Ralph E. Watson, born and raised in the southern Utah region, has over 20 years experience in Civil Engineering and related disciplines.

Between 1963 and 1969, Ralph completed both a Bachelors and Masters degree. His formal education took place at the University of Utah and his studies were focused on civil engineering.

Following the completion of his BS degree, Ralph went to work as a structural design engineer for Kennecott Copper Corporation, located in Magna, Utah. During his employment at Kennecott, he was primarily responsible for the structural design of the slag sedimentation pond. After a short time, Ralph was promoted to senior engineer and given the responsibility for the expansion of a $4.2 million dollar refinery plant.

After the completion of his Master’s degree in 1969, Ralph began working for the Utah Department of Transportation. At that time he worked on a number of highway projects throughout the state. Among the projects under his responsibility were the I-15 developments from Muley Point to South Beaver and the South Interchange at Cedar City. His main responsibility was the field engineering of all bridges, overpasses and drainage structures

Presently, Ralph is the principle engineer and founder of Watson Engineering Company, Inc. He works extensively as a designer, planner and project manager of both design and structural projects. Transportation systems design, hydrology studies, pipeline design and implementation and structural design and layout are among the specific tasks that Ralph performs.

He is a register professional engineer in Utah, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico and a registered land surveyor in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Idaho and Arizona. In 1995, Ralph expanded the WEC operation to include geotechnical and environmental engineering services.

Joel A. Myers, P.E.
joel@wecinc.com

Joel Myers a registered professional engineer in the state of Utah, is the chief geotechnical engineer for Geo Consultants, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Watson Engineering Company, Inc. Joel joined the WEC staff at the inception of Geo Consultants in 1995.

Joel began his formal education at Southern Utah State College. He transferred to the University of Utah where he received his BS in Civil Engineering in 1990.

After completing his engineering degree, Joel was offered and accepted a position as a staff engineer at Kleinfelder, Incorporated, a national geotechnical engineering firm. As a staff engineer Joel was responsible for both commercial and residential site assessments and geotechnical investigations. In addition to site work, Joel was responsible for a number of field exploration duties such a soil and concrete testing, site inspection and pavement evaluations.

In 1994, Joel prepared for, and passed the professional engineer’s examination. He was then promoted to the position of project engineer at Kleinfelder. During that time he worked on a number of large commercial projects. O’Sullivan Manufacturing Plant, in Cedar City; River Road Bridge, in St George; and the Student Center on the campus of Southern Utah University were among some of the major projects that he has worked on.

In 1995, Joel and Ralph formed Geo Consultants, a geotechnical branch of Watson Engineering. Joel became the chief engineer of that branch and responsible for that business entity.

Presently, Joel continues to function as the chief engineer for Geo Consultants. His scope of work has been expanded to include marketing, bid proposals and employee management. To date, Joel has participated in a number of substantial projects. Environmental compliance for waste lagoons was his responsibilities while working for Circle Four Farms. Joel worked on the recently completed Zion Transportation System and Southern Utah University Football Stadium renovation. In the spring of 2000, Joel is scheduled to handle the geotechnical engineering on both the Downtown Parking Garage and Equestrian Arena in Cedar City.

David has been a valuable asset to WEC for a number of years. His surveying experience totals more than 25 years, while his work at WEC has totaled seven years.

In 1972, after the completion of his college education, David went to work as a draftsman. His eight years in this capacity provided development for his surveying skills. During this time he became proficient in site layout as well as surveying calculations.

A substantial amount of David’s experience came from his work as a surveyor and engineering technician in the coal mines located in Carbon County, Utah. While working in that capacity, David quickly advanced to party chief responsible for all vertical and horizontal control within the long wall operation.

David has worked extensively in the construction-staking segment of surveying. He has been responsible for the layout of approximately twenty schools in the Las Vegas area. One of his many strengths, is the working relationships that he maintains with the construction superintendents at the various job sites.

David is proficient in the use of a number of surveying instruments, including the Trimble® GPS system and the Wild® total station.