Company history
Since its inception, the company has been
involved in big infrastructure projects.
In 1903, in just its first year in business,
McLean built a two-mile-long railroad trestle
bridge in North Carolina and a five-milelong
seawall in Charleston, S.C.
America’s entry into World War I lead
to a steady stream of contracts for McLean to
build docks and railroad yards for the Navy.
During the 1920s and 30s, McLean
built or refurbished many of the docks,
Image courtesy of McLean Contracting Company
The Baltimore
(pictured)
is one of
McLean’s four
large-capacity
floating cranes
with a rating
between 150
and 350 tons
piers, bulkheads and railroad yards at Naval
Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va.
McLean’s workforce swelled to nearly
2,200 during World War II, and the company
earned several commendations from the armed
forces for its contributions to the war effort.
“As recently as 2006, we were tearing
out piers at Norfolk Naval Station that we
had built in the 1930s and rebuilding them,”
said Blevins.
After the war, McLean parlayed its
reputation for quality and integrity into
contracts to build and refurbish naval shipyards
and ports across the Mid-Atlantic
region, including the Newport News and
Philadelphia shipyards, and the Seagirt and
Dundalk marine terminals in Baltimore.
The way forward
McLean maintained its historical average of
300 employees through the recent economic
downturn and consistently averages between
$65 and $75 million in annual revenue.
McLean currently has 10 projects in
the works – including a $78-million bridge
replacement for the City of Virginia Beach,
Va. and a $194-million road improvement
joint venture in Chesapeake, Va.
“Projects are no longer just $45 to
$55-million jobs,” said Blevins. “Increasingly
we find projects being advertised in the hundreds
of millions of dollars. Partnering up
with fellow contractors for the larger joint
venture pursuits and design-build projects
is the wave of the future.”
McLean’s membership in the PDCA’s
Mid-Atlantic Chapter has been a boon for
the company.
“It’s a great networking opportunity
and a great opportunity to meet with suppliers,
vendors and, of course, all the suppliers
of the different piling products,” said Blevins.
Since 2006, McLean has been 100 percent
employee owned under an Employee
Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
“We’ve found that every employee from
management to labor is vested in the company
and has a part in whether the company
does well or not,” Blevins said.
Blevins, a 29-year company veteran,
says that McLean attracts good, knowledgeable
people who tend to stay a long time and
grow with the company.
“We’ve got a lot of creative people with
a lot of experience that’s been passed down
over the generations,” he said. “We always
approach our work ethically and fairly. This
makes us a company that people respect and
like to do business with.” t
Eiffel
T R A D I NG
1-800-541-7998
sellyourpile.com
Service, Sales & Rentals of all pile
driving equipment and accessories has
been our business for over 25 years.
GeoQuip Inc.
1111 Cavalier Blvd,
Chesapeake, VA 23323
Phone: 757-485-2500
Fax: 757-485-5631
www.geoquip.biz
• Impact Hammers, Hydraulic & Diesel
• Vibratory Hammers • Hydraulic Drills / Auger Cast
• Swinging & Fixed Leads
Call today and let us work for you.
757-485-2500
84 | QUARTER 1 2015
/sellyourpile.com
/www.geoquip.biz
