The Company
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, D.H. Blattner & Sons completed several major dam and reservoir projects for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Bureau of Reclamation.
In 1968, D.H. Blattner & Sons joined Johnson Brothers in a joint venture to build the Kaw Dam on the Arkansas River in Oklahoma. The 125-foot-high dam created a reservoir of 27 square miles and required the excavation of more than 4.6 million cubic yards of earth.
The demanding technical specifications of dam construction required new skills to be brought to the table. Once again, D.H. Blattner & Sons became an early adopter of the latest technology.
The company was one of the first in the industry to use computers. Steve Blattner and Ken Jr. Blattner computerized the company's cost accounting system by adapting a program for the Digital Equipment Computer. The program, which was originally created for chicken farmers, could generate detailed cost history reports and allowed for an unparalleled level of accuracy in estimating.
The technological innovations implemented in the 1970s, as well as the technical experience gained during dam construction, launched a new level of company sophistication that would lead to more avenues for growth in years to come.
