Great Lakes Dredge & Dock history

1892: Lydon & Drews provides shoreline work for the Columbian Exposition.

In 1894 the firm built its first rig, appropriately named "Dredge No.

The latter was incorporated in 1905 in New Jersey because of that state's favorable corporate laws.

By 1917 Great Lakes had acquired six more companies, including two in Buffalo (New York) and two in Milwaukee (Wisconsin), to conquer all of the Great Lakes ports.

Great Lakes suffered a shock in 1918 with the loss of its cofounder and president, William Lydon.

Markham became the sixth president of Great Lakes in August 1938, and the company finished the year with robust revenues of $20.1 million and earnings of $2.2 million.

In 1939 Great Lakes undertook a huge dredging job at Lake Charles, Louisiana, and bought a competing dredge company.

Also in 1954, Freeley retired, and William Lydon's son, Eugene, was named president of Great Lakes.

Gene Lydon was felled by a massive heart attack on November 22, 1963, just hours before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

Revenues for 1975 hit more than $56.9 million and earnings were $4.5 million.

The following year revenues were steady at $57.0 million but earnings nearly doubled to $8.1 million in 1976.

A new president and chief executive also brought a new perspective to Great Lakes as Doug B. Mackie, who had joined the firm as corporate counsel in 1978, took the reins.

At the end of the decade, in 1979, Great Lakes International, Inc. was created as a holding company for the firm's growing assets.

Great Lakes agreed to Itel's friendly takeover, selling the entirety of its stock at $62.50 per share in November 1985.

In 1986, the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (the so-called “Deep Ports” legislation) improved United States transportation infrastructure by deepening major United States ports—much of which was performed by the company.

1990: Great Lakes celebrates its centennial.

The work performed on the Kinzie Street Bridge conformed to specifications and did pass City inspection upon completion in 1991.

In 1992 Great Lakes became embroiled in a series of lawsuits due to repair work on a bridge in Chicago.

By the year 2000 Great Lakes maintained its status as the United States' top dredging firm, with an ever increasing fleet of dredging and digging equipment.

In 2003 Great Lakes was the first American firm to begin work in war-torn Iraq, at the Umm Qasr Port.

2004: Great Lakes wins several new contracts in the Persian Gulf.