1954: Founded as Jacobs Associates by J. Donovan Jacobs (Don Jacobs)
1956: Incorporated as a California corporation
1956: Construction engineering and temporary works design for the Tooma–Tumut Tunnel on Australia’s Snowy Mountains Scheme
1957: Design of a conveyor for 20 million tons of earth materials for Trinity Dam in California
1959: Don Jacobs patents the Jacobs Sliding Floor
1960s
1960: Design of drill jumbo and hydraulic booms for Oroville Tunnels in California
1963: John Nichols and Don Jacobs develop pioneering software for construction cost estimating
1963: First construction claims project on the Saigon International Airport in Vietnam
1964: Design of collapsible tunnel lining forms, which are implemented with simultaneous excavation of the Manapouri Tailrace Tunnel in New Zealand
1964–1970: Planning, temporary works design, and disputes resolution for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system; prefab excavation bracing revolutionizes cut-and-cover tunneling
1967 and 1975: Design of drill jumbo for construction of Eisenhower and Johnson Memorial Tunnels in Colorado
1970s
1970: Design of headframe and hoist for City Water Tunnel No. 3 in New York
1971–1987: Temporary works design for 24 underground contracts for DC’s Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) system
1972: BART opens for public service in the San Francisco Bay Area
1972: Development of the Rock Structure Rating tunnel support classification system by Henry Tiedemann and George Wickham
1974: Jim Wilton becomes second company president
1976: WMATA opens for public service in Washington, DC
1976: Design of falsework for the California State Capitol Building
1979: Publication of “Cut-and-Cover Tunneling” by FHWA, a three-volume guideline for design and construction produced by four principals and associates, widely used in the industry for more than two decades
1980s
1980: Construction of North Outfall Consolidation N-2 Tunnel, the first use of an earth pressure balance machine in the United States
1980: Don Jacobs receives Golden Beaver Award
1981–1985: Progressive opening for public use of the MURLA City Loop in Melbourne; construction management led by Allen Neyland and A.M. “Pete” Petrofsky
1985: John Nichols becomes third company president
1987: Jim Wilton receives Golden Beaver Award
1990s
1992: Norbert Tracy becomes fourth company president
1993: Allen Neyland posthumously receives the prestigious Tunnelling Achievement Award from the Australian Tunnelling Society, now renamed the Allen Neyland Tunnelling Achievement Award
1993: LA Metro Red Line MOS-1 opens for public service in Los Angeles
1996: Islais Creek Contract E Transport Storage Tunnels commissioned in San Francisco
1998: A.M. “Pete” Petrofsky receives Golden Beaver Award
1999: Bill Edgerton becomes fifth company president
2000s
2000: City Link Tunnels open to traffic in Melbourne
2001: M5 East Motorway Tunnels opened for traffic in Sydney with first widespread use of permanent rock bolts in Australian tunnels
2002: John Stolz develops the company’s proprietary construction cost estimating software
2002: Hollywood Water Quality Improvement Project commissioned in Los Angeles
2003: MetroWest Water Supply Tunnel commissioned, which included design of 18 miles of high-pressure tunnels
2003: Early use of pilot tube microtunneling to construct a seawater barrier in Los Angeles
2004: Tren Urbano opened for public service Puerto Rico
2004: Chattahoochee Sewer Tunnel commissioned in Atlanta
2004: Northeast Interceptor Sewer commissioned in Los Angeles
2004: Upper Diamond Fork Tunnel commissioned in Utah
2006: Willamette River CSO Program West Side CSO Tunnel is commissioned in Portland, utilizing the first large-diameter slurry TBM in the United States
2007: Acquisition of Milbor Pita, specialists in geotechnical and rail tunnel engineering
2007: Claremont Tunnel Seismic Upgrade commissioned, crossing the active Hayward Fault with a unique base-isolated tunnel
2008: Recommended Contract Practices for Underground Construction published (Editor: Bill Edgerton)
2008: Narragansett Bay Commission CSO Project Phase 1 commissioned in Providence, Rhode Island
2009: Inland Feeder Arrowhead Tunnels, designed to accommodate severe fault rupture and high hydrostatic head, commissioned in Southern California
2009: Canada Line opened for public service in Vancouver, British Columbia, ahead of the Winter Olympic Games
2009: Longest 84-inch-diameter microtunnel at the time completed for the Willamette River CSO Program in Portland, Oregon
2010s
2010: Willamette River CSO Program East Side CSO Tunnel is commissioned in Portland, with Swan Island Pump Station designed as one of the largest permanent diaphragm wall shafts ever constructed in soil
2011: New Crystal Springs Bypass Tunnel commissioned in San Mateo, California
2011: First use of the cutter soil mixing method in the United States for microtunneling shafts, on Old River Crossing in California and Balch Consolidation Conduit in Oregon
2011: Dan Adams becomes sixth company president
2011: Brightwater Conveyance System commissioned in Seattle
2011: Northern Sewerage Project Stages 1 and 2 commissioned in Melbourne
2011: Acquisition of GeoEngineers branch office in Walnut Creek, California
2011: Longest microtunneling length of steel casing without intermediate jacking stations on Portsmouth Force Main in Portland
2012: Bill Edgerton receives Golden Beaver Award
2012: Isabelle Lamb becomes firm’s first female principal
2012: San Vicente Tunnel commissioned in San Diego
2012: Airport Link opens in Brisbane
2013: Largest one-pass microtunnel using fiberglass jacking pipe on the Brightwater Marine Outfall Connector
2014: Bay Tunnel under San Francisco Bay is commissioned
2015: Merger with McMillen LLC
2015: New Irvington Tunnel commissioned in Hayward, California
2015: Blue Plains Tunnel completed as part of the DC Water Clean Rivers Project
2016: University Link Extension opens for public service in Seattle
2016: Evergreen Extension opens for public service in Vancouver, British Columbia
2017: Anacostia River Tunnel completed as part of the DC Water Clean Rivers Project
2017: Waterview Tunnel opens for traffic in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, New Zealand
2017: Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel commissioned in Vancouver, British Columbia
2018: Design of first-of-its-kind post-tensioned segmental lining ring for Los Angeles Ocean Outfall
2019: Grant Finn and Sean Peterfreund patent a Tieback Anchor Alignment and Access Device, which makes building tieback de-tensioning easier
2019: M4 East Tunnel opens for traffic, with an original triple cell ventilation shaft construction
2019: Confederation Line opens for public service in Ottawa
2019: Watercare’s Army Bay Ocean Outfall Replacement in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland breaks records as the longest pipeline drive ever installed by the Herrenknecht Direct Pipe system
2019: Second Edition of Recommended Contract Practices for Underground Construction published (Editor: Sarah Wilson)
2020s
2020: Victor Romero becomes seventh company president
2020: Dan Adams receives Golden Beaver Award
2021: The Northgate Link Extension is opened for public service in Seattle
2021: Doan Valley Storage Tunnel completed in Cleveland
2021: Snells Algies Outfall breaks the previous record for longest Direct Pipe in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, New Zealand
2022: Bill Edgerton receives Lifetime Achievement Award from the Underground Construction Association of SME
2022: Split-off of Water Resources Division
2022: The Central Subway opens for public service in San Francisco
2023: North America’s largest diameter and curved microtunnel drive completed in Calgary