History of Tony Gee

“From humble beginnings in the back office of a Cobham launderette, to earned distinction via some of the world’s most iconic engineering projects”

Tony Gee boasts an impressive history in design engineering consultancy. The business started in 1974 with the creation of jacking systems for North Sea oil rigs and pre-stressing systems for segmental balanced cantilever bridges. Our early projects comprised an innovative fin-back bridge in Texas and an iconic commission to design a deck erection gantry for the new bridge over the River Orwell in Suffolk (all 600 tonnes of it!).

Our reputation, globally, grew during the 1980s and 90s, after winning the geotechnical work on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Building’s basement, launching the Dornoch Firth Crossing and the River Ceiriog Viaduct. One of the more notable projects of the era being the undertaking of the A38 Marsh Mills Interchange, which, at the time was British civil engineering’s biggest ever bridge slides.

Tony Gee’s millennium projects further confirmed the firm’s reputation for handling projects of stature and complexity. We were chosen to design the foundations for the London Eye and deliver the major components of the Falkirk Wheel, the latter receiving a ‘Project of the Century Award’ from the International Federation of Consulting Engineers Centenary ceremony in 2014.

Since establishing a global presence, Tony Gee’s notable international projects include the New Yamuna Bridge in India, design of cables and temporary works for a 1km tightrope over the Han River in Seoul and being selected as an independent verification and validation team on the Taiwan High-Speed Rail project, comprising 345 km of railway.

From humble beginnings, Tony Gee now has over 500 staff across twelve offices globally. The initial aim was to make bridge-building safer, quicker and more cost-effective. Today, Tony Gee provide highly technical design engineering consultancy services to a wide range of global clients. There have been many changes in the industry, but Tony Gee retains its independence (under owner-management) and our fundamental values remain the same. We will continue to find better solutions for challenging construction demands well into the next half-century.

Notable Tony Gee Projects (an excerpt)

• 1975: US. Engineering an innovative fin-back bridge in Texas.
• 1975: North Sea oil rigs. Jacking systems for the rigs, and prestressing systems for segmental balanced cantilever bridges.
• 1977: M180 Trent Bridge. Working on the balanced cantilever “Euro launcher” gantry which won a BCSA design award the following year.
• 1979: River Orwell, Suffolk. Commissioned to design a deck erection gantry for constructing the extensive approach viaducts.
• 1979: the MRT Railway, Singapore. Designing construction equipment.
• 1981: Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters. Our first foray into geotechnical work, creating the basement of this iconic structure.
• 1984: Waterloo International Terminal. The alternative design for the departures hall and track support structure, using concrete instead of steel in consideration of the new Kings Cross fire regulations.
• 1989: Broadgate Phase II. Working on the enormous steel frame being erected across the railway track near Liverpool Street Station.
• 1990: Dornoch Firth Crossing. Design work for the launched bridge, opened in 1991 by the Queen Mother. Similar work on the Ceiriog Bridge in Wales followed.
• 1990: The Aluminium Bahrain Potline. Involvement in the major industrial plant development.
• 1994: Rambler Channel Crossing, Hong Kong. Assisting the winning contractors, Dragages, in designing the bridge followed by work on the mass rapid transit crossing.
• 1994: Jamuna Bridge, Bangladesh
• 1996: A38 Marsh Mills Interchange, Plymouth. British engineering’s biggest ever bridge slides, filmed by the BBC for documentary and has since won numerous awards including an AA National Motoring Award.
• 2000: London Eye. Constructing the foundations for the Millennium icon.
• 2001: Taiwan High Speed Rail. Being part of the Validation and Verification Team constructing 345km of track.
• 2004 – A895 Kincardine Eastern Link – Lead designer, including highways and geotechnical design for a new 2.2km three-lane bypass
• 2007 – Marina Bay Sands Skypark – Design reviewer for the longest habitable cantilever in the world
• 2011- Hitchin Viaduct – Designer for a 850m long, 29 span viaduct between Down East Coast Main Line and Down Cambridge Line to the north of Hitchin Station.