Wright Brothers Construction is a family-owned heavy civil contractor headquartered in Charleston, Tennessee, that self-performs grading, highway, bridge, landfill and industrial sitework across the Southeast. Owners vetting the firm and job seekers researching it want the same four facts: what it builds, where it works, how it staffs up, and which claims hold up against public records. Below is that picture, with the marketing language separated from the verifiable record.
Wright Brothers Construction at a Glance
| Detail | What the record shows |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1961 |
| Founders | Brothers James and Robert Wright |
| Headquarters | 1500 Lauderdale Memorial Hwy NW, Charleston, TN 37310 |
| Main phone | (423) 336-2261 |
| Business type | Family-owned heavy civil general contractor |
| Core work | Grading, site development, highway and bridge, landfill, asphalt, aggregates, concrete, industrial maintenance |
| Active states | Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia |
| Workforce | 400+ employees and 500 pieces of equipment, near 700 in peak season |
| Classification codes | SIC 16 / 161, NAICS 23 / 237 |
Wright Brothers Construction Co., Inc., based in Charleston, Tennessee, was founded in 1961 by two brothers, James and Robert Wright.
Public business records list the company at 1500 Lauderdale Memorial Hwy NW in Charleston and name Stephen D. Wright as owner.
The origin story is simple and well documented. The brothers borrowed their father's bulldozer and helped neighbors dig out ponds, and that work ethic shaped the general contractor the firm became.
What Wright Brothers Construction Builds
The company self-performs most of what it sells, which is the core of its pitch to owners. Wright Brothers states it can self-perform all major items of work on a project, which lets it control budget and schedule.
Design and construction services include grading, site development, highway and bridge construction, landfill construction, asphalt production and paving, aggregate processing, commercial concrete services and industrial maintenance.
Underneath those headings sit the sub-trades crews handle in house:
- Asphalt paving, earth and rock excavation
- Drilling and blasting, plus crushing and screening of rock
- Graded stone placement and storm drainage
- Leachate collection and utility installation
- Foundation work, steel erection, bridge work and erosion control
Contract scopes cover bridges and structures, base construction, sewer and water lines, surfacing and bituminous paving, clearing, grading, drainage, excavation and landscaping.
Where It Works and Who It Builds For
The company reports completed projects in nearly every Southeastern state for various state Departments of Transportation and private industry, with current projects in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Earlier coverage also lists work in Mississippi and South Carolina.
Public agency work is the backbone. Since 1961 the firm has built airports, bridges, highways, landfills and sites across the Southeast.
Recent Tennessee DOT work includes a design build interchange project where crews set prefabricated sound barrier panels on drilled caissons.
Any prime contractor bidding that kind of work has to clear a state gate first. TDOT requires all contractors bidding as prime to be prequalified and in good standing before a proposal form is issued. You can check the current roster yourself through the TDOT contractor prequalification program, which publishes a dated list of prequalified firms.
TDOT also requires prime contractors to hold a Tennessee license in the general classification matching the work, such as Heavy Construction (HC), Highway, Railroad, Airport Construction (HRA) or Municipal and Utility Construction (MU). Those two letters tell you more about a bidder's real scope than any brochure.
Divisions and Related Entities
The Wright Brothers name covers more than one legal entity, and knowing which one signs your contract matters.
| Entity | Market served | Signature work |
|---|---|---|
| Wright Brothers Construction Co., Inc. | State DOT and heavy civil transportation | Interstates, state routes, bridges, airport runways |
| Wright Brothers Contracting, Inc. | Municipal, utility, mining, commercial | Landfill cells, mass excavation, blasting, crushing |
| Industrial sitework group | Manufacturing and plant sites | Mass grading, plant pads, industrial maintenance |
Better Business Bureau records list three locations under the Wright Brothers name and show Wright Brothers Contracting, Inc. as a related entity, with Anthony Boals, P.E. among the listed contacts.
Wright Brothers Contracting markets itself as a commercial grade construction provider across the Southeast.
Scale is the differentiator the company leans on. It describes itself as one of the largest civil contractors in the Southeastern United States, drawing on over 400 employees and 500 pieces of construction equipment.
Its fleet has been reported to include D10 bulldozers, 651 scrapers, Komatsu 1250 trackhoes and 80 ton rigid frame dump trucks.
The firm says it has moved hundreds of millions of cubic yards of soil across silts, clays, limestone, sandstone and granite.
Safety and Field Management
The company says it uses teams of qualified construction professionals to complete jobs safely, on time and within budget. That framing is common in heavy civil. The test is what the program actually covers.
Any credible heavy equipment safety program has to address the hazard categories in OSHA's construction standards at 29 CFR 1926, including excavation, fall protection, cranes and struck by hazards. Before signing, ask for three things:
- The firm's experience modification rate (EMR) for the last three years
- OSHA 300 logs for the same period
- The name and certification of the safety manager assigned to your job
Culture signals matter too. One Wright Brothers paving crew in Bradley County, Tennessee, was cross trained by combining two crews and running two pavers, an approach the company credits with building skills and resilience.
Careers and Pay at Wright Brothers Construction
The company employs skilled and experienced construction professionals and staffs around 700 people in peak season. Heavy civil headcount swings with the construction calendar, which is why employee counts from data aggregators rarely match company figures.
Use federal data to sanity check any offer. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for construction equipment operators was $59,600 in May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent under $41,550 and the highest 10 percent above $100,660.
About 42,500 openings for these operators are projected each year over the decade.
Career paths at the firm are not limited to operators. One employee profiled by AGC East Tennessee moved from a surveying program into construction management, worked out of state, then joined Wright Brothers after meeting vice president Tony Boals.
How to Verify Any Heavy Civil Contractor
This is where most company profile pages stop short. Third-party databases and company marketing frequently disagree, so treat the company's own site as one source, not the only one. Run this five step check before you shortlist any heavy civil GC:
- Pull the state DOT prequalified list. It is dated, public and updated regularly. If the firm is not on it, it cannot bid your state road job as prime.
- Match the license classification to your scope. A landfill cell and an airport taxiway sit under different classifications.
- Confirm the legal entity. Ask which corporation signs, bonds and insures the contract, especially when a parent and an affiliate share a brand name.
- Request EMR plus OSHA 300 logs. Numbers, not slogans.
- Ignore aggregator headcounts. Seasonal heavy civil staffing makes them unreliable, so ask for the crew count and superintendent assigned to your project instead.
Hiring a Contractor in New Jersey Instead
Wright Brothers works the Southeast, so a Tennessee heavy civil GC is not the answer for a New Jersey project. The vetting logic still transfers: verify the license, confirm the legal entity, ask for safety numbers, and check that the firm self-performs the scope that drives your schedule.
If your project is in New Jersey, our team at Lion I Construction handles that work directly. We serve owners across Bridgewater, Branchburg and Bedminster with:
- General contracting for full scope residential and commercial builds
- Commercial construction and tenant fitups
- Structural framing and masonry repair
For a similar breakdown of another regional heavy civil firm, see our guide to D Construction in Coal City, Illinois.
Ready to price a project? Get a free estimate and we will walk your site, define the scope and put real numbers on paper.
FAQ
When was Wright Brothers Construction founded and where is it headquartered?
It was founded in 1961 by brothers James and Robert Wright and is based in Charleston, Tennessee.
The headquarters address is 1500 Lauderdale Memorial Hwy NW, Charleston, TN 37310.
How many employees does Wright Brothers Construction have?
Company materials cite over 400 employees and 500 pieces of construction equipment.
Peak season staffing runs around 700 people. Third-party data providers list different numbers because heavy civil crews scale seasonally.
Who owns Wright Brothers Construction?
It remains family owned. Business records list Stephen D. Wright as owner, with Robert Wright and Anthony Boals, P.E. also named on the profile.
What industry is Wright Brothers Construction in?
It is a heavy civil construction firm covering highway, bridge, landfill and site work. Its listed classification codes are SIC 16 and 161 and NAICS 23 and 237.
What states does Wright Brothers Construction work in?
Current projects are listed in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Past work has also been reported in Mississippi and South Carolina.
Is this company connected to the Wright brothers of aviation?
No. The name comes from founders James and Robert Wright, who started the business in Tennessee in 1961. There is no link to Orville and Wilbur Wright.
What is the hiring process like?
Openings are posted on the company's careers channels and on major job boards. Candidates commonly research salaries, office locations and work life balance through employer review platforms before applying. Confirm any offer directly with the company's main office line rather than through unsolicited texts.
How do I check whether a heavy civil contractor is prequalified?
Search your state DOT's prequalified contractor list, then confirm the license classification with the state licensing board. In Tennessee, prime bidders must be prequalified and in good standing before TDOT will issue a proposal form.
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Reviewed by the Lion I Construction project management team. We build and vet commercial and residential scopes in New Jersey every week, and we apply the same license, entity and safety document checks described above before we sign a subcontractor. Questions on a project? Contact us.
