Warren A. Bechtel
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Warren Augustine Bechtel (September 12, 1872 – August 28, 1933) was the founder of the Bechtel Corporation, the 2nd largest construction company in the United States as of 2022.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early lifeEdit
Warren Augustine Bechtel was born on September 12, 1872, on a stock farm in Freeport, Illinois, as the fifth child of Elizabeth (Bentz) and John Moyer Bechtel in a family of two boys and five girls.<ref>Obituary of John M. Bechtel; Peabody Gazette; February 11, 1915.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="saltlake">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref> In 1884, his family moved to Kansas.<ref name="saltlake" /> In 1891, Warren graduated from Peabody High School in Peabody, Kansas.<ref>List of Peabody High School Alumni from 1881 to 1913; The Gazette; May 21, 1914.</ref> In 1897, Warren married Clara Alice West, from Aurora, Indiana, whom he had met while she visited her uncle (E.F. Davison) in Peabody.<ref>Marriage announcement of Bechtel-West; Peabody Gazette-Herald; January 28, 1897.</ref>
CareerEdit
In 1898, Bechtel and his wife moved from their farm near Peabody, Kansas, to the Oklahoma Territory to construct railroads with his own team of mules.<ref name=Wolf2010>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Hiltzik2011 /> Bechtel moved his family frequently between construction sites around the Western United States for the next several years and eventually moved to Oakland, California, in 1904, where he worked as the superintendent on the Western Pacific Railroad on its Richmond and Santa Fe lines.<ref name=Wolf2010 /><ref name="saltlake2">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref> In 1906, W. A. Bechtel won his first subcontract to build part of the Oroville-to-Oakland section of the Western Pacific Railroad.<ref name=Wolf2010 /> The same year, he bought his own steam shovel, becoming a pioneer of the new technology.<ref name="saltlake2" /><ref name=Krause2004>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Wright1973>Template:Cite news</ref> He painted "W.A. Bechtel Co." on the side of the steam shovel, effectively establishing Bechtel as a company though it was not yet incorporated.<ref name=Hiltzik2011>Template:Cite book</ref>
Over the next 20 years, Bechtel built a sizable contracting business that specialized in railroad and highway building. One of Bechtel's earliest major contracts was grading the site of the Oroville, California, depot for the Western Pacific Railroad, then under construction. In 1919, Warren Bechtel and his partners (including his brother Arthur) built the Klamath Highway in California, and in 1921, Warren Bechtel partners won a contract to build the water tunnels for the Caribou Hydroelectric Facility in that state. In 1925, Warren, his sons Warren Jr, Stephen, Kenneth, and his brother Arthur (Art) joined to incorporate as W.A. Bechtel Company. In 1926, the new company won its first major contract, the Bowman Lake dam in Nevada County, California. The firm would later partner with other companies to form Six Companies to help engineer the famous Hoover Dam over the Colorado River, still considered the largest civil engineering project in US history.Template:Citation needed In 1930, Bechtel constructed a natural gas pipeline from Tracy, California, to Crockett, California, for Standard Oil and a pipeline from Milpitas, California, to Tres Pinos, California, for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company.<ref name="saltlake2" /> In 1931, Bechtel replaced William Henry Wattis as president of the Six Companies.<ref name="sfexaminer">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref>
DeathEdit
Bechtel died of an accidental insulin overdose on a business visit to Moscow, Soviet Union, to inspect the Dnieprostroi Dam, in 1933.<ref name="sfexaminer" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He died in the Hotel National.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref> He was buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Open access</ref>
LegacyEdit
His son, Stephen D. Bechtel Sr., took over the firm upon his father's death. The Bechtel Corporation is still owned and operated by the Bechtel family. Its current CEO is Brendan Bechtel.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1997, Warren was inducted into the Kansas Business Hall of Fame.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Bechtel Corporation history
- Obituary of Warren A. Bechtel; Peabody Gazette-Herald; October 12, 1933.
- Obituary of Arthur V. Bechtel; Peabody Gazette-Herald; June 20, 1946. Some history about the involvement of his brother in the Bechtel company.
- Six Companies, Now Single Unit, Ready to Sign Contract for Hoover Dam; newspaper article; 1931, includes photo of W.A. Bechtel Sr, S.D. Bechtel, K.K. Bechtel.