The PCL family of companies is a group of independent
general contracting
A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...
construction companies in Canada, the United States, Australia and the Caribbean. PCL has headquarters in
Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada, with the United States head office in
Denver,
Colorado.
History
PCL began operations in 1906 as Martin and Poole Construction, founded by James Martin and
Ernest Edward Poole (October 18, 1883 – March 12, 1964) in
Stoughton, Saskatchewan
Stoughton is a town in Saskatchewan, Canada. In 2011 it had a population of 649.
Stoughton was originally called ''New Hope''.
The tiny settlement of New Hope was barely three years old when the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) arrived in this ...
. Poole and Martin both returned to their homes on
Prince Edward Island for the winter of 1906–07, and Martin decided to remain and retire. Poole continued the company upon his return to Saskatchewan in spring 1907, and he changed the company name to E.E. Poole Contractors.
In 1913, Poole renamed the company to Poole Construction Company Limited. In 1932, the company was moved to its current corporate headquarters in Edmonton, Alberta.
In 1975, the company opened its U.S. head office in Denver, Colorado. Ernest Poole's sons, John Edward (1917–2007) and George Ernest (1921–1997), sold the company in 1977 to their 25 senior managers and
Great West Life. Poole Construction Company Limited changed its name to PCL Construction Ltd. in 1979.
Controversies
In March 2018, the company settled a $10.53 million lawsuit stemming from an incident in July 2017 which resulted in the loss of electrical power to more than 10,000 customers on Hatteras and Ocracoke Island. While performing construction on
Bonner Bridge, a steel casing was driven into an underground transmission cable, requiring a mandatory evacuation for visitors and resulting in much of the two islands being without power for 9 days.
References
External links
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Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States
Construction and civil engineering companies of Canada
Companies based in Edmonton
1906 establishments in Alberta
Employee-owned companies of Canada