Freeman Fox and Partners
Freeman, Fox and Partners
1938 Ralph Freeman, one of Douglas Fox and Partners's chief engineers, who had worked on the Victoria Falls Bridge (1905) and the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1932), became a partner; the firm became Freeman Fox and Partners
Post-WWII: won the contract awarded for the construction of the Severn Road Bridge with Mott, Hay and Anderson.
The most spectacular consequence of changes in bridge-building techniques was seen in the (first) Severn Bridge (span 988 metres, completed 1966) with its ‘aerofoil’ deck form, which saved approximately 25 per cent in weight by comparison with the trussed deck of the Forth Bridge (span 1006 metres, completed 1964) and with rectangular box (as opposed to cellular) bridge towers. A cross-braced truss design had been considered for the Severn Bridge but the destruction of its model during wind tunnel testing provided a fortuitous opportunity for a successful trial of an aerofoil form.
Awards received by Freeman, Fox & Partners included the Queen's Award to Industry in 1967, and, jointly with Rolls-Royce, the first MacRobert award in 1969.
1987 Freeman Fox and Partners and John Taylor and Sons merged to form Acer Consultants.
1988 Freeman Fox was renamed Acer Freeman Fox.