His son Stephen took over as president of the company and served in that position until succeeded by his son Stephen Jr. Bechtel died suddenly while traveling abroad in 1933, in the midst of the Hoover Dam project. Construction of the Hoover Dam began in late 1931 and finished in 1936, two years ahead of schedule. On March 11, 1931, the United States Department of the Interior selected the Six Companies to build the dam. This partnership formed for the sole purpose of the Hoover Dam project, and their combined strength virtually guaranteed that they would submit the most competitive bid. Bechtel Company joined with five competitors to form the Six Companies Corporation. Over the next two years several companies competed for dam-building contracts.

The construction involved the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken at the time. The plan used the name 'Boulder Dam', but after some controversy the structure gained the name of 'the Hoover Dam' (in honor of President Herbert Hoover). Congress passed the Boulder Canyon Project Act, which mandated the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Colorado River. In 1926, the new company won its first major contract, the Bowman Lake Dam in California. Bechtel's sons Warren Jr., Stephen, and Ken joined him and incorporated as W.A. In 1921, Warren Bechtel partners won a contract to build the water tunnels for the Caribou Hydroelectric Facility in California. In 1919, Warren Bechtel and his partners (including his brother Arthur) built the Klamath Highway in California. Over the next 20 years, he built up a sizeable contracting business that specialized in railroad and highway building. Bechtel, started as an employee of the burgeoning United States railroad industry in 1898 after his Oklahoma cattle ranch failed. Bechtel's long involvement with oil, power, and water overseas has become a focus of criticism by the growing anti-globalization and environmental movements.Д«echtel has always functioned as a family-owned company. The company owns and operates its own power plants, oil refineries, water systems, and airports in several countries including the United States, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Bush administration and Bechtel.ДЇor many years Bechtel has strongly advocated the privatization of utilities, highways, airports and other facilities traditionally managed by governments. Politicians in the United States and in Europe have made accusations of cronyism between the George W. Recently, the company has come under criticism for alleged mismanagement of the Big Dig project, its financial links to the bin Laden family, and the manner in which it received Iraqi rebuilding contracts after the U.S. The company also has strong ties to other governments, particularly the Saudi Royal Family. Bechtel has maintained strong relationships with officials in many United States administrations, including those of Reagan, George H. Bechtel's size, its political clout, and its penchant for privacy have made it a perennial target for journalists and politicians since the 1930s. The Bechtel family has owned Bechtel since setting up the company in the 1920s. It has also had involvement in several other high profile construction engineering projects, including the Chunnel, numerous power projects, including pipelines, refineries, and nuclear power plants, the BART, Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong International Airport, the Big Dig, and (from 2003) the rebuilding of the civil infrastructure of Iraq funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As of 2002, Bechtel had 47,000 employees working on 900 projects with $11.6 billion in revenue.Д«echtel participated in the building of the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. With headquarters in San Francisco, Bechtel ranks as the 6th-largest privately-owned company in the United States. Template:Infobox Company Bechtel Corporation ( Bechtel Group) is the largest civil engineering company in the world.

Warren a. bechtel railroad story