ABOUT OUR WORK SERVICES CONTACT WORK FOR SCHNABEL OUR HISTORY As a young man, Harry Schnabel, Jr. had a passion to create the best company in the foundation industry. Schnabel was created on April 6, 1959 to fulfill this passion. From the very beginning, Harry stressed integrity, performance, innovation, and competitiveness – all combined with excellent engineering and superior craftsmanship. He battled for the acceptance of more efficient design and construction methods, combined with important patents to produce further savings and quality. GET IN TOUCH 60 YEARS OF GROWTH Under Harry’s leadership, Schnabel became the recognized industry leader in earth retention systems and specialty foundations. Harry also realized he could not create this company on his own, so he surrounded himself with a team of individuals with a similar passion for excellence. Over the years, Schnabel has grown from a single office in Washington, DC to include multiple offices from coast-to-coast. We now employ numerous professional engineers and quality craftsmen who design and manage the construction projects in those offices. The experienced staff in our regional and branch offices have grown to know the local engineering and contracting community, and more importantly, have come to understand the local geology and working conditions. Having designed and built-in familiar soil conditions for decades has given us a confidence which is reflected in our consistent competitive pricing and safe, reliable performance. Schnabel continues to grow and improve with each successful project that we complete, and build on our rich history to create a bright future. “To this day we are guided by the principles of our founder Harry V. Schnabel Jr. and believe you have to plan, design and commit to a proven system for success; an efficient process where positive outcomes are an inevitable outcome.” ~Kevin Cargill, President A TALE OF TWO SCHNABELS Although started by two brothers, Schnabel Geostructural Design & Construction and Schnabel Engineering are two distinctly separate companies and are not affiliated in any way. Harry and Jim Schnabel were two of three brothers, the third being Robert. (All pictured opposite.) Growing up in Washington, Harry and Jim always enjoyed engineering and so both attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to get their engineering degrees, graduating in 1950 and 1952 respectively. After graduating from RPI, Jim spent three years in the Navy as a Civil Engineer Corps officer, then attended graduate school at Harvard to study soil mechanics under Arthur Casagrande. During that time Harry worked for several years in Morocco, Detroit and New York before returning home to head the Washington office of Spencer, White & Prentis (SWP), a leading New York firm that specialized in the design and construction of earth retention systems and underpinning. Harry and Jim reached the conclusion quite early that they should start their own company specializing in excavation support, but first, they would start a test drilling firm in the Washington area to allow Jim to become known to the local construction industry and become familiar with the subsurface conditions in that region. The drilling company was incorporated in June 1956 and called Foundation Test Service Inc. Soon after in 1959 they also founded Schnabel Foundation Company together and after 5 successful years, in 1964, the two brothers decided to split the companies so each could follow their preferred career path. Harry had a passion for design/build construction and Jim preferred consulting. They made an even trade for each other’s shares, which resulted in Harry taking ownership of Schnabel Foundation Company and Jim taking ownership of Foundation Test Service, Inc., which later became Schnabel Engineering Inc., and that is the abridged tale of the two companies called Schnabel. In 2019 Schnabel Foundation company changed it’s name to Schnabel Geostructural Design & Construction, a name that better reflects its modern day capabilities as not only an excavation support company, but a proven design/build contractor to the sector. Harry, Jim and Robert Schnabel C.1940 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF RECENT PROJECTS Schnabel is the sector’s most operationally efficient Geostuctural Design & Construction contractor. We optimize efficiencies by leveraging decades of experience and design/build expertise, to innovate processes and approaches that are consistently proven to deliver optimal outcomes for our clients. EXCAVATION SUPPORTJET GROUTINGLANDSLIDE WALLSMICROPILESPERMANENT RETAINING WALLSSECANT WALLSHOTCRETESOIL MIXING CONTRACTORSSOIL NAILINGTIEBACKSUNDERPINNING GEORGIAILLINOISCOLORADOTEXASPENNSYLVANIACALIFORNIAWASHINGTON DC GET IN TOUCHEMPLOYEE LOGIN © Copyright 2020 | Schnabel Geostructural Design & Construction | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy | Powered by Galileo Tech Media This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. LinkedIn Twitter Instagram YouTube Phone Email