[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E37]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING RICK KNAPP, HUMBOLDT COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 21, 2004

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
Rick Knapp, who is being honored on the occasion of his retirement as 
District 1 Director of Transportation, California Department of 
Transportation.
  Rick Knapp began his career with the California Department of 
Transportation in 1962. A graduate of the University of Nevada with a 
Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, Rick Knapp accepted a 
position with the Division of Highways, District 1, in Eureka, 
California.
  In November 1966, he entered the United States Army and served in 
Vietnam where he designed bridges to replace those destroyed in combat. 
After two years in the Army, Rick Knapp returned to his engineering 
duties in Eureka. In 1972, he took a promotion as a Project Design 
Engineer in Los Angeles. In 1973, he joined the Division of 
Transportation Planning to help develop the first California 
Transportation Plan.
  In 1979, Mr. Knapp returned to Eureka and in 1994 he became the 
Director of the 1st District, a region that includes the four northern 
counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino. Immediately after 
his appointment as District Director, he was faced with the biggest 
earthquake and the most severe winter storm damage in the District in 
30 years. With 18 of 23 state highways closed one or more times during 
the winter, Knapp and his team faced the colossal challenge of 
restoring and improving the highway system. After directing the repair 
of 400 damaged locations during difficult winter conditions, Knapp 
undertook a new program to correct perennial winter road closure 
locations.
  During his tenure as Director, Rick Knapp's accomplishments include 
the widening and realignment of a two-mile high collision segment of 
U.S. Route 101 at Gushing Creek through the Redwoods near Crescent 
City. By securing emergency funding, Knapp made it possible to proceed 
with the project to relocate Route 101 at the Confusion Hill landslide 
that will establish a safe and reliable highway at this critical 
location. As Chair of the Context Sensitive Solutions Steering 
Committee, he developed a policy for the State of California that 
promoted flexibility in design and led to new state guidelines on State 
Highway Main Streets. In May 2003, Rick Knapp received the Charles H. 
Purcell Award from the California Transportation Foundation for 
excellence in engineering management.
  An avid cyclist, Rick Knapp helped form the Humboldt Bay Bicycle 
Commuters Association. He was born and raised in Garberville, 
California. He is married to Jean Hawthorne and has two grown children, 
Angela and Randy Knapp.
  Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate at this time that we recognize Rick 
Knapp for his commitment and dedication to his profession and for his 
35 years of service to the people of California. We wish him happiness 
and much deserved rest in his retirement.

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