Larry Orcutt Photo by Headquarters 
By Erin Gallup von Tersch
Caltrans Public Information Officer
It was in the late 1980s, as a first-time Caltrans resident engineer, working to build the Gibson Interchange on the northernmost part of Interstate 5 in District 2, that Larry Orcutt said he learned the most.
“It was trial under fire – literally,” Orcutt said. “Three resident engineer trailers burned down during that project. We lost everything and I had to tell my office manager to get everything we needed to work the next day. I had to make decisions quickly without a lot of time to analyze them because I had to keep the project going. They don’t teach you that in engineering school.”
After being the first in his family to earn a Bachelor of Science degree, and leaving the California State University, Sacramento, with a major in civil engineering, Orcutt spent five years at the Forest Service before becoming a Caltrans transportation engineer. Since he started in 1984, he has worked as the Deputy District 1 Director of Project Development, the statewide Maintenance Division Chief, Acting Deputy Director of Maintenance and Operations, the Research and Innovation Division Chief and most recently, the Equipment Division Chief.
“My favorite job as a division chief was in Equipment,” Orcutt said. “The people in Equipment are so dedicated. They work all the time – including Christmas – to make sure the Division of Maintenance has the right equipment, at the right place, at the right time.”
One of Orcutt’s last assignments was to change the Division of Equipment’s culture from control-oriented to customer-and product-focused. He said as a Native American born and raised in Hoopa on the north coast, the term “change culture” can have a negative connotation, but in the case of the Division of Equipment, it was a good thing.
Orcutt restructured the division to be more efficient and led an equipment reduction that saved Caltrans $12 million. Now there is a $6,000 repair limit, so equipment is replaced when it becomes more expensive to maintain. He also led the installation of 7,500 GPS units on Caltrans’ light-duty fleet, and purchased 50 battery electric Toyota Rav4s and 20 fuel cell Toyota Mirai’s for the Department.
In addition to helping Caltrans wisely maintain and build equipment, he said he loves to help his coworkers and employees grow professionally.
“Early on I worked with [District 7 Chief Deputy District Director] Shirley Choate and [District 4 Chief Deputy Director] Dan McElhinney in the northern design center in Redding,” Orcutt said. “I helped Dan and Shirley grow up in Caltrans, just like other people helped me grow up in Caltrans.”
He also said he would not have accomplished all that he did without Toastmasters, which is an international organization that helps members improve speaking and leadership skills.
All of this, he said, helped him lead and speak at international conferences, including the Intelligent Transportation Systems World Congress in New York City. While over Research and Innovation, he served two terms as the Technology Transfer Committee Transportation Research Board Chair. He was also on the Technical Coordinating Committee and the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (Safety). The Transportation Research Board published his California State University, San Jose masters capstone project, “Overcoming Roadblocks Facing the Implementation of Innovations: Three Cast Studies at Caltrans.”
Since the 1980s, Orcutt has grown professionally and helped others along the way. Now he and his wife of 41 years, Judy, and their 3-year-old granddaughter, Emerson, plan to travel along the coast in their new trailer. But he said he feels confident that he’s leaving the Division of Equipment in good hands.
“Bob Myers is the first person who started as a mechanic who is now the chief over the division of mechanics,” Orcutt said.
In an email announcing Myers’s promotion to the top of the division he’d worked in for 20 years, Maintenance and Operations Deputy Director Steve Takigawa thanked Orcutt for his years of hard work and friendship.
“I want to thank Larry Orcutt for his dedicated commitment and service to Caltrans,” said Takigawa. “For more than 30 years, in areas ranging from maintenance to equipment, from technology and research to innovation and sustainability, Larry has been a true leader, a champion for innovation, and a mentor to many—but most importantly, to me, he is always fair and a true friend. I know the entire Caltrans family wishes him well as he embarks on new interests upon his retirement.”