Hoover Dam site of Bechtel celebration

Elizabeth Dutton

Monday, Jan. 12, 1998 | 10:37 a.m.

The Hoover Dam soon will act as the starting point for a year-long international party.

A masterpiece of engineering and construction, the dam will play host on Jan. 17 to the 100th anniversary of the Bechtel Group.

Bechtel, one of the world's largest engineering, construction and development companies, is celebrating its centennial at the first of its many megaprojects.

"Bechtel has a very long history of working in Nevada," said Chuck Redman, senior vice president of public relations at Bechtel. "The dam really launched us into the era of the megaproject."

The dam, completed in 1935, cost $47.5 million and was $1.5 million under budget. Still an incredible achievement, the dam was one of the first in a long line of huge projects undertaken by Bechtel.

Since 1898, four generations of Bechtels have led the privately held firm through 19,000 projects in 140 nations and on all seven continents.

Achievements include the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit system, modernization of McCarran International Airport, management of the Nevada Test Site, and construction of Hoover Dam.

Bechtel was part of a six-company consortium that built the massive dam. Construction, which began in 1931, was the largest civil engineering project in U.S. history.

Lake Mead, the nation's largest man-made lake, is a result of Hoover Dam construction.

The event at Hoover Dam is intended primarily for the Bechtel Nevada section, although more than 50 employees from the San Francisco office are expected to attend. Additional celebrations will take place across the world throughout the year.

Gov. Bob Miller and Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev., will be in attendance at the January ceremony. Those assembled will commemorate the landmark, salute the people who built it, and memorialize those who perished during its construction.