LAS VEGAS PAVING - Key Persons
Founder and CEO of Las Vegas Paving Corp., Robert L. "Bob" Mendenhall was raised on a dry farm in Raymond, Alberta, Canada until the age of 8 when his family moved to Springville, Utah. Bob's first job was when he was 11 years old with his grandfather's construction company working as a water boy, flagman for traffic control and taking care of the flare pots at night. By the time he graduated high school, Bob was able to operate any piece of equipment that was available and was mechanically inclined to repair construction equipment in the field. In 1947, Bob worked as office manager and estimator for Deal Mendenhall Construction Company in Utah.
In January of 1954, Mendenhall moved his family to Las Vegas, Nevada where he worked as a foreman and project superintendent for a local paving contractor. In October, 1958, Bob started LAS VEGAS PAVING CORP and worked to grow the company through hard work, dedication and innovation. During the early years of LVP, the company primarily chased highway projects utilizing portable asphalt plants. Throughout that time, Mendenhall experimented with hot asphalt pavement recycling through a progression of inventions and plant equipment that he developed himself. He served two consecutive terms as President of Southern Nevada General Contractors Association and for ten consecutive years was a governor appointee on the Nevada State Contractors Board.
Mendenhall's reputation as an innovator first came about in 1974, when the fledgling company managed to "re-make" a one mile stretch of interstate highway, making use of the same materials utilized in the initial paving of the existing roadway. For the first time anywhere, a highway was reclaimed and recycled and the worldwide acceptance of asphalt recycling began. Mendenhall was the nation's leading proponent of hot mix recycling in the road construction industry and continually wrote numerous papers on the subject to universities and public agencies including suggested specifications and guidelines for the Federal Highway Administration.
On December 29, 1976, Mr. Mendenhall was honored by the U.S. Patent Office and received the "Bi-Centennial Patent No. 4,000,000" for Recycling Asphalt-Aggregate Compositions. In February, 1978, Mendenhall licensed with CMI Corporation for a worldwide use of his patented technology in pavement recycling.
In 1984, Bob was awarded Nevada's Outstanding Inventor of the Year and inducted into the Nevada Inventors Hall of Fame. To date, a total of 47 different United States patents have been issued in his name. He continues to pursue patents of processes that improve the construction industry and is rightfully named "The Grandfather of Asphalt Recycling". Mendenhall's innovative process has made asphalt America's #1 recycled material saving millions of dollars in reconstruction costs each year.
Known as a pillar of the Las Vegas community, Mr. Mendenhall continues to give back to the city where he has found success and has been an advocate for investing in local businesses in an attempt to help build the community in which he resides. In addition to Las Vegas Paving, Bob has been involved in a number of successful business developments ranging from large housing developments, commercial subdivisions and a golf course to a popular local night club. In 2002, Mr. Mendenhall became a licensed gaming operator in the Rampart and Cannery Casinos. Honoring his hard work, dedication and contributions to the Las Vegas community and the state of Nevada, Bob was awarded an "Honorary Doctorate of Laws" from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. In September of 2006, the "Mendenhall Innovation Program" was founded at UNLV to promote and encourage education in the technology and engineering fields within the university and the external community. In 2009, Mr. Mendenhall made an additional contribution to help build a state of the art practice facility and recruitment center for the UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team, accurately named the "Mendenhall Center". He is a member of the UNLV Foundation's Palladium Diamond Society. He has made additional contributions to the Scripps Foundation and to the California Pacific Medical Center. Currently, Bob still oversees all aspects of the operations inside Las Vegas Paving Corp.