Charles E."Ted" Reed, with his brother George, entered the
construction business in 1921. They chose reclamation work and operated in and around the
Tracy-Stockton area. The work consisted of building levees and maintaining irrigation
districts. The brothers worked hard, and by the mid-20's, the company stayed active by
grading and paving roads in the San Joaquin County. By 1925, the company became mechanized
when the Reeds bought some Caterpillar tractors and some scrapers.
1930's
Ted Reed decided to go into the road oil business in 1933, and operated as the
Calaveras Construction Company. Ted's principal business was hauling and spreading
oil and the company soon expanded its operation to neighboring counties. Before long he
was hauling and spreading oil in Amador, Calaveras, Santa Clara, and San Joaquin counties.
Reed moved both the family and the company to San Jose in 1934. In 1934, Ted rented
a small piece of property on Auzerais Street, adjacent to the rail line and across from
what is now Del Monte cannery. Two years later when the lease expired on Auzerais, Ted purchased
a two acre parcel on Sunol Street for his business location, most of which is now under
Interstate 280. In 1936 the company name was changed from Calaveras Construction Company
to C. E. ReedCompany.
1940's
The Reed oil operation continued to serve the large four county area into the
early 1940's. Threats of war forced Ted to pull in the company's wings a little, and he
made the decision that the company was trying to cover too much territory. He decided to
concentrate the company's efforts in the Santa Clara Valley and received a contract with
the defense department to oil roads on military bases from Lompoc to Marin County. The
company continued hauling and spreading oil throughout the war years. After World War II,
current President and Chairman of the Board, Gerald R. "Gerry"Graham
joined the company. Gerry had graduated from Santa Clara University in 1942 and
had, more recently, been discharged from the Navy. The company began asphalt production in
1947 when it erected a 25-ton-per-hour continuous flow hot asphalt plant.
1950's
The business continued to grow, and by 1952, asphalt production had increased to 40,000
tons of asphalt a year. In 1955, the company incorporated as Reed & Graham, Inc.
and, to meet the need for faster production of hot mix, installed its first tower asphalt
plant at the Sunol Street site. In 1959, a second tower asphalt plant was erected on the
San Jose location. The "twin towers" were able to produce over 100,000 tons of
asphalt a year and supply contractors demands for the growing Santa Clara Valley.
1960's
During the 1960's, Reed & Graham, Inc. purchased the Santa Clara Asphalt
Company in Santa Clara. By 1966, both the San Jose and Santa Clara plants were modernized,
adding a 10,000-pound plant in San Jose and a 6,000-pound plant in Santa Clara. The
emulsion and road oil spreading fleet also expanded as the company continued to grow. The
company management team also expanded with the addition of Gerald R."Gerry"
Graham, Jr. in the late 60's and with Stephen "Reed" Graham in theearly 70's.
1970's
To combat the rising cost of asphalt and road oil products, Reed & Graham, Inc.
installed its first emulsion manufacturing plant. The plant was capable of producing
10,000 gallons of emulsion per hour. The facility proved so successful that in 1977, under
the direction of Norman R. Aguirre, Vice President and General Manager, Reed
& Graham, Inc. decided to purchase a facility to distribute emulsion in northern
California and, particularly, in the Sacramento area. The distributor fleet and transport
fleet were also expanded to boost sales of the products in Sacramento and the entire
northern California region.
1980's
The 1980's saw a change in the asphalt industry. Increasing raw material costs and
demands from environmental agencies to recycle certain materials forced Reed &Graham,
Inc. to diversify its operations and strategies to remain competitive in the industry.
The construction of a crushing plant for the recycling of broken and discarded asphalt was
the first step toward alternative technology. The technology of encapsulation of certain
products in asphalt mixes also satisfied environmental concerns by reducing the waste
stream of certain discarded sources. Reed & Graham, Inc. was a pioneer in the
industry with the two environmental technologies for spent asphalt products.
1990's
Reed & Graham, Inc. continued its aggressive search for new methods of
production of asphalt and asphalt products and new methods of alternative technology for
recycling. Through research and investigation of available technology, Reed &
Graham, Inc. is attempting to ensure that environmental concerns are dealt with prior
to recycling of asphalt materials. A remediation plant has been constructed at the San
Jose site to treat hydrocarbon-contaminated soil. The system effectively purifies
contaminated soil through a heat-condensation process. Encapsulation of contaminants in
emulsions was also effectively achieved through research at the Reed & Graham, Inc.
lab.
Mid-1990's
In 1995, Reed & Graham, Inc. realized there was an industry wide need for
Quality Control and Quality Assurance (QC/QA) in product Mix Design and Material Testing.
Under the watchful eye of Gerry Graham, Jr., Reed &Graham, Inc.
decided to prepare for the eventual statewide move toward QC/QA specifications by
CalTrans. With the construction of a 14,000 square foot lab, the purchase of equipment
capable of testing full Marshall and Hveem testing, full SHRP Mix Design and Testing, and
equipment capable of testing direct tension, dynamic shear rheometry, and other specific
requirements of QC/QA, Reed &Graham, Inc. is moving ahead to the next
century with new and creative methods of production, recycling, and QC/QA testing.
