December 2008 - Halcrow

in 1979 Halcrow’s work in the Middle East represented around 95 per cent of annual revenue, and employee numbers
swelled to 2,700. The early 1980s saw engineering investment in the region fall dramatically, and Halcrow was forced to
significantly reduce its workforce.
By 1990, the UK accounted for 79 per cent of the firm’s earnings and employee numbers started to
rise again. When the British government embarked on a major programme of road building,
Halcrow was awarded years of motorway building work. The business was also
involved in the Queen Elizabeth II bridge building project at Dartford and the
major second Severn Bridge.
In 1979, Halcrow’s work in the
Middle East represented
95 per cent of annual revenue
Among its high-profile global successes, Halcrow helped construct
one of the 20 th century’s greatest engineering feats – the Channel
Tunnel. Its key role in managing the scheme involved fielding
more than 50 engineers at the tunnelling and maritime sites
in Dover.
In the last five years the company has successfully
expanded into the North American market, with
one tenth of its 8,000-strong global workforce
now based there. An achievement of which its
visionary founder would be justly proud.
World War II
Britain’s finest hour was also Sir William’s
A member of the War Cabinet’s engineering advisory
committee, Sir William was also consultant to the secretary of
state for war on ports and adviser to Bomber Command.
To help shield London’s residents from the forthcoming horrors of
the Blitz, eight new deep-level air raid shelters were built under stations
such as Goodge Street and Camden Town. Goodge Street, designed by
Sir William, became the most important of the shelters – it was from there that
US president Eisenhower directed the D-Day Normandy landings.
His tunnelling knowledge helped London Underground construct floodgates at
strategic stations to protect the city from flooding. He also became a hero of the arts when
he identified the Manod slate quarry in north Wales as a safe haven from war-torn London
for the National Gallery’s treasures. And Sir William’s knowledge of dam construction was
used by Barnes Wallis to help perfect the bomb used by the Dam Busters in 1943.
Elsewhere, the company was involved in designing the reinforced concrete caissons that made
up Mulberry Harbour – a vast prefabricated port built in Britain. This was towed across the
channel after D-Day to create two great harbours – Arromanches
and St Laurent. Their construction allowed the Allied armies
to be supplied by sea and ultimately liberated France from
the Nazis. The towing operation moved King George VI to
remark that this was “the greatest combined operation the
world has ever seen, perhaps the greatest it will ever see”.
In 1946, Sir William became president of
the Institution of Civil Engineers, a fitting
recognition for his wartime contribution.
Sir William’s
knowledge
of dam
construction
was used to
help perfect
the bouncing
bomb used
by the
Dam Busters