BUCKSPORT – Connecticut-based Lane Construction Corp., one of the nation’s largest civil construction companies, is poised to acquire Robert Wardwell & Sons Inc. in Bucksport, probably by the end of the year.

The family owned Wardwell & Sons, which has operated in the area since the late 1940s, went on the market quietly earlier this year. Lane was the only buyer the company talked with, according to John Wardwell, president of the company.

“I felt the timing was right,” Wardwell said Tuesday. “And our relationship with Lane over the years has been a good working relationship. It was a good time and I felt it was in the best interest of our employees. I think it will be good for them and it’ll be good for Bucksport.”

He noted the relationship between Lane and Wardwell is a long one that “goes back to my father’s day and probably my grandfather’s day.” He stressed that Lane has been involved in Maine for a long time and has been particularly involved in eastern and northern Maine.

“They’ve had a commitment to Waldo and Hancock, Washington and Penobscot counties, and one of the biggest factors was their commitment to the Bucksport and Orland area,” Wardwell said. “They will lease the office and the shop and all of our employees will have an opportunity to stay on.”

Robert Alger, president and CEO of Lane Construction, speaking from corporate headquarters in Meriden, Conn., said Tuesday he expects the transaction to be completed by Jan. 1 or before.

“Wardwell’s is a great family,” Alger said. “We’ve worked with them for years in the area. When they expressed an interest in scaling back in terms of their ownership of the company, they asked if we’d be interested in acquiring their assets. And we came to a mutual agreement.”

Alger said all Wardwell employees will become employees of Lane Construction and that operations will remain in Bucksport and Orland.

“Obviously, Wardwell has some very talented people working with them,” Alger said. “With the current labor shortage, acquiring talented people is our biggest interest. They will be a real addition to our organization.”

According to Wardwell, Lane will take over Wardwell’s existing contracts and will purchase equipment and vehicles. Lane has agreed to lease the company’s maintenance shop in Bucksport and the main office in Orland.

Since both Wardwell and Lane are privately owned companies, the terms of the agreement have not been made public.

Although he no longer will be involved with the company’s operations, Wardwell said he will remain in the area and will be involved with other business interests, including the development of a business park located off Route 1 in Bucksport.

Joel Wardwell, operations manager for Wardwell & Sons, will remain with Lane as the division manager for the Wardwell Construction division, as the company will be called.

“We’re staying with the Wardwell name,” Alger said. “They’ve developed a great reputation over the years, so there’s no reason to change that.”

Joel Wardwell said he expects to see very little change once the sale of the company has been completed.

“If I can emphasize anything at all, it’s that we look to see no change in what we do as a business,” he said. “In terms of how we work with our employees and our clientele, the continuity will be there. We’ll continue to operate the place and do business as we have in the past.”

Wardwell’s has been in business for more than 50 years and now does about $8 million worth of business, most of it within driving distance of Bucksport. The company does a lot of contract work for the Maine Department of Transportation, both as a general contractor and as a subcontractor, and a considerable amount of utility work, including waste and sewer projects, as well as site work and school projects. It has done much of Lane’s earth-moving work in eastern Maine for the past 20 years.

Lane Construction will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. The company has operations throughout the eastern United States and in Texas and Oklahoma and completes more than $350 million of work each year for both public and private clients across the nation. Current projects include widening and reconstruction of Interstate 85 in South Carolina, a coffer dam construction in Kentucky, interstate highway construction in Texas and a new airfield runway at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. Lane has a number of plants throughout eastern and northern Maine.