About Us

Your Success is Our Passion

At Kirkham Michael,
Your Success Is Our Passion

Kirkham Michael employs results-oriented professionals who are committed to providing quality, responsive, and professional services. We’re focused on our client’s success and strive to exceed expectations with innovative and practical solutions.
Our motto, “Your Success Is Our Passion,” is not just for the clients and the communities we serve. It’s an internal attitude among our team. Our leadership and entrepreneurial corporate culture fuel success for both our clients and our employees.

Our Core Values

Respect for People

Respect for People

We value and treat everyone with dignity and courtesy, which includes valuing their beliefs, contributions, and ideas.

Integrity

Integrity

Do what we say we will do, hold ourselves accountable, and support one another.

Ownership Mentality

Ownership Mentality

Our leadership and entrepreneurial corporate culture fuels a belief that we are each responsible for the quality and outcome of our work which leads to the success of both our clients and employees.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous Improvement

We continually invest in our people, their skills, and their technical abilities to maximize the value delivered to our clients.

Core Values

Employee Owned & Employee Driven

We are a team of professionals and employee-owners. As an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) company, we all share in the ownership of the company and the benefits of our mutual success. We continually invest in our people, their skills, and their technical abilities to maximize the value delivered to our clients. Our engineering expertise, clear communication, and commitment to our clients have been proven time and again on projects across the Midwest.

Over 75 Years of Excellence

Kirkham Michael was founded in 1946 in Omaha, Nebraska. We now have offices throughout Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

    The Beginning

    Old pictures show founders Rowland E. Kirkham and Stanley A. Michael

    A group of young engineers working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers join together to form a private consulting firm. Two of the individuals, Rowland E. Kirkham and Stanley A. Michael, became good friends while working for the Corps. The company, Kirkham Engineering, is founded on March 11, 1946, in Omaha, Nebraska. The “Kirkham” name is chosen because of the outstanding reputation of both Rowland and his father, J. E. Kirkham.

    Early Kirkham Michael Project

    Bellevue Bridge and Decatur Bridge over Missouri River.

    First Computer Install for Engineering Analysis

    Jim Peterson installing the first engineering computer in 1957

    Kirkham Michael is one of the first firms in the Midwest to install a computer for engineering analysis

    First Des Moines Office

    First Kirkham Michael office in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1972

    Kirkham Michael opens the Des Moines, Iowa office.

    Relocation of the Niobrara Village

    A layout map showing the village of Niobrara

    Kirkham Michael provides the planning, design, and development services for the complete relocation of the Niobrara Village to a new site 100 feet higher for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    208 Water Management Plan

    Kirkham Michael develops the Des Moines Area-Wide 208 Water Management Plan in Iowa.

    Acquiring of Van Gundy & Associates

    Photo of the Ellsworth Office in Iowa

    Kirkham Michael acquires Van Gundy & Associates which becomes our Ellsworth, Kansas office.

    Employee Stock Ownership Plan

    Kirkham Michael installs the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) program.

    Southeast Connector Project Award

    MLK Parkway Bridge, Des Moines

    Kirkham Michael is awarded the Southeast Connector project for the City of Des Moines, which is the biggest transportation project ever awarded in our firm’s history at an estimated construction cost of $185 million and nearly twenty years to complete.

    City of Omaha Combined Sewer Overflow Project

    Kirkham Michael awarded work on two basins for the City of Omaha Combined Sewer Overflow project – the largest Public Works project the City has ever undertaken.

    Statewide Fracture Critical Bridge Inspection Project

    Two men inspecting bridge

    Kirkham Michael is selected by the Kansas DOT one of six consultant teams to complete a statewide fracture critical bridge inspection project.

    Working with Large-Scale Utility Haul Route Services

    Kirkham Michael begins work with Large-Scale Utility Haul Route Services inspecting haul routes for damage assessments, repair cost estimating, inspecting structures load capacity analysis, defining haul routes, and recouping damages for our clients with our unique assessment process.

    First Diverging Diamond in the State of Iowa

    View of a highway

    Kirkham Michael designs the first Diverging Diamond in the State of Iowa.  Kirkham Michael completed the interchange justification for the interchange in March and NEPA documentation and the final design is completed in September.

    Corridor and Environmental Study

    Kirkham Michael is selected by Douglas County, Nebraska, to perform a corridor and environmental study for the 180th Street Improvements, HWS Cleveland Blvd. to West Maple Road. This project includes preparing aesthetic bridge treatments for the bridge span over the Old Lincoln Highway, as this segment of the Old Lincoln Highway is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The construction engineering contract is awarded to Kirkham Michael in 2019 and completion of the project is in 2023.

    Federal Aviation Administration Approval

    The Federal Aviation Administration approves Kirkham Michael to operate Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), aka drones, as part of its business operations. Several employees obtained the SUAS pilot certification.

    S Corporation and 100% ESOP Corporation

    Kirkham Michael became an S Corporation and became a 100% ESOP Company. 

    First Structure Inspections Using Drone

    Drone footage of a light tower

    Kirkham Michael completes its first structure inspections using a drone. More than 400 high mast light tower structures are inspected for the Kansas DOT using a Parrot ANAFI quadcopter drone.

    75th Anniversary

    A Kirkham Michael team photo for the company's 75th anniversary

    Kirkham Michael celebrates 75-year anniversary.