Harrison Western has built mines, tunnels and heavy civil works since 1968 from its base in Lakewood, Colorado. The contractor’s services run to mine development, shaft and tunnel work, geo-construction and industrial projects, and it says it has completed more than $2.5 billion of work in dozens of countries. On the WIPP Ventilation System Upgrade near Carlsbad, New Mexico, Harrison Western was half of the Harrison Western-Shaft Sinkers joint venture that won a $75 million subcontract in August 2019 to sink the 26-foot-diameter, 2,275-foot utility shaft and drive two access tunnels. The joint venture, not Harrison Western alone, held that contract. Trade press reported the shaft at nearly full depth in October 2023.
Four sectors, and an ownership detail
Harrison Western organises its work into four published sectors rather than a service list: mining, heavy civil and industrial construction, geo-construction, and tunneling. Each has its own page. Mining development, heavy civil construction, tunneling and geo-construction are the four named capabilities, and the company describes its work as running coast to coast.
One descriptor on the about page is worth recording because it rarely appears on contractor sites and carries weight on federal and defence-adjacent work: the company identifies itself as American-owned and operated, in operation since 1968.
A separate line of business sits alongside the construction work. The company runs excess equipment sales, listed in its main navigation and footer rather than buried. For a contractor that owns shaft-sinking and tunneling plant, a standing used-equipment channel is a meaningful part of the operation, and it is a reason for owners and other contractors to be on the site at all.
How the firm describes the work it wants
The stated project-selection philosophy is explicit: the company seeks projects that challenge the conventional and that require innovation and creativity from its teams, and says it tackles jobs large or small with an intensity on which it has built an international reputation. Alongside that it names forward-thinking leadership and a personalised approach to every project, and claims constant development of new methods, technologies and ways to collaborate in order to deliver in complex environments.
Its two published figures are more than five decades of experience serving the mining and heavy civil industries, and projects completed in dozens of countries totalling in excess of $2.5 billion, with what the company describes as record-setting accomplishments among them. No headcount is published.
Where to find them
The headquarters is at 1208 Quail Street in Lakewood, Colorado, which the company describes as the west metro area of Denver, on (303) 234-0273 with a harwest.com email domain — a shorthand worth noting, since it differs from the harrisonwestern.com website address. An employment page and an industry-news mailing list are both maintained.
LinkedIn is the company’s only corporate social profile. Individual leadership profiles are linked from the site as well, including a chief executive and senior staff with PE and BCGE credentials, though the firm does not publish a consolidated team page listing those credentials as company accreditations.