This paper provides a comprehensive research overview of Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc., one of North America's largest construction and mining companies. It traces the company's origins from an 1884 Omaha masonry partnership through its growth into a multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The paper examines Kiewit's landmark construction projects across transportation, energy, water resources, and defense sectors, as well as the company's size, employee-ownership model, workforce culture, environmental recognition, and employee benefits. The paper concludes with a financial snapshot from 2004 and a recommendation regarding career opportunities at the firm.
Kiewit is a massive company in the construction sector with a presence in virtually every industry segment, including Transportation, Power, Water Resources, Mining, Building, Oil & Gas, Defense, Telecom, Electrical, Marine, and Underground construction. The company is capable of handling enormous projects and completing them in record time and within budget. Kiewit maintains that quality does not occur by accident — it is the result of a well-formulated plan. Quality, Service, and Teamwork are the three basic tenets of delivering successful projects to its clients. Through adherence to these core principles, the company has earned its reputation as the contractor of choice among owners, designers, and vendors.
The company's full name is Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc., and it is headquartered at Kiewit Plaza, Omaha, Nebraska 68131. Kiewit is one of the major companies engaged in construction and mining activities in North America, with more than 30 district and area offices in the United States and Canada. The company boasts a tremendous reputation for delivering large and challenging projects on schedule and without cost overruns. Fortune magazine has ranked the company among America's Most Admired Companies. Across industry circles, the name Kiewit is synonymous with honesty and integrity. As employee-owners, the Kiewit workforce is dedicated and holds itself to a high standard, backed by a proven track record of successful projects. (Corporate Overview)
Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc. dates back to 1884, when Kiewit Brothers was formed by Peter and Andrew Kiewit as an Omaha masonry contracting partnership. In 1889, Kiewit Bros. secured the masonry work for the seven-story Lincoln Hotel, which was their largest contract at the time. Peter Kiewit's youngest son — also named Peter, born in 1900 — is the individual widely credited with transforming the company into a major national contractor. After his sons Ralph and George joined the business, the company was renamed Peter Kiewit & Sons in 1912. Following the death of Peter Kiewit Senior in 1914, Ralph assumed responsibility for running the company under the name Peter Kiewit Sons. (Kiewit History: The Early Years)
The company received its first million-dollar contract in 1924, during its 40th year — the ten-story Livestock Exchange Building in South Omaha — under the guidance of 23-year-old Peter Kiewit. Notable projects completed in the late 1920s include the Nebraska State Capitol Tower in 1927, the Joslyn Art Museum in 1928, and Union Station in 1930. After the departure of his brother Ralph, Peter dissolved the existing partnership and renamed the firm Peter Kiewit Sons' Co., which held cash reserves of $125,000. To conserve cash and motivate employees, key managers were sold company shares — marking the beginning of the employee-ownership model that would become a defining factor in the company's future success. (Kiewit History: The Early Years)
By 1984, as the company marked its centennial year, it had district offices spread across the United States and Canada and was handling every type of construction work. Reaching a centennial milestone is a significant achievement, as few companies survive that long in the risk-prone construction industry. (The 1980s and 1990s)
In 1951, Kiewit constructed an airbase in the high Arctic at Thule, Greenland, as part of a top-secret initiative known as Operation Blue Jay. The project required training 5,000 workers and transporting numerous shiploads of equipment and materials across iceberg-filled seas. Kiewit also constructed the BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) radar screens — the size of football fields — and the eastern end of the DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line, including radar domes built on-site in frozen Greenland. In 1952, Kiewit completed the Atomic Energy Commission's $1.2 billion Gaseous Diffusion Plant at Portsmouth, Ohio — one of the largest construction contracts ever awarded by the U.S. government — designed to refine Uranium-235 for both military and civilian nuclear operations. (Cold War Construction)
Kiewit has built some of the most intricate and scenic stretches of the U.S. highway system, including sections through Arizona's Virgin River Canyon and Colorado's Glenwood Canyon, the Eisenhower Tunnel across the Colorado Rockies, and the Fort McHenry Tunnel beneath Baltimore Harbor. Kiewit is credited with constructing more lane-miles of interstate highway than any other contractor, prompting Forbes magazine to call Peter Kiewit "The Colossus of Roads." Among the company's most remarkable dam projects were the concrete arch Flaming Gorge Dam on the Colorado River in Utah and the earth-fill Garrison Dam on the Missouri River in North Dakota. (Infrastructure Expansion)
During the 1980s and 1990s, notable projects included the engineering of "Bullwinkle," the world's largest freestanding oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico, and construction of portions of the $5.3 billion Hibernia Oil Platform off the coast of St. John's, Newfoundland. This era also saw Kiewit emerge as a leader in the design-build delivery method. By beginning construction before design completion — and ensuring that construction concerns are factored into the design process early — Kiewit's design-build approach has helped clients complete major projects ahead of schedule and under budget. Examples include the entrance to Yosemite National Park ($33 million), the multimodal Whittier Access Tunnel in Alaska ($60 million), the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor in Orange County, California ($802 million), and the I-15 Reconstruction Project in Salt Lake City, Utah ($1.3 billion). (The 1980s & 1990s)
Other significant projects include:
(i) The $1.3 billion T-Rex Project — the largest transportation project in Colorado's history. (ii) The $126 million 91 Express Lanes in Orange County, California — the world's first fully automated toll road, offering motorists four freeway lanes along the Riverside median. (Transportation) (iii) The $209 million award-winning Keenleyside Hydroelectric Facility — Canada's largest design-build hydropower plant and the first design-build hydro plant completed 22 months ahead of schedule, transmitting power to consumers in Canada and the United States from water stored by the Hugh Keenleyside Dam. (Power) (iv) A $2.2 billion water delivery and treatment system for the Las Vegas Valley. (v) The $86 million Hollywood Hills Quality Improvement Project, comprising two 30-million-gallon underground water storage tanks — recognized as the world's largest pre-stressed concrete tanks — and a one-mile tunnel bypass system supplying safe drinking water to approximately 500,000 customers in the Hollywood area. (Water Resources) (vi) The $55 million Omaha World-Herald Freedom Press Center, completed in 26 months. (Buildings) (vii) The $45 million Irving Oil Refinery Expansion at Saint John, New Brunswick — home to the world's largest residue fluid catalytic cracking unit. (Oil and Gas)
Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc. is ranked as the country's seventh largest construction firm by Engineering News Record, earning revenues in excess of $3.2 billion in 2004. The company has virtually unlimited bonding capacity and is one of the few construction firms able to bid on billion-dollar mega projects. The average size of a Kiewit project is under $12 million. (Kiewit Today)
Kiewit has the right scale for projects of every size. Its unique combination of decentralized district offices — each competing as a local contractor — supported by the resources of a multi-billion-dollar company, allows it to take on work of any scope. Kiewit has constructed nearly every type of project imaginable, from dams to high-rise buildings and power plants, consistently without time or cost overruns. It has been rated one of North America's top general contractors for more than 50 consecutive years. In 2002, the five-year average contract size was $13.1 million, with 41% of contracts valued below $1 million and 18% above $10 million. The range of contracts extended from $500 building modification jobs to multi-million-dollar power plants and highway contracts. (Building Challenging Projects)
Kiewit continues to build projects for a broad range of clients, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Bureau of Reclamation. (Kiewit History)
"Revenue, bonding capacity, and key clients"
"Employee ownership, hiring, and compensation"
Kiewit is a giant in the heavy construction industry, with its activities spanning everything from tunnels to high-rise buildings. During 2004, the employee-owned company secured projects in 28 U.S. states and 7 Canadian provinces. The company excels in transportation, which contributes 60% of its sales, and has a presence in bridge, highway, railroad, airport, and mass transit construction. Its other projects include commercial buildings, mining infrastructure, petroleum, power, heating and cooling systems, and waste disposal systems. Kiewit recorded sales of $3.352 billion in 2004, with a net income of $201 million and a total workforce of 14,000. (Peter Kiewit Sons', Inc.)
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