Looking Back

Before Megaprojects, There Were Mules

Photo: Bechtel Corp.

Bechtel has changed dramatically since its founding 110 years ago. In 1898, Warren Bechtel (not pictured above) started the business by helping build a frontier railroad in the Oklahoma Territory. He used a mule-drawn sled to grade the bed for new tracks.

It wasn’t long, however, before Bechtel replaced the mules. While working on a project for Southern Pacific, he learned to operate a huge Marion steam shovel, which was cutting-edge technology at the time. By 1909, he owned one, and that year he won his first prime contract—grading the site of Western Pacific’s Oroville, California, station. The tone for the company had been set. Over the next century, Bechtel would combine expertise, experience, and new technology to take on increasingly bigger and more challenging projects, including megaprojects such as Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, and the recently opened High Speed 1 rail line.

Today, Bechtel routinely uses some of the largest machinery in the world, including tunnel-boring machines and massive lifting cranes. As the company celebrates 110 years in business, it’s important to look back to see just how far we’ve come.


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