Michels Corporation

Last updated
Michels Corporation
Company type Family owned and operated
IndustryEnergy, infrastructure, engineering, design and construction contractor
Founded1959, Brownsville, Wisconsin
(as Michels Pipeline Construction)
Founder Dale Michels
Headquarters Brownsville, Wisconsin
United States
Key people
Pat Michels, President
Tim Michels, Vice-President
Kevin Michels, Vice President
[1]
Number of employees
8,000
Website www.michels.us

Michels Corporation is a family-owned and operated energy and infrastructure construction company headquartered in Brownsville, WI. Established in 1959, Michels Corporation ranks #27th out of 400 top contractors in North America, [2] performing work throughout the world. [3] [4]

Contents

History

Corporate headquarters in Brownsville, Wisconsin, 2014 Michels Corporation in Brownsville WI.jpg
Corporate headquarters in Brownsville, Wisconsin, 2014

Michels was founded in 1959 by Dale Michels as Michels Pipeline Construction Inc., a regional gas pipeline construction company. [5] The services provided by the company expanded rapidly in the first year of its development. One of the company's first projects was outside of plant construction and involved installation of buried cables for a regional telephone company in Wisconsin. [5] The next decades brought expansions of infrastructure-related services, including sewer, water, tunneling and fiber-optic communication networks.

In 1988, Michels became a pioneer in trenchless construction by mastering the new technology of horizontal directional drilling. To this day, Michels is an award-winner and record-holder in many techniques used for the trenchless installation and rehabilitation of utility lines. [2]

Dale Michels was joined in business by his wife, Ruth Michels, and his sons, Pat Michels, Tim Michels and Kevin Michels. When Dale Michels died in 1998, Ruth Michels became CEO and eventually chairwoman of the board until her death in 2020. [6] Presently, Dale and Ruth Michels’ sons continue to lead the company; Pat Michels is president and CEO, and Tim Michels and Kevin Michels are vice presidents. Several members of the third generation of the Michels family also have active roles in business operations.

In 2001, the company's name was changed from Michels Pipeline Construction to Michels Corporation to better reflect its spectrum of energy and infrastructure services. In subsequent years, Michels has expanded operations throughout North America. In addition to performing work as Michels Corporation, several wholly owned companies provide targeted services as part of the Michels family of companies.

Controversy

As a nationally leading petroleum contractor, building large oil and gas pipeline projects, Michels Corporation was a subcontractor of TC Energy, the Calgary-based company building the Keystone XL pipeline. The controversial project, representative of many similar oil and gas pipeline projects Michels Corporation completes, has been applauded for job creation, but has also been called "dangerous" for local communities and a major contributor to climate change by creating substantial greenhouse gas and carbon emissions through the burning of fossil fuels. [7] After former U.S. President Donald Trump approved a permit for the Keystone Pipeline in 2017, the project was halted by the United States federal government under Joe Biden's White House administration on June 9, 2021. "Opponents of the line fought its construction for years, saying it was unnecessary and would hamper the U.S. transition to cleaner fuels." [8]

Accolades

28th – ENR Top 400 Contractors (2021) [9]

5th – ENR Top Petroleum Contractors (2021) [9]

20th – ENR Top 50 Contractors Working Abroad (2021) [9]

25th – ENR Top 100 Contractors by New Contracts (2021) [9]

Affiliates and operating groups

In addition to performing work as Michels Corporation, several wholly owned companies provide specific services as part of the Michels family of companies. All companies share the same operating principles and core values. [10] [ non-primary source needed ]

Michels Canada

Established in 1996, Michels Canada constructs energy and infrastructure projects throughout Canada. The company serves the energy, electrical power, water and wastewater, and transportation industries. Michels Canada has completed many high-profile, award-winning projects individually and as part of joint ventures. [11]

Michels Pacific Energy, Inc.

Michels Pacific Energy, Inc. builds, maintains and updates power and energy infrastructure in California and parts of the West Coast. Michels Pacific Energy works with engineering partners on Engineering-Procurement-Construction and Design-Build delivery method contracts. [12] [ non-primary source needed ]

Michels Pipeline, Inc.

Michels Pipeline, Inc. is a full-service mainline pipeline, facilities, and maintenance and repair contractor. Services include pipe fabrication; oil, gas, and water pipeline installation; compressor and pumping station construction; and integrity, maintenance, and emergency repairs. Michels Pipeline has completed some of the most significant pipeline projects in recent history. [13]   Michels Pipeline is known for its industry-leading safety culture. [14]

Michels Power, Inc.

Michels Power, Inc. is one of the largest private power utility electrical contractors in the United States. The company provides overhead power line and underground utility transmission and distribution, substation, communication and storm restoration services from coast to coast. Michels Power also supports renewable energy, including battery energy storage, solar and wind power. [15] [ non-primary source needed ]

Michels Utility Services, Inc.

Michels Utility Services, Inc. is a leading contractor constructing and maintaining natural gas distribution systems and other utilities throughout the United States. Michels Utility Services works in urban and rural areas to build, improve and upgrade gas utility services and to complete joint trench installations.[ citation needed ]

Construction materials

Michels owns and operates approximately 100 pits and quarries in Wisconsin to mine and produce aggregates, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-approved armor stone and granite. The company owns one of the largest fleets of completely mobile crushing spreads, wash plants and power screen plants in the United States.[ citation needed ]

Foundations

Michels foundation capabilities are focused on the deep foundation, ground improvement, earth retention and marine disciplines. In-house design-build capabilities result in cost-effective, engineered solutions for a wide variety of projects. Michels has performed work to support energy, transportation and building trade project.[ citation needed ]

Transportation

In the transportation industry, Michels construction services span the United States, from New York [16] [ non-primary source needed ] to Seattle, [17] [ non-primary source needed ] including road building, tunneling, railways, bridges and aviation. Michels has been honored for improving safety and quality of transportation on interstate highways and at airports. [18] [19] Specialized equipment includes concrete paving machines, batch plants and mobile recycle crushing spreads.

Trenchless

Michels uses a variety of techniques to install and rehabilitate utility lines with minimal surface disturbances. Over several decades, Michels has won awards and set records for its work throughout North America. [20] New installation techniques include: Direct Pipe, horizontal directional drilling, microtunneling, pipe assistance and auger boring. Rehabilitation techniques include cured-in-place pipe (CIPP), spray-in-place pipe (SIPP), sliplining, pipe bursting and chemical grouting.[ citation needed ]

Project examples

Bakken Missouri River Crossing

Michels completed a 2.5-mile Horizontal Directional Drill in the Bakken region of North Dakota. The directional drill project beneath the Missouri River and the Lake Sakakawea Reservoir was part of 10 miles of 20-inch diameter pipeline construction.[ citation needed ]

Nexus Pipeline [21]

Michels built 177 miles of 36-inch natural gas transmission pipeline, three meter and two compressor stations, both with 29,700 HP single turbine engines. The project included 224 road bores, 88 crews and 12 Horizontal Directional Drills. [22]

Mill Basin Bridge

The Mill Basin Bridge in Brooklyn was part of the $700 million Belt Parkway reconstruction project connecting highways in Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway reconstruction project received the 2018-2019 Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Metropolitan Section and the 2019 Project of the Year Award from the New York State Society of Professional Engineers (NYSSPE). [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bechtel</span> American construction and civil engineering company

Bechtel Corporation is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2022, the Engineering News-Record ranked Bechtel as the second largest construction company in the United States, following Turner Construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modern Continental</span> Building contractor

Modern Continental was a construction company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which was involved in the Boston "Big Dig" Central Artery/Tunnel Project. On June 23, 2008, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court in Boston.

Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids, and also generates renewable energy. Enbridge's pipeline system is the longest in North America and the largest oil export pipeline network in the world. Its crude oil system consists of 28,661 kilometres of pipelines. Its 38,300 kilometre natural gas pipeline system connects multiple Canadian provinces, several US states, and the Gulf of Mexico. The company was formed by Imperial Oil in 1949 as the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company Limited to transport Alberta oil to refineries. Over time, it has grown through acquisition of other existing pipeline companies and the expansion of their projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidated Edison</span> American energy company

Consolidated Edison, Inc., commonly known as Con Edison or ConEd, is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the United States, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues as of 2017, and over $62 billion in assets. The company provides a wide range of energy-related products and services to its customers through its subsidiaries:

Trenchless technology is a type of subsurface construction work that requires few trenches or no continuous trenches. It is a rapidly growing sector of the construction and civil engineering industry. It can be defined as "a family of methods, materials, and equipment capable of being used for the installation of new or replacement or rehabilitation of existing underground infrastructure with minimal disruption to surface traffic, business, and other activities."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TC Energy</span> Canadian energy company

TC Energy Corporation is a major North American energy company, based in the TC Energy Tower building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, that develops and operates energy infrastructure in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The company operates three core businesses: Natural Gas Pipelines, Liquids Pipelines and Energy.

Sherritt International is a Canadian resource company, based in Toronto, Ontario. Sherritt is a miner and refiner of nickel and cobalt. Sherritt is also the largest independent energy producer in Cuba. Sherritt’s common shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "S".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consolidated Contractors Company</span> Athens-based Middle East construction company

Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) is the largest construction company in the Middle East and ranks among the top 25 international contractors with a revenue of US$5.3 billion in 2013 and 1.872 billion by 2020. CCC has offices and projects in over 40 countries, and in 2023 had a workforce of 36,000 employees. In April 2019, CCC was engaged in 40 ongoing projects globally. The majority of its sales are in the Middle East.

Directional boring, also referred to as horizontal directional drilling (HDD), is a minimal impact trenchless method of installing underground utilities such as pipe, conduit, or cables in a relatively shallow arc or radius along a prescribed underground path using a surface-launched drilling rig. Directional boring offers significant environmental advantages over traditional cut and cover pipeline/utility installations. The technique is routinely used when conventional trenching or excavating is not practical or when minimal surface disturbance is required.

Pipe ramming is a trenchless method for installation of steel pipes and casings. Distances of 30 m or more and over 500 mm in diameter are common, although the method can be used for much longer and larger installations. The method is useful for pipe and casing installations under railway lines and roads, where other trenchless methods could cause subsidence or heaving. The majority of installations are horizontal, although the method can be used for vertical installations.

FortisBC is a British Columbia based regulated utility that providing natural gas and electricity. FortisBC has approximately 2,600 employees serving more than 1.2 million customers in 135 B.C. communities and 58 First Nations communities across 150 Traditional Territories.

The Dolphin Gas Project is the natural gas project of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. It is the Gulf Cooperation Council's first cross-border refined gas transmission project and the largest energy-related venture ever undertaken in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion Energy</span> American energy company

Dominion Energy, Inc., commonly referred to as Dominion, is an American energy company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia that supplies electricity in parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of Utah, Idaho and Wyoming, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Dominion also has generation facilities in Indiana, Illinois, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

Quanta Services is an American corporation that provides infrastructure services for electric power, pipeline, industrial and communications industries. Capabilities include the planning, design, installation, program management, maintenance and repair of most types of network infrastructure. In June 2009, Quanta Services was added to the S&P 500 index, replacing Ingersoll-Rand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fujairah F1 IWPP</span> IWPP facility in the United Arab Emirates

Fujairah F1 Independent Water and Power Plant or Fujairah F1 IWPP is an independent water and power plant (IWPP) at Qidfa', Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is located next to the Fujairah F2 IWPP. It is 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Khor Fakkan and 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the city of Fujairah. When constructed, the Fujairah plant was the first hybrid plant in the Middle East, and the largest desalination hybrid plant in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power of Siberia</span> Natural gas pipeline from Siberia to China

Power of Siberia is a Gazprom-operated pipeline in Eastern Siberia that transports natural gas from Yakutia to Primorsky Krai and China. It is a part of the eastern gas route from Siberia to China. The proposed western gas route to China is known as Power of Siberia 2.

Mastec, Inc. is an American multinational infrastructure engineering and construction company based in Coral Gables, Florida. The company provides engineering, building, installation, maintenance and upgrade of energy, utility and communications infrastructure. Its customers are primarily in the utility, communications and government industries.

Hatch Mott MacDonald (HMM) was a consulting engineering firm serving public and private clients in North America. HMM's capabilities included planning, project development, studies and analysis, design, procurement, and construction engineering and inspection. HMM also provided project, program and construction management as well as facility maintenance and operations. The partnered companies separated in 2016.

Sprayed in place pipe (SIPP) technologies is a trench-less rehabilitation method used to repair existing pipelines, that involves a robotic lining system that develops and manufactures proprietary lining polymeric. SIPP is a jointless, seamless, pipe with in a pipe with the capability to rehabilitate pipes ranging in diameter of .1 to 2.8 meters. SIPP can be applied in water, sewer, gas, and chemical pipelines.

References

  1. ↑ Bloomberg Businessweek, "Company Overview of Michels Corporation"
  2. 1 2 "2020 Trenchless Technology Project of the Year Winners". Trenchless Technology. 2020-11-09. Archived from the original on 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  3. ↑ "2020 Project of the Year Rehabilitation: Guam Northern Interceptor Sewer Rehabilitation". Trenchless Technology. 2020-10-13. Archived from the original on 2021-07-28. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  4. ↑ "Challenging HDD Project in Trinidad Completed". Trenchless Technology. 2011-03-23. Archived from the original on 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  5. 1 2 "Michels Corp. Marks 50 Years of Utility Construction". Trenchless Technology. 2009-05-01. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  6. ↑ "Obituary: Ruth Michels, Unsung Hero of Michels Corporation". North American Oil & Gas Pipelines. 2021-01-04. Archived from the original on 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  7. ↑ Danbeck, Jackson (January 22, 2021). "Wisconsin Congressmen: 'Hundreds' of WI workers to lose their jobs after Keystone pipeline halted". tmj4.com/. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Developer officially cancels Keystone XL pipeline project blocked by Biden". Reuters. June 9, 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2022-06-17.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "ENR 2021 Top 400 Contractors 1-100". www.enr.com. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
  10. ↑ "Our Core Values". www.michels.us. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  11. ↑ "McLoughlin Point Outfall Project Was a True Team Effort". Trenchless Technology. 2020-03-06. Archived from the original on 2021-07-27. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  12. ↑ "Home". Michels Pacific Energy. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  13. ↑ "WATCH: NEXUS pipeline construction". The Australian Pipeliner. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  14. ↑ "Priority No. 1: VIP's Invited to Join in Michels' Safety Activities". North American Oil & Gas Pipelines. 2018-10-10. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  15. ↑ "Power Delivery Contractor - Michels Power, Inc". www.michels.us. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  16. ↑ "Mill Basin Bridge - Michels". www.michels.us. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  17. ↑ "Michels expands West Coast reach | Michels". www.michels.us. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  18. ↑ "Wisconsin Department of Transportation WisDOT announces 2019 Excellence in Construction Awards". wisconsindot.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  19. ↑ "Kenosha Regional Airport project wins 2020 Outstanding Airport Construction Award". Mead & Hunt. 2021-02-11. Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  20. ↑ "2020 Trenchless Technology Projects of the Year Announced". Trenchless Technology. 2020-09-24. Archived from the original on 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-09-02.
  21. ↑ "Spectra Energy", Wikipedia, 2020-03-29, archived from the original on 2023-08-13, retrieved 2020-04-22
  22. ↑ "WATCH: NEXUS pipeline construction". Pipelines International. Archived from the original on 2019-02-08. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  23. ↑ "The New York State Society of Professional Engineers Awards New York City's 5-Mile Belt Parkway Bridge Replacement Project as the 2019 Construction Project of the Year". nysspe.org. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.