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The work we do to build our reputation is never complete. |
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History The history and tradition of General Construction Company (GCC) began early in the twentieth century. General was founded in 1910 as Inland Empire Hassam Paving Company headquartered in Spokane, Washington, and was renamed General Construction Company in 1914. In 1911, brothers Dan and Jack McEachern founded the J.A. McEachern Company. In 1912, the company was awarded the Bell Street Terminal Project by the Port of Seattle, their first major construction contract. For the next 15 years, the J.A. McEachern Company was involved in numerous construction projects throughout the Pacific Northwest region, and also in shipbuilding for the U.S. Government. In 1926, the J.A. McEachern Company formed a partnership with GCC to construct concrete lined irrigation canals for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. In 1928, the two companies were jointly awarded the $3.3 million contract for construction of the Owyhee Dam. Throughout the 1930’s and 40’s, General rapidly expanded into bigger and more complicated projects. In 1933, Transbay Construction Company, a joint venture of five contractors lead by General Construction Company, was awarded a contract to build the five piers for the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. A joint venture with Gilpin Construction, which was later purchased by GCC, constructed the Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, Oregon, and a joint venture with Columbia Construction Company (Kaiser Group) constructed Ruby Dam (later renamed Ross Dam) for Seattle City Light. In 1939, General entered into a joint venture with eight other companies, among which were Todd Shipyards, Morrison-Knudsen, Pacific Bridge, Kaiser, and W.A. Bechtel for the building of ships during World War II. Between 1950 through the late 1970’s General was involved in some of the largest projects in the Western United States. General was the sponsoring partner of General-Shea-Morrison Joint Venture, which completed the Bureau of Reclamation’s Hungry Horse Dam in Montana. General was also involved in such projects as the original Hood Canal Floating Bridge, the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, several large Metro Sewer projects in Seattle and Renton, Washington, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART) in San Francisco, California. Other notable projects from this period include Terminal 18, the Shilshole Bay Marina, City Waterfront Park, and the Cargill Grain Elevator. In 1981, Robert B. McEachern, the third generation of family owners, retired and sold General Construction Company to Wright Schuchart, Inc. (WSI). General became their Marine Division with Bill Epping as President. Industrial construction had become a key component of the Wright Schuchart family of companies beginning in the mid 1920’s. Over the next decade, WSI established themselves in the industrial market by working in various paper mills around the Northwest. In 1935, the Industrial Division constructed the Puget Sound Pulp and Timber Company mill in Bellingham. This was the first $1 million job by a private company for a private company in the Northwest. Through the 1950’s the Company performed more complex and diverse industrial projects. Included among these projects were the first facilities for the nuclear power industry in Idaho Falls, Idaho, a new pulp and paper mill in Ketchikan, Alaska, and a new pulp mill in Sitka, Alaska. The decade of the 1970’s was an exciting period for the industrial group. The first North Slope oil processing module fabrication contract awarded on the West Coast was received by Wright Schuchart Harbor, Co. (WSH), the industrial division of WSI. This was the beginning of 18 years of modular oil and gas facilities construction in Puget Sound, Oregon, and California, and installation work on the North Slope of Alaska. During the same period, over $600,000,000 of nuclear construction was performed in Oregon and Washington in equal joint ventures with Boecon Construction and Guy F. Atkinson Construction. During this time, WSH began performing industrial work in aerospace and airplane manufacturing, primarily in Boeing’s Puget Sound area facilities. Through the 1980’s, a number of significant projects were added to Wright Schuchart Harbor’s resume. In the pulp and paper area, projects included a major expansion for Crown Zellerbach at Camas, Washington. In 1983, General and WSH completed their first major design-build project constructing the Peavey Grain Terminal in Kalama, Washington. General constructed the loading pier and drove all upland foundation piles while WSH constructed the rest of the plant and installed all mechanical and electrical systems. Wright Schuchart Harbor continued petroleum module fabrication for Arco, Conoco, and British Petroleum throughout the mid 1980’s. In 1987, New Zealand conglomerate Fletcher Challenge acquired the Wright Schuchart companies. General and WSH were later combined into one company under the name Fletcher General Construction. The company continued to build marine, heavy civil and industrial projects in the Western U.S. Our bridge projects during this period included the Alsea Bay Bridge in Waldport, Oregon and the Lacey V. Murrow I-90 floating bridge across Lake Washington in Seattle. We built a number of major marine facilities, including an aircraft carrier pier for the Navy in Everett, WA., Pier 66 on the Seattle waterfront and wharves for west coast ports. We also expanded our marine fleet, adding the D.B. General and the D.B. Los Angeles. The industrial side of our business continued to build modular oil processing facilities for Arco and B.P. Work in the pulp and paper segment continued, with major projects for Longview Fiber, James River and Scott Paper. In Everett, WA, we constructed a 100% expansion of the 40-56 interiors facility along with various other capital and maintenance projects for the Boeing Company during this period. In 1996, GCC President Bill Urban and other senior managers at General, re-purchased the company from Fletcher Challenge and the company was again renamed General Construction Company. Our marine fleet has been busy building wharves and piers, working at every major port along the west coast. We have built fish passage facilities at Shasta, Ice Harbor, John Day and Bonneville dams, and have built outfalls in San Diego and Vancouver, WA. The industrial group has continued with the expansion and modernization of the facilities for Boeing and Kimberly-Clark. In 2001, a subsidiary of the Kiewit Corporation acquired General Construction Company. Today, General operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kiewit under the leadership of GCC President & District Manager, Ron Morford. General continues to perform in its marine, industrial, and heavy civil markets, maintaining our long-standing relationships with our customers. Ownership by one of the country’s largest and most respected construction companies has greatly expanded our potential. General has participated in some extremely large projects with other Kiewit districts, including the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge Skyway Segment, the Benicia-Martinez Segmental Bridge, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the Hood Canal Floating Bridge East-Half Replacement. |
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