Daniel S. Garvey, chief engineer of the New York State Thruway Authority who supervised the expedited repair and investigation of the major roadway after the 1987 collapse of its Schoharie Creek overpass, an event that killed 10, died on Dec. 7, 2008, of heart failure in Queens, N.Y. He was 81. Garvey was named to that post in the 1970s after serving as a deputy commissioner in the New York City highway department, where he directed closure of 25 movable city bridges left in the open position during a strike by bridge operators. He also was the first chief engineer of the city’s parks department. Garvey was a civil engineering graduate of Manhattan College and served in the U.S. Navy’s Construction Batallion in World War II.

Gary Vermeer , founder and chairman emeritus of Vermeer Corp., the Pella, Iowa, company that is now a world leader in construction, industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturing, died on Feb. 2 in Pella. He was 90. The firm Vermeer founded in 1948 to build wagon hoists for farmers now produces products for directional drilling, trenchless technology and wood-waste processing, among other niches. Vermeer retired in 1989 and was named to the Construction Equipment Hall of Fame in 1996. His privately held firm reported $238.4 million in 2007 revenue and has 2,100 workers worldwide and seven plants making equipment sold in 60 countries. Vermeer’s son Robert and daughter Mary Vermeer Andringa serve as co-CEO and co-president.