NOOTER has been serving the refinery, chemical, power, and other industries for over 125 years. See our timeline below for some of the highlights in our history.
1880’s Seaman John Nooter sails from amsterdam. Experience in high-rigging on sea ships prompts John Nooter to take a job as a rigger for John O’Brien Boiler Works in St. Louis.
- 1896 The John Nooter Boiler Works Company is founded. Profits from painting lead to the purchase of a sheet-metal bending roll and John Nooter begins fabricating stacks and repairing boilers.
- 1897 Tom Ryan leaves his position with the John O’ Brien Boiler Works Company to work with his old friend, John Nooter, to erect a very large stack on the Old Lindell Hotel in St. Louis.
- 1900 John Eschmann, Sr., a boilermaker and rigger, joins the John Nooter Boiler Works Company.
- 1902 The John Nooter Boiler Works Company opens a shop on Main Street in St. Louis.
- 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair
- 1910 John Nooter Boiler Works Company begins manufacturing their signature horizontal return tubular boilers.
- 1911 John Nooter Boiler Works Company Erects a new plant at 1400 South Second Street, site of the current Nooter Construction Headquarters.
- 1924 The first electric welding machine is purchased by Nooter.
- 1944 John Nooter Boiler Works Company is awarded the Army Navy “E” Award for excellence in the production of tanks for culturing of life-saving penicillin, the construction of equipment for the synthetic rubber, 100 octane gasoline and explosive industries.
- 1944 John Nooter Boiler Works Company is awarded the Army Navy “E” Award for excellence in the production of tanks for culturing of life-saving penicillin, the construction of equipment for the synthetic rubber, 100 octane gasoline and explosive industries.
- 1952 The Metalizing division of the Nooter Corporation becomes St. Louis Metalizing and moves into its new facility at 625 S. Sarah in St. Louis..
- 1954 Nooter and Missouri Boiler merge.
- 1955 Nooter Corporation crafts incubation tanks for the mass production of the polio vaccine.
- 1956 Local 27 Boilermakers build a solid-gold tank as part of the first “portable” nuclear power plant. Metal for the tank and cast cost $14,000 (over $122,600 in 2021 dollars).
- 1960 Nooter Corporation constructs one of the nation’s first polysonic wind tunnels for McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (Boeing).
- 1960 With Mcdonnel Aircraft, Nooter constructs four experimental space capsules for NASA’s Project Mercury.
- 1961 Nooter completes its first refinery tower job in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
- 1961 Nooter begins using high-frequency sound to test for invisible flaws in construction of vessels for the nuclear industry.
- 1964 Nooter breaks records, constructing a 133-foot high prill tower in nine weeks.
- 1964 Nooter contracted by the U.S. Navy to construct deep diving titanium submarine hulls.
- 1964 A total of 5400 feet of rolled and welded plate pipe is constructed by Nooter to form the caisson section of the Poplar Street Bridge, crossing the Mississippi River in St. Louis.
- 1965 Nooter Corporation constructs a barge loading facility on the Mississippi River, near the main plant, between Rutger and Miller Streets.
- 1965 Nooter becomes one of the leading manufacturers of commercial brewing equipment with the introduction of Anheuser-Busch’s stainless steel STRAINMASTER.
- 1967 Nooter builds worlds’s largest acid plant in Louisiana.
- 1967 Unidynamics and Boeing tap Nooter craftsmen to construct the stainless steel foils for the Tucumcari Hydrofoil for the United States Navy.
- 1972 Nooter begins constructing Monsanto’s Enviro-Chem equipment for pollution control.
- 1978 Nooter Corporation implements its first computer-aided design system run by this room-sized computer system..
- 1980 Nooter Corporation opens new field facilities in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- 1981 Nooter contracted by the U.S. Navy to construct deep diving titanium submarine hulls.
- 1982 At 186 feet long and over 545,000 pounds, a 13-foot diameter tower breaks all records for the largest shipment ever to leave St. Louis by rail.
- 1983 The largest vessel ever to be post-weld-treated (stress relieved) by Nooter is erected in New Augusta, Mississippi.
- 1984 Nooter develops one of the industry’s first mobile field testing labs for welding.
- 1991 Nooter receives “E Star” Award for exporting by the United States Department of Commerce.
- 1991 A 120,000 lb reactor vessel fabricated by Nooter is shipped overseas to BP Chemical in England using the world’s largest cargo plane, the AN-124 Rusian.
- 1994 Nooter develops revolutionary new process used in the fabrication of stainless steel polymerization.
- 1996 Nooter creates a specialized “clean-room” used to reduce weld contamination on specialty fabrication projects.
- 1997 Nooter awarded the first ever ASME Division 3 Stamp Accreditation.
- 1997 Nooter participates in the construction of one of the first facilities to produce fine paper grades from recycled materials.
- 1998 Nooter joins with St. Louis Refrigerator Car Company to develop a specialized rail car used to transport the largest turbine in power generation history.
- 1999 Boeing and Raytheon tap Nooter for fabrication of the Delta IV Launch Complex Ground Support System at NASA’s Cape Canaveral Air Station.
- 2001 Nooter construction Power Services secures maintenance contract for PSEG.
- 2001 Nooter Construction replaces regenerator head, cyclones, piping, and 3rd stage separator for Conoco.
- 2004 Nooter Construction completed Sunoco Sulfur Recovery Unit Expansion.
- 2004 Nooter Construction completes the first ever super module replacement.
- 2005 Nooter Construction constructs the Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel Unit of Sunoco.
- 2006 Valero ALKY Revamp and expansion project conducted on the West Coast by Nooter Refinery Services. The project included setting 40 vessels, one that weighed 413,000 lbs. and one that weighed 213,000 lbs. Nooter also installed roughly 50,000 lift of piping.
- 2006 Nooter Refinery Services conducts a Crude Unit turnaround in St. Paul.
- 2007 Nooter Refinery Services completes a NSR project by removing existing equipment to make room for installation of a new waste heat boiler, SCR unit, Wet Gas Scrubber and all new duct work.
- 2007 Nooter Construction awarded COC for Fossil and Hydro Stations in the Northeast.
- 2007 Nooter Construction completes its largest project to date: A FCCU Revamp requiring 1 million man-hours.
- 2008 Nooter Construction erects two SDA Vessels and 4 additional tanks and 1 set of Lime Day Silos and 1 waste ash silo with stiffener rings for Dynergy. The SDA vessels were 54′ in diameter and 130′ tall.
- 2008 Nooter Construction completes first Electrical Services project- a Crude Heater Revamp for Valero.
- 2009 Nooter Power Services replaces 2 air heater baskets and rotors at a Missouri Power Generating station.
- 2009 Nooter Refinery Services conducts major upgrade to Alky unit located in Southern California. The project included piping, structural steel, electrical and exchanger installation.
- 2010 Nooter Construction removes and replaces a Waste Heat Boiler that was approximately 8′ in diameter and 80′ long.
- 2010 Nooter Construction conducts major FCC turnaround for Husky, in Lima, OH. The project included replacing the regen head and cyclones, air grid, and spent cat distributor. The project included major structural steel upgrades to the FCC structure and the addition of a Waste Heat Boiler.
- 2010 Nooter Construction erects 2 SDA vessels and 4 additional tanks and 2 sets of Lime Day Silos with Stiffener rings. The SDA vessels were 54′ in diameter and 130′ tall.
- 2011 Nooter Construction is awarded the PBF Energy Maintenance Contract at the Delaware City Refinery.
- 2011 Nooter Construction removes and replaces furnace upturn elbow at Illinois Steel Plant.
- 2011 Nooter construction with Nooter/Eriksen conducts repairs to HRSG that was damaged during hydro testing. Repairs included the removal and replacement of LP and IP system components and the replacement of a Deaerator Tank, Low Pressure Drum, Intermediate Pressure Drum, 8″ steam outlet line and a 12″.
- 2012 Nooter Construction restarts the Area 6 Platformer for Monroe Energy.
- 2012 Nooter Power Services installs new SOFA Air Registers, replaced 25 final super heat pendants and rebuilt 2 feed water heaters for Ameren.
- 2012 Nooter Construction is awarded “Key Contractor Award” for recognition of performance during Florida Power and Light’s Turkey Point Condenser Change out project.
- 2012 Nooter Refinery Services installs 2 waste heat boilers for BP Whiting.
- 2012 Nooter Refinery Services replaces existing regen air grid distribution system with new design, this project was challenging in that all materials had to pass through existing manway.
- 2013 Nooter Construction constructs first crude oil railcar offloading operation in the Northeast.
- 2013 Nooter Construction takes on concrete restoration and repair as part of COC contract at Hydro Stations.
- 2013 Nooter Construction takes the lead on EPC contract for Monroe Energy JetMax Project.
- 2013 Nooter Refinery Services conducts ExxonMobil FCCU turnaround and pre-assembly of a new reactor, regen head and cyclones..
- 2013 Nooter Construction takes part in revolutionizing the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex Phase I of the Mariner East Project.
- 2013 Nooter Construction Completes the construction of two Invenergy HRSG Units that were partially completed in 2002. Project was challenging due to the 5B Gr2 P-91 material.
2013 Nooter Construction Refinery Services moves and replaces BP Whiting FCU 600.
- 2013 Nooter Construction Refinery Services moves and replaces BP Whiting FCU 600.
- 2013 Replaced two Ploysonic Wind Tunnel Stilling chamber screens for Boeing originally constructed by Nooter Construction in 1954.
- 2014 Nooter Construction is awarded pump station fork for the Mariner East Pipeline.
- 2014 Nooter Construction Refinery Services completes the replacement of six Coke Drums and seismic structural steel upgrades for a large west coast refinery.
- 2014 Nooter Construction completes the C-5 Gasoline Splitter at the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex.
- 2014 Nooter Refinery Services performed pip and tank repairs for the first phase of an ethanol to biodiesel conversion project.
- 2014 Nooter Power Services completes the replacement of the Ameren Final Superheat Header and 141 FSH pendants during a fall 2014 Main Boiler Outage.
- 2015 Nooter Construction replaces the reactor, strippers, and ductwork while managing all mechanical and rigging work at this Lemont, IL refinery.
- 2016 Nooter Construction completes FCC/ALKY/VRDS major turnaround in Whiting, IN while finishing on schedule, under budget, and zero injury’s.
- 2016 Nooter Construction completes a 46 day shutdown with over 400,00 manhours to complete this FCC1, FCC2, Coker2, and Crude Heater turnaround in Toledo, OH.
- 2018 Nooter Construction awarded planned shutdown in El Segundo, CA to complete FCC, Reactor head and VSS Replacement, (2) 3rd Stage Replacements, (2) Cat Cooler Replacements, and all other FCC fixed equipment and associated piping. Completed in 52 days with over 200,000 manhours.
- 2018 Nooter Local Services begins in St. Louis, offering Boiler, HVAC-R, Mechanical, Electrical, and Millwright maintenance services around the region.
- 2019 Full Coker Unit turnaround, all Columns, Drums, Exchangers, piping, and Z&J Valves in McPherson, KS. Nooter Construction completed this turnaround in just 33 days with over 100,000 manhours.
- Nooter Construction and subsidiaries AMEX Nooter and RMF Nooter rebrand into NOOTER
