PITTSBURGH _ Few companies doing work with 21st-century infrastructure have as deep a history in the 20th _ and even 19th _ century as American Bridge Co.
When the company was formed as part of U.S. Steel in 1900 by financier J.P. Morgan through the merger of 28 other companies, 90 percent of the country's public and commercial bridge construction was controlled by American Bridge, a staggering figure that no company comes even close to approaching now.
Over the next century, it was part of the construction of some of the most iconic buildings and bridges in the world _ from the Chrysler Building in New York to the San Francisco Bay Bridge and most of the bridges in downtown Pittsburgh.
Despite that history, not that long ago it was uncertain if American Bridge would make it to the 21st century.
Following the closure of its massive fabrication plant in Ambridge (a Pittsburgh-area town named after the company) in 1984 and its spinoff from U.S. Steel in 1987, American Bridge floundered for much of the next decade. It earned as little as $32 million in annual revenue in 1994, and bankruptcy was a possibility, before beginning its long road back to relevance and increased revenue.
Michael Cegelis joined the company near that low point in 1995, helping set up its then-new Florida office.
He saw the company struggling from the inside, even as he knew well its history of success.
"My dad was an engineer for U.S. Steel and was frequently on loan to American Bridge," said Cegelis, 60, now the company's senior vice president of marketing and development. "So I kind of grew up knowing the company.
"It's not the same footprint of the large number of workers we used to have, but it's the same business," he said. "And I think this is the story of Pittsburgh."
"Pittsburgh's economy has moved from a larger manufacturing base with thousands of shop floor workers to technology based," said Cegelis. "That's sad for places like McKeesport and Ambridge, but for a new generation that is ever more educated, there's a vibrant future.
"And we're thriving. There's a demand for what we do."
