was completed a number of months 

 ahead of schedule, and was able to be put into service. 



We have done a number of marine construction jobs such as piers, 

 breakwaters into the Atlantic and Caribbean, and we have done a lot 

 of complicated towing in the Atlantic Ocean. 



