FRANKE CONSTRUCTION COMPANY INCORPORATED

by Paul and Marion Isom

Entry B31 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Wayne Fitzgerald - 1946

L to R - Charles Folk and Paul Isom 1961. Taken
at Sherman Feeder Canal Project

After Mr. Franke's death in March 1950,
Charles Folk, Paul Isom and Wayne Fitzg-
erald started operating Franke Construction
Co. Inc. Soon they bought Mrs. Franke's half
interest in the company and formed a
corporation electing the following officers:
Charles Folk, President, who had been with
the company since 1929; Paul Isom - Vice-
President, who had started with the company
in 1937 and Wayne Fitzgerald - Office
Manager and Secretary and Treasurer, be-
ginning in 1947. The corporation continued
the business Mr. Franke had originated with
the continuation of the purchase of the latest
in machines to facilitate their work.

In 1959 the company gave up the contract
for beet loading in the North Platte Valley,
which had spanned a period of over 25 years.

Most of Franke Construction Co.'s busi-
ness was secondary and county road work but
it included many other building projects such
as bridges, dams, canals, etc. The major part
of the work was contracted in the state of
Nebraska, from one part of the state to the
other. It also included projects in Kansas,
Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
Many projects spanned a two-year period,
one being the Sherman Feeder Canal, a
Bureau of Reclamation project in 1961. In
terms of yardage to be moved it was one of
the mid-wests larger project. The company's
sub-contract alone amounted to the mov-
ement of some three and one-half million
yards. After the ditch was cut, an additional
160,000 yards of clay was hauled in by truck
and used to line the walls of the canal in order
to give the banks more stability. They had
originally planned to sub-contract the haul-
ing but unfortunately the sub-contractor
which they chose went broke and it was
necessary for Franke to take over the firm's
six trucks. It was necessary to pump some
surface water and an International 660 was
kept busy pulling a harrow to aerate the
surface soil. An innovation to that type of
work was the use of five Hancock elevating
type scrapers pulled by Le-Tourneau-Wes-
tinghouse model D Tournapulls. They also
had two TS 75 International Payscrapers in
their dirt fleet, two D8's for dozing, one on
a sheepsfoot and one loading machine,
making a total of four - also four model 12
Cat motor graders and a model 6NW dragline
equipped with a 2 yard bucket. At the time
of this project the company had two other
current jobs: a road relocation and bridge
project for the Bureau of Reclamation on
route 199 and some secondary road work near
Mullen - also several draglines operating in
various areas. That year was typical of their
years in business. Folk and Isom spent their
hours at the job sites and Fitzgerald manned
the fort at the Mullen office headquarters.
The Mid-Contractor's magazine October
1961 issue featured Franke's Sherman Feeder
Canal project.

In dollars the largest job encountered was
a Nebraska road project from Wauneta,
Nebraska to Palisade, Nebraska where the
Frenchman River Channel had to be changed
in several places.

The company usually did not work through
the three coldest months. During this period,
equipment was brought to the Mullen shop
for overhaul.

Construction work is considered highly
dangerous since several jobs required the use
of dynamite. The company continued to
maintain a high safety record with no fatal
accidents in its 53 year span but one man did
have his spinal cord ruptured and was in a
wheel chair the rest of his life.

Various companies sponsored complimen-
tary trips and the officers and some em-
ployees were the recipients of travel to the
Caterpiller Factory in Peoria, Illinois, Inter-
national Harvester Tractor Company, in
Chicago, Illinois and observation of machin-
ery in operation at Albuquerque, New Mexico
and Scottsdale, Arizona. The company also
belonged to the Associated General Contrac-
tors of America for several years. The officers
and their wives attended these conventions.

The company was fortunate that many of
their employees stayed with the company
through the years. Several were credited with
over 30 years of service. Marion Bullington
was with the company 53 years. Other long
term employees included: John Isom, Lynn
Swain, Fritz Pearson, Arthur Piester, Archie
Coons and Stanley Meidell.

May of 1976, the company was sold and was
purchased by Paul Isom. He purchased the
building and the office building.