286:. From the gravel plant the line split into two branches. One branch ran south for 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to the dam via Cape Horn, Lomix (the Low Level Concrete Mixing Plant) and Himix (the High Level Concrete Mixing Plant) and the dam face. The other branch, now also submerged under Lake Mead, ran north for 7.3 miles (11.7 km) across the Las Vegas Wash, crossed the Colorado River on a bridge into Arizona and the Arizona gravel pit (Arizona Gravel Deposits) at a location two miles (3.2 km) from
222:
construction project available to interested parties at $ 5 a copy (equivalent to $ 100.00 in 2023). The government would provide the materials, and the contractor was to prepare the site and build the dam. The dam was described in minute detail, covering 100 pages of text and 76 drawings.
269:
Work began around June 1931 and The Six
Companies completed the dam's construction two years ahead of schedule in 1935. Crowe was awarded a bonus percentage of the profit for completing virtually every portion of the job well ahead of schedule. The dam was dedicated in September 1935 but it took an
250:
to join them. After they realized the bid would be much higher than expected, the Wattis
Brothers and Morrison-Knudsen convinced four additional companies to join. In February 1930 The Six Companies, Inc. was incorporated as a joint venture and they began working out a bid enlisting the help of
265:
The Six
Companies board selected Crowe, who had helped draft the bid, as the General Construction Superintendent of the Boulder Dam construction. He was heavily involved and hired each of the men who were employed during the course of the project, lived in Boulder City with his wife and two
223:
A $ 2 million (equivalent to $ 32.3 million in 2023) bid bond was to accompany each bid. The winner would have to post a $ 5 million (equivalent to $ 80.7 million in 2023) performance bond. The contractor would have seven years to build the dam, or penalties would ensue.
282:, and connected to the US Government Hoover Dam Railroad at Lawler, Nevada, a location also known as "US Government Junction". From Lawler the railroad went north for seven miles (11 km) to Saddle Island and then east to the Three-Way Junction gravel plant, now submerged under
245:
in order to submit a joint bid for the contract. Initially, Utah
Construction Company's owners, brothers E.O. and W.H. Wattis, along with the company's vice president, Andrew H. Christensen, asked Harry W. Morrison of
880:
734:
875:
262:
accepted the Six
Companies' bid of US$ 48,890,955 (equivalent to $ 789 million in 2023). This was $ 5,000,000 lower than the next bidder, meaning a bid-spread of almost 10%.
304:
purchased several of the Six
Companies dump cars for company service after the dam was completed and the equipment declared surplus. One of these cars is now preserved at the
701:
726:
542:
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a
Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda
331:
During World War II, the Six
Companies built airstrips and related facilities on Pacific islands. The venture also held a majority ownership interest in
895:
315:
The US Government
Railroad had a 10-mile (16 km) branch that brought supplies by rail from a connection with the Boulder City Branch of the
756:
577:
562:
How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a
Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States
278:
The Six Companies also built the 19.1-mile (30.7 km) Six Companies Railroad. It ran along the Hemenway Wash, present day
519:
17:
845:
822:
690:
649:
270:
additional nine years (1938–1947) under relative secrecy, to fix serious leaks with a supplemental grout curtain.
623:
305:
297:. Since the completion of the dam and filling of Lake Mead, Six Companies, Inc. railroad line is now submerged.
837:
569:
549:
259:
890:
814:
384:
371:
294:
234:
129:
797:
301:
258:
The project was so complex and large that only three bids were received and, on March 4, 1931, the
767:
865:
378:
332:
191:
560:
540:
404:
343:
EC-2 Reciprocating Steam Engines, producing one engine every 40.8 hours. They were used at the
316:
511:
505:
336:
215:
35:
320:
266:
daughters, and was on the dam site every day of the week until the project was completed.
8:
870:
367:
363:
309:
203:
120:
344:
231:
841:
818:
645:
515:
287:
226:
Because of the project's immense size and the fact that it was the first dam on the
885:
556:
536:
479:
408:
394:
247:
187:
135:
761:
359:
199:
116:
691:"Hoover Dam: Grout Curtain Failure and Lessons Learned in Site Characterization"
604:
609:
339:. Hendy was most known for its record-breaking assembly line production of 754
227:
168:
859:
279:
195:
160:
52:
230:, no single contractor had the resources to make a qualified bid alone. So,
414:
398:
340:
144:
65:
388:
252:
238:
103:
507:
Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
484:
242:
219:
183:
164:
31:
799:
Six Companies, Now Single Unit, Ready to Sign Contract for Hoover Dam
283:
70:
881:
Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States
293:
The line was constructed by railroad contractor John Phillips of
176:
876:
Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1931
575:
172:
27:
American corporate joint venture formed to build the Hoover Dam
440:
K.K. Bechtel of Bechtel-Kaiser (Assistant Secretary-Treasurer)
431:
E.O. Wattis of Utah Construction Company (2nd Vice President)
421:
Leadership was split between the companies with officers:
163:
of construction companies that was formed to build the
428:
W.A. Bechtel of Bechtel-Kaiser (First Vice President)
700:. Las Vegas: Association of Engineering Geologists.
425:
W.H. Wattis of Utah Construction Company (President)
30:
This article is about the consortium that built the
834:Big Dams and Other Dreams: The Six Companies Story
766:
602:
598:
596:
594:
857:
603:Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023).
591:
437:Felix Kahn of MacDonald and Kahn (Treasurer)
733:. Sunnyvale, CA: Sunnyvale Public Library.
528:
811:Railroads of Nevada and Eastern California
757:"Corporations: Machine Maker for the West"
434:Charles A Shea of J.F. Shea Co (Secretary)
813:. Vol. 2: The Southern Roads. Reno:
273:
727:"Engine #754 at Joshua Hendy Iron Works"
555:
535:
707:from the original on September 21, 2011
689:Rogers, J. David (September 22, 2005).
676:
664:
639:
578:"Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–"
14:
896:American companies established in 1931
858:
808:
781:
737:from the original on February 20, 2012
688:
503:
576:Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
831:
644:. New York: Free Press. p. 34.
355:Six Companies Inc. was composed of:
350:
510:. New York: Random House. pp.
34:. For the Chinese association, see
24:
802:; newspaper article; unknown date.
791:
25:
907:
642:Hoover Dam: An American Adventure
206:, and many other large projects.
765:. March 25, 1946. Archived from
775:
624:Gross Domestic Product deflator
306:Western Pacific Railroad Museum
749:
719:
682:
670:
658:
633:
497:
13:
1:
605:"What Was the U.S. GDP Then?"
490:
209:
838:University of Oklahoma Press
570:American Antiquarian Society
550:American Antiquarian Society
260:US Secretary of the Interior
141:Pacific Bridge Company (10%)
7:
473:
218:made bid documents for the
85:; 93 years ago
10:
912:
815:University of Nevada Press
784:, pp. 169–74, 176–91.
251:Morrison-Knudsen employee
29:
809:Myrick, David F. (1992).
385:Utah Construction Company
295:San Francisco, California
235:Utah Construction Company
214:On January 10, 1932, the
130:Utah Construction Company
109:
97:
79:
58:
48:
832:Wolf, Donald E. (1996).
640:Stevens, Joseph (1988).
444:Board members included:
417:of Portland, Oregon: 10%
374:(as Bechtel-Kaiser): 30%
302:Western Pacific Railroad
126:MacDonald and Kahn (20%)
504:Herman, Arthur (2012).
379:Los Angeles, California
333:Joshua Hendy Iron Works
326:
192:Colorado River Aqueduct
405:Pacific Bridge Company
377:MacDonald and Kahn of
317:Union Pacific Railroad
274:Six Companies Railroad
771:on February 19, 2011.
729:. Sunnyvale History.
337:Sunnyvale, California
216:Bureau of Reclamation
36:Chinese Six Companies
817:. pp. 734–752.
731:Sunnyvale Collection
321:Boulder City, Nevada
626:figures follow the
368:Bechtel Corporation
364:Oakland, California
310:Portola, California
232:general contractors
204:Southern California
186:, a portion of the
157:Six Companies, Inc.
45:
44:Six Companies, Inc.
18:Six Companies, Inc.
891:Water and politics
460:Stephen D. Bechtel
345:Richmond Shipyards
241:decided to form a
83:February 1931
43:
679:, pp. 35–42.
667:, pp. 45–46.
521:978-1-4000-6964-4
351:Company structure
182:They later built
154:
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16:(Redirected from
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480:Grand Coulee Dam
409:Portland, Oregon
395:Morrison-Knudsen
248:Morrison-Knudsen
200:Colorado Deserts
188:Grand Coulee Dam
136:Morrison-Knudsen
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792:Further reading
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557:McCusker, J. J.
545:
537:McCusker, J. J.
533:
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463:Henry J. Kaiser
454:Charles A. Shea
360:Henry J. Kaiser
353:
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866:Colorado River
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698:Dams Symposium
681:
677:Stevens (1988)
669:
665:Stevens (1988)
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632:
628:MeasuringWorth
622:United States
610:MeasuringWorth
590:
574:1800–present:
527:
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466:Alan MacDonald
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253:Frank T. Crowe
228:Colorado River
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169:Colorado River
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847:0-8061-2853-4
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824:0-87417-194-6
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782:Herman (2012)
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651:0-8061-2283-8
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512:37, 52–5, 210
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372:San Francisco
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280:Las Vegas Bay
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161:joint venture
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53:Joint venture
51:
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41:
37:
33:
19:
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768:the original
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751:
739:. Retrieved
730:
721:
709:. Retrieved
697:
684:
672:
660:
641:
635:
627:
616:November 30,
614:. Retrieved
608:
583:February 29,
581:. Retrieved
561:
541:
530:
506:
499:
443:
420:
415:J.F. Shea Co
399:Boise, Idaho
354:
341:Liberty Ship
330:
314:
299:
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277:
268:
264:
257:
225:
213:
181:
156:
155:
145:J.F. Shea Co
66:Construction
49:Company type
40:
554:1700–1799:
534:1634–1699:
469:Philip Hart
451:E.O. Wattis
448:W.H. Wattis
389:Ogden, Utah
239:Ogden, Utah
194:across the
104:Frank Crowe
871:Hoover Dam
860:Categories
741:August 19,
491:References
485:Parker Dam
457:Felix Kahn
255:to do so.
243:consortium
220:Hoover Dam
210:Hoover Dam
184:Parker Dam
165:Hoover Dam
99:Key people
32:Hoover Dam
288:Callville
284:Lake Mead
202:to urban
735:Archived
711:June 14,
702:Archived
630:series.
559:(1992).
539:(1997).
474:See also
71:Railroad
59:Industry
886:Bechtel
362:Co. of
177:Arizona
167:on the
121:Bechtel
90:1931-02
88: (
80:Founded
844:
821:
648:
518:
401:: 10%,
196:Mojave
190:, the
173:Nevada
159:was a
117:Kaiser
110:Owners
705:(PDF)
694:(PDF)
566:(PDF)
546:(PDF)
411:: 10%
391:: 20%
381:: 20%
147:(10%)
138:(10%)
132:(20%)
123:(30%)
842:ISBN
819:ISBN
762:Time
743:2017
713:2010
646:ISBN
618:2023
585:2024
516:ISBN
366:and
327:WWII
300:The
198:and
175:and
407:of
397:of
387:of
370:of
335:in
319:at
308:at
237:of
171:in
862::
840:.
836:.
759:.
696:.
607:.
593:^
568:.
548:.
514:.
347:.
323:.
312:.
290:.
179:.
850:.
827:.
745:.
715:.
654:.
620:.
587:.
572:.
552:.
524:.
119:-
92:)
38:.
20:)
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