In 1946, Russel Cox began his career in road construction. He was 20 years old, World War II had just ended and he was determined to forge his own business. On the advice of his mother, he and a partner bought a used crusher and set up operations in Hillsburgh. That machine crushed up to 75 tons per hour and was overhauled almost every night just to keep it running!

A year later, Cox Construction was founded with the purchase of a new Cedarapids crushing plant. In 1947, Cox was awarded the gravel work on three Department of Highways contracts north of Guelph.

In 1953, Cox Construction established itself in Guelph with some very basic equipment … a truck, tractor, semi-trailer and rope shovel. An asphalt plant was added to the fleet and the paving of gravel roads and driveways began. The addition of a gravel pit at Guelph Lake provided locally sourced aggregate for crushing and asphalt jobs.

In the 1950s, and 1960s the four-lane 400 series highways were established in Ontario. Cox Construction completed its first of many 400/401 jobs in 1956.

The heavy construction industry was revolutionized in the 60s and 70s by the introduction of diesel generators and hydraulic power and in the 90s by rapid advances in computer technology. Cox Construction is proud to have been at the forefront of this revolution, developing and integrating new techniques and equipment.

Today, Regan Cox is the president of Cox Construction. He shares his dad’s passion for advancing the business of building roads and believes that success comes from the hard work of skilled people using leading edge technology and tools.