Morrison Knudsen Corporation began contracting in 1912 when Morris Knudsen allied with Harry Morrison to construct an irrigation canal and a pump station in Idaho. Two years later the Company built the Three Mile Falls Dam in Oregon establishing MK as the premier dam builder in the world. The Company moved onto the Hoover Dam leading a joint venture that built the dam two years ahead of schedule during the Depression.
Since that landmark project the Company has built some of the world’s largest harbors, airports, freeways, rail lines, factories, oil refineries, air bases, naval stations, fuel storage facilities, missile silo’s and systems, radar stations, rocket launching platforms, space control command centers including the Apollo and Space Shuttle launches, military communication systems, developed the largest coal, gold, silver, copper, bauxite and molybdenum, lignite and limestone mines.
We were the lead contractor in the joint venture that constructed the largest naval base in the world at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam during the war. Additional war time projects included air bases, hospitals, communication facilities, water supply systems, power stations, barracks, command centers, power transmission lines, highways, bridges and loading facilities. It still stands as the largest construction project ever executed over a five year period, $55 billion in today’s dollars.
The Company has been involved in the construction of seven of the top ten projects in the world determined by the International Right of Way Association. They include the Interstate Highway System, where MK is a top ten contractor in the field; Florida’s Turnpike Suncoast Parkway, the Hoover Dam, the Alaska Pipeline, the Austin Clean Water program, 2nd Tacoma Narrows Bridge, and the City of Phoenix Light Rail. The Hoover Dam was also ranked in the top five construction projects by the American Society of Civil Engineers categorizing it as one of America’s Seven Modern Civil Engineering Wonders.
MK has built the largest aluminum smelter in North America at Kitimat, BC where the Company constructed a dam and all power transmission for the plant. It built the project’s harbor along with all infrastructure at the site including the highway and bridges into the project. Since then the Company’s expertise has constructed similar projects to Alcan throughout the world.
Our mining division has constructed the largest copper and gold mine in the world the Rio Blanco mine in Chile along with the Cerrejon Coal mine which was a $2 billion turnkey project in Columbia. We are a mining contractor and developer on every continent in the world.
Our Civil and Engineering Division has designed and constructed rapid transit rail and subways in every major city in North America including MARTA in Atlanta, BART in San Francisco, the Metro Line in Los Angeles, the Sky Train in Vancouver, BC; Honolulu, Hawaii; Chicago, Illinois; Dallas, Texas; Houston, Texas; and New York City/New Jersey.
The Company’s expertise includes engineering and environmental disciplines, information management, civil and mining infrastructure, construction management, construction contracting, oil and gas production, oil and gas pipelines, naval and marine facilities, mass transit, freeway design and construction, ports, harbors, water/waste water facilities, railroad design and construction, space control and launch facilities.
Our customers include state, provincial and federal governments along with governmental agencies throughout the world. Oil, gas, energy, mining, rail, shipping, procurement, transportation, medical and manufacturing companies throughout the world. We also provide engineering, feasibility studies and management for food and beverage companies, automotive, manufacturing, chemical, oil, forest products, power and property development companies.
The Company is a Tier One contractor to the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Bureau of Land Management where our work includes chemical and nuclear remediation, mine reclamation, toxic waste remediation, engineering, technical assistance, management services, operations and maintenance, decommissioning and closure, environmental assessments.
We are the world’s largest dam builder and constructor of hydro power projects with 160 dams built in the Company’s history along with 100 hydro power plants.
Our construction, engineering and management skills cover the following markets:
- Air, surface, naval transportation
- Rail and Transit
- Ports and harbors
- Water facilities and management
- Toll roads and management
- Automotive manufacturing
- Environment and nuclear clean up
- Oil and gas including LNG
- Power facilities and transmission
- Pipelines
- Industrial infrastructure
- Civil infrastructure
- Department of Defense facilities and management
- Mining
- Industrial development
- Commercial development
- Space launch and command facilities
- Solar
Watch the documentary of the history of MORRISON KNUDSEN
Watch the documentary showcasing MORRISON KNUDSEN’s revolutionary construction techniques decades ahead of our time building the Salt Lake crossing for Southern Pacific Rail Road.