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Harry H. Barber
1878 - 1948

Co-founder of the Barber-Greene Company, Harry Barber began many of his noteworthy achievements in the 1920's. During this decade, he invented a line of standardized material handling machines that included portable belt conveyors, self-feeding bucket loaders, vertical boom ditchers and snow loaders. However, he is probably remembered most as the inventor of the first practical asphalt paver, or the "traveling plant". First introduced in 1931, this invention made possible low-cost paving of secondary roads with hot-mix asphalt. He is also recognized as the pioneer of the continuous-mix asphalt plant, which is the forerunner of today's drum-mix asphalt models.

After co-founding the Barber-Greene Company in 1916, Harry Barber served continuously as its first president until 1945. He received the Modern Pioneer Award from the National Association of Manufacturers in 1940. During his distinguished career, he was awarded a total of 70 patents, including 29 foreign patents, for his designs and inventions in construction and material handling equipment. In January of 1987, he was elected into the Hot Mix Asphalt Hall of Fame.

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