engineering design and construction contractor based in brownsville wisconsin . with more than 5 000 employees in its 18 divisions michels is the largest construction company in wisconsin . it currently maintains nearly three dozen permanent office and yard locations from coast to coast as well as alberta canada . michels corporation industry utility engineering design and construction contractor founded 1959 brownsville wisconsin as michels pipeline construction headquarters brownsville wisconsin united states key people pat michels president tim michels vice president kevin michels vice president 1 number of employees 5 000 website www.michels.us michels is involved in various areas of utility construction including pipeline construction horizontal directional drilling deep foundations communications and pipe rehabilitation as well as sewer water and tunnel construction . the company is also involved in cable placements pipe restoration concrete paving vertical drilling road construction and electrical power infrastructure construction services as well as in trenching and construction of natural oil and gas projects . 2 michels corporation was founded as michels pipeline construction inc. but changed its name in 2001 to better reflect its utility construction services . 3 as of 2015 michels corporation is ranked no. 33 on the engineering news record top 400 contractors list . 4 5 in 2013 2014 and 2015 michels directional crossings won project of the year honors from trenchless technology magazine in the new installation category for its notable horizontal directional drill projects . 6 7 contents 1 history 2 operating divisions and subsidiaries 2.1 anderson bros. & johnson 2.2 michels stone 2.3 michels communications 2.4 michels directional crossings horizontal directional drilling 2.5 michels foundations 2.6 michels materials aggregates road building 2.7 michels paving 2.8 michels pipeline construction 2.9 michels pipe services 2.10 michels power 2.11 michels tunneling 2.12 michels wind energy 2.13 continental fabrication services cfs 2.14 pilchuck contractors 2.15 michels canada 3 references history edit corporate headquarters in brownsville wisconsin 2014 dale michels founded the company in 1959 as a gas pipeline construction company and provided services to wisconsin utilities . in 1963 michels began providing outside plant construction and installation of buried telephone cable systems . the company expanded again in 1970 forming a sewer water and tunnel division . 8 in 1976 michels began producing crushed aggregates to supply materials for various road and building construction projects throughout eastern wisconsin . the next year 1977 michels began constructing rural water distribution systems throughout the northern plains . as part of this development the company constructed water mains laterals and residential water service . michels branched out into fiber optic cable systems in 1983 . the company built customized equipment including the design and fabrication of rail mounted cable plows . in 1988 michels began a new method known as horizontal directional drilling to construct underground utilities . 9 the company expanded on this when it designed and manufactured the most powerful directional drilling rig to date in 1996 . the rig was called hercules 1200 for its 1 200 000 pounds of push pullback . michels acquired superior electric company of appleton wisconsin in 1997 and changed the name to michels power . the company also established michels directional crossings co. in canada . two years later michels acquired redmond washington based pilchuck contractors inc. to add to its west coast capabilities . michels also manufactured a second hercules 1200 in 1999 . 10 in 2001 what had been michels pipeline construction became michels corporation due to the wide array of services the company had become involved in . michels corporation continued expanding in 2002 acquiring bbc as part of its mid america line and cable division . michels also acquired anderson bros. & johnson of wausau wisconsin the only company to mine deep red granite in north america . in 2003 the company also added yet another division in michels drilled foundations . michels mid american line and cable changed its name to michels communications in 2004 . the company also made another move on the west coast acquiring the cured in place pipe business of gelco services inc. based in salem ore . the pipe rehabilitation operations are now called michels pipe services . michels also manufactured another drilling rig the dd 840 bringing its total fleet to more than 65 drilling rigs . michels paving was formed in 2005 offering paving services to public and private sectors . this move was bolstered by the assets of recently acquired pcc construction co. and its sister companies . 11 12 in 2007 michels sewer water and tunnel division took on a new identity as michels tunneling . 13 in 2009 michels celebrated its 50th anniversary . 14 in 2011 michels acquired continental fabrication services a full service pipe fabrication operation in carrollton mo. in 2012 michels acquired the foundations business of edward e. gillen co. and renamed it michels foundations . 15 in 2014 michels launched its mi con division to provide customers with solutions to dewatering issues . 16 in 2015 michels civil was established to perform heavy civil environmental remediation and governmental work . operating divisions and subsidiaries edit this section contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . january 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message anderson bros. & johnson edit anderson bros. & johnson is a wausau wisconsin based company that mines the only deep red granite in north america . the company has been in operation since 1895 and is one of the oldest continuously operating mining companies in the united states . 17 wausau red granite is one of the hardest granites in the world and its unique characteristics helped earn its designation as the official state stone of wisconsin . 18 anderson bros. & johnson supplies sierra rose granite wausau red granite wisconsin lavender grey quartzite and wisconsin silver grey granite for a multitude of uses including monuments sculptures countertops tiles building stone landscape stone armor stone for erosion protection and crushed stone for road and building construction . 19 michels stone edit michels stone is based in fond du lac wisconsin and supplies building stone products and dimensional cut stone products . michels stone supplies a wide range of stone to architects owners and builders . 20 originally fond du lac stone michels stone was started more than 60 years ago . fond du lac stone partnered with michels in 1997 . the company currently has five quarries in wisconsin appleton beaver dam door county fond du lac stoneybrook from which it supplies full dimension building stone thin veneer building stone landscape stone for pathways gardens retaining walls and parks specialty cut limestone for fireplace mantels hearths and sills and stone matched to existing buildings . 21 22 michels communications edit michels communications is a division of michels corporation that operates full service communications construction facilities throughout the continental united states . 23 the company services outside plant construction aerial buried and underground construction cable pulling and blowing splicing testing and cutover of copper coax and fiber optics directional drilling routine line extension and major plow crews service wire installation fiber to the home ftth technology telephone and broadband catv installation residential business urban rural applications structured cabling fiber optic splicing and testing services copper and coax cable splicing fiber optic fusion splicing optical time domain reflectometer otdr and power meter testing 24 hour restoration service underground and aerial fiber optics and ftth applications . 24 michels directional crossings horizontal directional drilling edit michels directional crossings is a division specializing in land and marine horizontal directional drilling hdd . michels has completed pipe installations of up to 60 inches in diameter crossing spans of more than 15 000 feet . 25 26 michels directional crossings has been internationally recognized for establishing numerous industry records . hdd work done near boston in 2004 received project of the year honors from trenchless technology magazine . the magazine honored michels directional crossings again in 2006 with two awards one for project of the year a 7 600 foot 2 300 m 20 inch diameter 510 mm crossing under the st. lawrence river in canada and one for honorable mention for an 8 400 foot 2 600 m 10 inch diameter 250 mm crossing under choctawhatchee bay in destin florida . 27 michels directional crossings has more than 65 drilling rigs some of which are capable of 1.2 million pounds of drilling thrust and pulling power . the company also provides large scale custom fabricated drilling equipment . 28 michels foundations edit michels foundations is a division with a fleet of vertical drilling machines capable of drilling shafts with diameters of more than 20 feet 6.1 m and to depths of greater than 175 feet 53 m . michels foundations specializes in caisson construction pilings sheet micropiles macropiles pipe piles and h piles soldier piles helical piers pile driving civil site construction design build foundations earth retention marine construction substation construction transmission line foundations soil nails tiebacks shaft construction small and large diameter wind turbine foundation drilling and vertical drilling . 29 michels materials aggregates road building edit michels materials is the largest aggregate producer in wisconsin operating more than 100 limestone quarries and gravel pits . 30 the company is a wisconsin department of transportation road building contractor that operates quarries and sand and gravel deposits throughout the state . the company supplies a wide variety of crushed aggregates for the construction industry . 31 32 michels materials has highway construction operations varying from specialized underdrain systems and shouldering to complete construction of roadways including base course placement and grading . 33 it operates an inventory of mining and crushing equipment including mobile crushing plant spreads mobile wash plants and screening plants used for the separation of specific aggregate sizes and types . it is also involved in custom aggregate crushing for other contractors and municipalities . 34 michels paving edit michels paving provides concrete paving services to both the public and private sectors . michels paving got its start in 2005 when michels corporation purchased the assets of pcc construction co. and pcc transport both of two rivers wis. 35 michels paving is a member of the wisconsin transportation builders association and participates in concrete paving of highways airport construction and rehabilitation concrete parking lots and driveways for the retail industrial and commercial industries concrete loading zones for industrial applications . 36 37 michels pipeline construction edit michels pipeline construction is a cross country oil and natural gas utility pipeline contractor and the oldest division of michels corporation dale michels conceived the idea to found michels pipeline construction when he was working as a pipeline welder . given the growing demand for gas distribution infrastructure he approached his brother in law ted koenigs and ted s business partner jim michel to join in the new venture . 38 michels originally planned to take advantage of the gas infrastructure industry and then move on to something else but michels pipeline construction gradually grew to the point that the entire company was rebranded michels corporation in 2001 . this allowed michels pipeline construction to live on in its current form where it works in the following areas mainline and distribution pipeline construction interstate and intrastate pipelines compressor stations pumping stations metering and regulator stations maintenance and repair gathering systems and storage facilities odorizer facilities and river crossings emergency repair and steam lines high voltage underground construction and water lines . 39 40 michels pipe services edit michels pipe services is notable for its ability to rehabilitate existing pipes without the need to break ground . michels pipe services picked up project of the year from trenchless technology in 2007 for relining 4 000 feet 1 200 m of 60 inch pipe in milwaukee wis. trenchless technology also honored michels pipe services in 2008 . 41 michels pipe services works in