History
Through the 20th century, Freeman Fox & Partners built an international reputation in the field of bridges and highways. Founded by Sir Charles Fox in partnership with his son Sir Charles Douglas Fox in 1860, Sir Charles Fox and Sons later became Douglas Fox & Partners. The firm was later joined by partners Sir Ralph Freeman (who had worked for the firm since 1901, later becoming a partner) and Sir Gilbert Roberts, and in 1938 became as Freeman, Fox and Partners in 1938, and later Acer Freeman Fox.
The firm was responsible for the design of projects such as the Victoria Falls Bridge (1905), the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932), the Forth Road Bridge (1964), the Severn Bridge (1966), the Bosphorus Bridge (1973), the Humber Bridge (1981), and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (1988). Other notable projects included the Parkes radio telescope (1961), the 46m Algonquin Radio Observatory (1965), and Melbourne's West Gate Bridge (1978).
Over the same period John Taylor & Sons built its reputation in water and wastewater engineering with projects such as the Shanghai water supply project and major water and sewerage projects in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and Tehran.
The two firms merged in 1987 to form Acer Consultants. Over the next few years, several smaller specialist firms were incorporated to form a worldwide infrastructure and civil engineering consultancy.
The company and another consultant Wallace Evans Ltd were acquired by Welsh Water in 1993 and renamed Hyder Consulting in 1996. When Hyder Consulting was bought by Western Power Distribution, the senior management of Hyder Consulting instigated a management buy-out, completed in January 2001. The firm then listed on the London Stock Exchange in October 2002.
Read more about this topic: Hyder Consulting
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