About & history
Helena native. Montana built.
406 Underground was founded in 2013 by Helena native Beau Straub, after a decade of drilling and building an underground company in Colorado.
Our story
From hurricane relief to Montana's turnkey drilling solution
Beau Straub began drilling professionally in 2003, rebuilding cable systems in the South as a contribution to hurricane relief. From there he moved his business to Denver and built Rapid Wire LLC from the ground up — growing it to more than 100 employees doing all aspects of telecommunications, underground directional drilling, traffic control, asphalt and concrete, and landscaping.
In 2012 Beau returned to his Montana roots, and in 2013 Four O Six Underground — 406 Underground — was officially up and running in Helena. The company became known as a leader in underground trenchless technologies, specializing in telecommunications and horizontal directional drilling, and grew to 25 in-house professionals with more than 40 years of combined directional drilling experience.
Today Beau still takes calls under the 406 Underground name and consults for drilling companies across the region. If you've got a bore to plan, a route to price or a job that's fighting back, he's a phone call away.
Montana owned & operatedTimeline
Two decades underground
- 2003
Drilling professionally
Beau starts boring professionally, rebuilding cable systems in the South as part of hurricane relief.
- Denver
Rapid Wire LLC, Colorado
Relocates the business to the Denver area and builds Rapid Wire from the ground up to 100+ employees: telecom, directional drilling, traffic control, asphalt & concrete, landscaping.
- 2012
Back to Montana
Beau returns home to Helena.
- 2013
406 Underground
Four O Six Underground opens in Helena, specializing in telecommunications and horizontal directional drilling.
- Growth
Turnkey underground contractor
Adds hydro excavation, plowing and trenching, traffic control, concrete & asphalt and landscape restoration; bores for NorthWestern Energy; grows to 25 in-house professionals and passes 1,000,000 feet of drilling and 700,000 hours without a lost-time accident.*
- Today
Contracting & consulting
406ug.com relaunches with consulting for drilling contractors front and center.
*As published on the Four O Six Underground website, 2017–2019.
What we believe
Better infrastructure for the communities we live in
“We are committed to safely providing quality services in the cleanest way possible that works towards bettering the community infrastructure in which we live and work.”
Four O Six Underground Inc., is my primary boring company when directional boring is required. They have addressed my needs time and again by completing the projects as requested. The word no is not on their vocabulary and they strive to accommodate the customer 100 percent.
The crews not only provide accurate bores, but also take responsibility for their actions and clean up after themselves without being asked when leaving a jobsite. Four O Six is also proactive in locating utility crossings… Montana owned and operated, this company has a family touch to it and it shows in their desire to do a good job at a minimal cost.
From the field
Got a bore, a route or a problem job?
Call Beau directly — or send the details and he'll get back to you.