SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 32

(By Senators Beach, Unger, Kessler (Mr. President), Stollings and Plymale)

Requesting the Division of Highways name bridge number 7-5-3.52 (07A069), on County Route 5 crossing the Little Kanawha River in Calhoun County, the “U. S. Army Sergeant Robert Odell Orders Memorial Bridge”.

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders was born on March 5, 1926, in Pliny, West Virginia, to W. R. Orders, a bridge builder, and his wife, Beulah; and

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders, after graduating from St. Albans High School in the spring of 1944, joined the U. S. Army only two months after his older brother Kermit died in a P-38 crash in Italy; and

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders served his country in the Pacific Theater during World War II, reached the rank of Sergeant, saw action in the Philippines and sailed into Tokyo Harbor the day after the Japanese surrender; and

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders entered West Virginia University in the fall of 1946 and earned a degree in civil engineering; and

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders, while in Morgantown, met Kathryn Jean Hager of Charleston and married her in 1949; and

    Whereas, Upon graduating from West Virginia University, Robert Orders built bridges with his father as half of W. R. Orders and Son; and

    Whereas, W. R. Orders and Son’s construction of the Annamoriah Bridge, which replaced a ferry across the Little Kanawha River in 1957, secured financial stability for Robert Orders’ family and enabled them to return home to West Virginia permanently after a year of living in Aurora, Illinois; and

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders founded Orders Construction Company in 1964, shepherding the business through its formative phase and leading its ascent to becoming one of the most respected construction firms in the state; and

    Whereas, Orders Construction Company would eventually build hundreds of bridges across West Virginia in the following fifty years, generating nearly $1 billion of construction work; and

    Whereas, Orders Construction Company rebuilt the first landmark Annamoriah Bridge in 2012; and

    Whereas, Robert Odell Orders was also known as “Bridge Bob” and passed away on July 4, 2013, leaving behind his wife; children Bob Orders, Jr., and wife Ann and Kathy Lane and husband David; grandchildren Nate Orders and wife Melissa, Chris Orders, Meg Laing and husband Malcolm, Andy Lane and Becca Lane and husband Scott; and numerous great grandchildren; and

    Whereas, It is fitting to honor Robert Odell Orders, a respected member of the bridge-building industry, past President of the Contractors Association of West Virginia, a National Director of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America, a member of many organizations’ boards and a charter member of the West Virginia University Academy of Civil Engineers for Distinguished Alumni, for his prolific contribution to West Virginia’s transportation infrastructure; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to name bridge number 7-5-3.52 (07A069), on County Route 5 crossing the Little Kanawha River in Calhoun County, the “U. S. Army Sergeant Robert Odell Orders Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Division of Highways is hereby requested to have made and be placed signs identifying the bridge as the “U. S. Army Sergeant Robert Odell Orders Memorial Bridge”; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the Senate is hereby directed to forward a copy of this resolution to the Commissioner of the Division of Highways and the family of Robert Odell Orders.