Founded in 1898, Bechtel is a global engineering, construction and project management company. The company works on projects that range from civil infrastructure, power, telecommunications and government services. Notable projects include the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel and the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

The company’s milestones:

1919 – Bechtel’s business activities began in 1898, when cattle farmer Warren A. Bechtel moved from Peabody, Kansas, to the Oklahoma Territory to construct railroads with his team of mules. First major non-railroad construction project: Klamath Highway in Northern California.

1921 – First job for a large power utility: the Caribou Water Tunnel in Northern California, part of the Caribou Power Plant, which will generate 75 megawatts of electricity

1923 – The company Introduced using track-laying tractors on the Southern Pacific Railroad, Natron Cut-off, Oregon.

1929 – The company constructed first pipeline: The 8-mile- (13-kilometer-) long Tres Piños–Milpitas in California begins operation.

1931 – The company started construct The Hoover Dam: Bechtel’s First Megaproject.

 

Hoover Dam

 

1933 – The Bechtels formed Bridge Builders, Inc., allying themselves with Six Companies partner Henry Kaiser, one of W. A.’s most trusted collaborators. They added several old-line eastern firms, including some of the most experienced deep-caisson builders Steve could find.

1941 – First shipbuilding job: Calship delivers 467 cargo ships and Marinship cranks out 15 Liberty ships and 78 tankers and oilers.

1943 – Bechtel’s first work in the Middle East: Bahrain Petroleum Co. hires BMP to build a refinery capable of producing 150,000 barrels of oil per day.

1945 – First major power contract: Equipment changes for Southern California Edison; engineers must convert power equipment operating on a 50-cycle current to a 60-cycle current.

1949 – First nuclear reactor: Near Arco, Idaho, Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-1) is the first nuclear reactor to generate electricity from atomic energy.

 

Experimental Breeder Reactor-1 (EBR-1)

 

1954 – Bechtel begins to build three power plants for South Korea, doubling that country’s energy output.

1958 – Swift Dam, Washington state: a hydroelectric project adds 204,000 kilowatts to the regional power supply.

1964 – First mass-transit project: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the San Francisco area. In 1976, it becomes the first totally new rapid transit system to be completed in the United States in 40 years and significantly eases traffic.

 

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system

 

1971 – Bechtel begins work on the Washington, D.C., Metro transit project, which includes 98 miles (158 kilometers) of track.

1977 – Algeria’s first LNG plant is dedicated. Built by Bechtel, the plant triples Algeria’s export capacity of liquefied natural gas.

1982 – In New Zealand, Bechtel begins constructing the world’s first commercial facility to convert natural gas to gasoline.

1983 – Bechtel provides start-up engineering and construction support for the completion and commercial operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power facility in California.

1987 – Bechtel gets involved in completing the Channel Tunnel, connecting England and France. One of the century’s largest engineering and construction projects and the world’s largest privately financed infrastructure project, the tunnel opens in 1994.

1991 – A Bechtel-managed consortium begins an ambitious expansion and modernization of the Athens Metro subway system in time for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.

1993 – The 800-mile (1,287-kilometer) Bechtel-built PGT-PG&E natural gas pipeline expansion is completed.

1995 – Bechtel is the first U.S. firm granted a construction license in China: Motorola semiconductor manufacturing facility.

2000 – The company becomes the first engineering and construction company to embrace Six Sigma, a data-driven methodology for improving quality.

2004 – Bechtel begins construction on Hamad International Airport (formerly New Doha International Airport) in Qatar.

 

Hamad International Airport

2010 – Bechtel begins work on three world-scale liquefied natural gas plants on Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia. The project was completed in 2016 on time, within budget and received top industry honors.

2014 – Broke ground on Riyadh Metro, the largest fixed-price contract in Bechtel history.

2018 – Engineering News Record names Bechtel top U.S. contractor for the 20th consecutive year.

According to bechtel.com. Source of photos: internet