Dillingham Construction

Dillingham Construction International, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Engineering and construction
Founded	1889
Founder	Walter F. Dillingham
Headquarters	Ponca City , United States
Area served	United States, international
Key people	Lowell Dillingham (former president)
Products	Construction services, engineering services

Dillingham Construction International, Inc. (abbreviated as DCII) is a U.S.-based firm specializing in engineering and construction services, with its main office located in Ponca City, Oklahoma. The company originated in 1889 when entrepreneur Walter F. Dillingham founded the Oahu Railway and Land Company to construct a railroad supporting sugar cane operations on Oahu, Hawaii. Over time, it evolved into what is now recognized as Dillingham Construction.

History

In 1902, Walter F. Dillingham launched the Hawaiian Dredging and Construction Co. A decade later, in 1912, he purchased 84 acres from the former Bernice P. Bishop Estate for Waikiki's development, which included significant undertakings such as the Ala Wai Canal.

Leadership passed to Walter’s son, Lowell Dillingham, in 1961. He managed the 1960 consolidation of Hawaiian Dredging and the Oahu Railway into the publicly traded Dillingham Corporation. Among the company’s prominent ventures was the $30 million Ala Moana Center shopping mall completed in 1959. The 1960s marked a period of international expansion during which Dillingham executed major infrastructure projects encompassing dams, airports, skyscrapers, hotels, and diplomatic buildings.

In 1983, private investors purchased the enterprise for $347 million. After Lowell Dillingham’s passing in 1987, the corporate headquarters shifted from San Francisco to Pleasanton, California in 1988.

Controversy

During the 1970s in San Francisco and again in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, the company encountered serious difficulties including accusations of inflated billing practices, substandard construction quality, onsite discriminatory behavior, and misrepresentation concerning minority participation. These issues led to legal disputes and financial strain between 2000 and 2003, ultimately resulting in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that year.

Notable projects

• Pearl Harbor dry docks (1909), Oahu, Hawaii
• Beverly Wilshire Hotel (1928), Beverly Hills, California
• Griffith Park Observatory (1935), Los Angeles, California
• Hilton Hawaiian Village (1955), Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
• Ala Moana Shopping Center (1966), Oahu, Hawaii
• 44 Montgomery (1962–1967), Financial District, San Francisco, California
• Harbor View Plaza (1968), Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii
• One Embarcadero Center (1971), Embarcadero area, San Francisco
• Grand Hyatt San Francisco (1972), Embarcadero district, San Francisco
• 50 California Street (1972), Financial District, San Francisco
• New Melones Dam (1979), near Jamestown, California
• BC Place (1983), Vancouver, Canada
• Bayraklı Tunnels (1999), Izmir Province, Turkey
• Tunneling works for North East MRT Line at Outram Park and HarbourFront stations, Singapore
• U.S. Embassies located in Singapore and Moscow
• Sakkara Air Base
• Tahoe Keys development in California
• Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center

References

• Yardley, Paul T. "Millstones and Milestones: The Career of B. F. Dillingham" (1981, University of Hawaii Press).