C. S. Meik and Halcrow
1868 Thomas Meik, one of the most knowledgeable men of his time on docks and harbour works, set up in practice as a consulting engineer.
1888 Thomas Meik retired and left the company in the hands of his two sons, Patrick and Charles Scott Meik. The company became Thomas Meik and Sons.
1894 Patrick Meik was joined as partner by his brother, Mr. Charles Scott Meik, renamed P. W. and C. S. Meik. Under the brothers the company continued to make steady progress with docks, harbours and railway projects pre-eminent.
Early 1900s William Thomson Halcrow joined the practice as an apprentice
1910 Patrick Meik died
1921 C. S. Meik and Buchanan[1]
1921 William Thomson Halcrow was taken into the partnership
1923 The partnership became known as C.S. Meik and Halcrow
1929 Completion of the Ben Nevis tunnel for the Lochaber Hydro-Electric Station project[2]
1941 Name changed to W.T. Halcrow and Partners.
WWII the company was busy on important war works such as Deep Level Shelters in London for the Home Office, technical advice to the War Cabinet and the Mulberry Harbour breakwaters for the invasion of Europe. Halcrow also worked closely with Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb. He had read William Halcrow's 1939 paper on the structure of the Möhne Dam and wanted to ensure his invention was sufficiently destructive. A dam in Wales was blown up to test the validity of his ideas.
1944 William Halcrow was knighted in recognition of his services to the country. The company became Sir William Halcrow and Partners
1985 A private limited company bearing the same name was formed.
1997 the various Halcrow businesses and departments came together under one name: Halcrow Group Limited.
By 2007, projects outside the UK accounted for around half the company's turnover.
In the 1960s and 70s the company were the consulting engineers for major projects such as Port Rashid and Jebel Ali Port in Dubai and the Ports of Jeddah and Jubail in Saudi Arabia.
See Also
Sources of Information
- Halcrow website [1]