3311 SW Green Oaks Blvd

Al Rollins was born in Dallas, the son of a civil engineer, and attended the Highland Park public school. He attended Texas A&M and received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in June 1951. Upon graduation he entered the United States Army and served as a combat engineer officer in the 40” U.S. Infantry Division in Korea during the Korean War in 1952-53. Upon his discharge the Texas Highway Department District 18 office employed him in Dallas. In January 1955, Al received one of the first Automotive Safety Foundation fellowship grants and returned to Texas A&M where he accepted a teaching assistantship and was one of the first full-time students in the recently formed Texas Transportation Institute. He received a Master of Science degree in civil engineering in January 1956.

Upon graduation, Al Rollins was employed as city engineer in Arlington, Texas – at that time a city of around 20,000. Her served as city engineer, director of public works and director of utilities from 1956-1963 and was appointed city manager of Arlington in July 1963. Resigning as city manager in January 1967m Al Rollins joined with Gene Schrickel to form Schrickel, Rollins and Associates, a design firm offering civil engineering, landscape architecture, and planning services.

While city engineer in Arlington in the late ‘50s, Al pioneered the use of lime slurry for the improvement of clay soils and poor-quality base materials and wrote several articles on this subject. While at Arlington the city increased in population from some 20,000 to around 75,000, and the city converted from a ground water municipal water system to a surface supply with the construction of Lake Arlington. His over 40-year tenure at Schrickel, Rollins and Associates involved broadly diverse projects. These include major recreational facility design for the Corps of Engineers at Lakes Lavon and Ray Roberts and for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at Possum Kingdom Reservoir and Lake Mineral Wells. The first has designed major street projects for nearly every city in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and major interstate, U.S., and farm-to-market projects for TxDOT. Planning activities have included master comprehensive plans for cities, school districts and major universities. Athletic facilities such as stadiums at the University of Texas at Arlington, Plano I.S. D., and Duncanville I.S. D., tracks at the University of Houston, TCU, and Texas A&M, and major tennis facilities including the national recognized tennis center at TAMU, have also been part of the firm’s work. Major sewer facilities have been designed for Arlington and the Trinity River Authority as well as water treatment, storage, and distribution facilities for many cities and utility districts.

Al has been active in many professional organizations. He is a life member and has been a fellow in ASCE for more than 40 years. He has been especially active in the technical activities of the Society at the national level. He was a member and chairman of several committees of the Urban Planning and Development Division of ASCE and served as chairman of the Division in 1979-80. He is a past president and life member of the Texas Public Works Association and a past president of the Fort Worth Post as well as a fellow of the Society of American Military Engineering. He is a life member of both AWWA and the WEF. Al is a life member and was the first president of the Mid-Cities Chapter of TSPE where he was selected Engineer of the Year in 1972. He also served as a regional vice-president for Region 5 of TSPE. In 2002 Al received the Award of Honor presented by the Texas Section of ASC and in 2005 he was designated a Distinguished Civil Engineering Graduate of Texas A&M University.

In 1970, Al Rollins was appointed by Governor Preston Smith to the Texas Turnpike Authority. He served as a member of the authority until 1972, when, at the request of Governor Smith, he resigned to assume the chairmanship of the Texas Mass Transportation Commission. He served as chairman of the Mass Transportation Commission under Governors Smith and Briscoe and was instrumental in the merger of the Texas Highway Department and the Mas Transportation Commission to form the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation, the predecessor organization to TxDOT.

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