Charles E. Mergentime

Charles Eric Mergentime, P.E., Contractor, and Engineer, died at the Hunterdon Medical Center, Raritan Township, NJ on the evening of February 22, 2004. He was 72.

He was born in New York City, New York, December 5, 1931, the son of the late Bernard C. and Helen Herzig Mergentime. He moved to Franklin Township,Hunterdon County, NJ in 1964. He had formerly resided in Chatham, NJ.

Charlie Mergentime earned a degree in civil engineering at Purdue University in Lafayette, IN in 1953 and entered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a commissioned officer in the Korean conflict. He advanced from Platoon Leader to First Lieutenant and Company Commander. In June of 1954, he was commended by the Government of Korea for directing the construction of the Yong Po Bridge at Kirinnyon on a short schedule and in spite of severe flooding.

He returned to the States in 1955 and worked for Raymond Concrete Pile Company until founding his own heavy construction firm, Mergentime Corporation, in 1969, and an affiliate company, Merco, Inc., in 1991. He built a national reputation for innovation and boldness in taking on the most complex and difficult projects, in pioneering new construction techniques, in creating new machinery, and in modifying standard equipment for greater efficiency and economy. His value-engineering of project designs often saved money for his clients.

His firm was a major contractor on subway systems in Washington, DC, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Edmonton, Canada. Hundreds more jobs were completed for bridges, dams, deep shafts, excavation support, foundations, highways, large-building superstructures, marine work, pipelines, power plants and tunnels. He made significant contributions to the field of engineering and completed work valued at well over a billion dollars, including the world's largest underpinning job and the first in the nuclear industry, for which he created the conceptual design.

A member of numerous professional organizations, he was the only person to serve as President of both The Moles (1984) and The Beavers (1992), the nation's premier organization of tunneling contractors and dam builders, respectively. He was awarded "The Moles Award for Outstanding Achievement in Construction" in 1987 for his "entrepreneurship and leadership". In a long list of honors, he also was named Purdue's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus in 1980, A Purdue Old Master in 1983, and given an Honorary Doctor of Engineering by the University in 1993. In 2003, he was elected a member of the National Academy of Construction. In 2000, he was named the Founding President of The Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) after serving on the committee to create it. He also was a Fellow of the ASCE and was selected to receive the ASCE Construction Award for Outstanding Performance and Leadership in May. He will now be honored with it posthumously.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Cynthia Knight Mergentime, formerly of Oradell, NJ; a daughter, Andrea L. Mergentime, of Delaware Township, NJ; a son, Stephen K. Mergentime, of Potomac, MD, and his daughter Samantha ; a son, Michael V. Mergentime, and his wife Heather and their children, Emma and Max, of Clinton, NJ; and a daughter, Valerie M. Stefani, and her husband Joseph, and their three children, Philip, Anya, and Lily, of Lambertville, NJ.

Funeral services will be held on Friday at 11 AM at the Church of the Holy Spirit, 3 Haytown Road, Lebanon, NJ. Interment will follow in Cherryville Cemetery, Cherryville, NJ. Calling hours will be held on Thursday from 2-4 and 7-9 PM at the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Charles E. Mergentime Engineering Scholarship Fund, C/O Merco, Inc., 1117 Route 31 South, Lebanon, NJ 08833. This scholarship will be used to provide assistance to deserving Civil Engineering students. For further information and directions, please visit the funeral home's website at www.holcombefisher.com.