Our History

We are committed to leaving a legacy of progress by developing local skills for sustained economic opportunity and volunteering our time and talent to the communities where we work.

2000 - The early days

In 1898, a nearly bankrupt 25-year-old Bechtel and his pregnant wife, Clara, left Peabody, Kansas, and headed 100 miles (161 kilometers) south in search of construction work and new opportunity. Thus began an epic journey

2001 - Bechtel's first megaproject

Hoover Dam—officially dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in September 1935—represents a pivotal event in the history of Bechtel. There have been bigger projects, and there will be still bigger jobs in years to come.

2002 - 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.

2003 - Surviving a global downturn

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.

2016- Building a new century

Bechtel becomes the first engineering and construction company to embrace Six Sigma, a data-driven methodology for improving quality and begins a nationwide network expansion for a major US wireless carrier.