The story
After the motor vehicle gained increasing prominence in the 1920s, political and popular pressure grew to create a system of New Zealand state highways. The newly formed Fulton Hogan would be one of the companies growing from and building this system in the following decades, at first mainly in the South Island.
It was created by Julius Fulton, an assistant surveyor, and Robert Hogan, a mechanic, who had both been employees of the Neuchatel Asphalte Company in East Taieri in the late 1920s. After losing their jobs, they formed their own company during the Depression; with Hogan organising machinery, often bought or loaned from the Public Works Department, and Fulton overseeing the works.
While World War II slowed their expansion, the years after the war found large growth in roadworks and also in the building of the Comalco Aluminium Smelter and Roxburgh Hydro plant. These days, the company's operations stretch through all of New Zealand and much of Australasia, covering such tasks as residential driveways to dams and airport runways.
From Wikipedia’s article on Fulton Hogan, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4