The Consulting Engineers: The British consulting engineers who created the world's infrastructure

From the authors of the successful titles, The Civil Engineers and The Contractors, comes: The Consulting Engineers: The British consulting engineers who created the world’s infrastructure. 

This beautifully illustrated full colour book tells the fascinating story of British consulting engineers for the first time. From their early beginnings, through the establishment of the profession in the 18th century, the `Railway Age’ of the 1800s, their post-World War Two international boom and on to the recent commercialisation and consolidation of the industry.  The authors, Hugh Ferguson and Mike Chrimes, bring their vast experience and expert subject knowledge to the book, tracking how an extraordinary group of engineers created the infrastructure of Britain, and of much of the rest of the world. 

The Consulting Engineers covers not just what consulting engineers do but also how their profession started and grew rapidly, and how the role has changed and continues to evolve. Take a look at Now published: The Consulting Engineers blog to learn what the authors have to say about their latest book. The co-authors also reveal what it takes to write a book, why they chose to work in civil engineering and more in their blog, A cup of tea with Hugh Ferguson and Mike Chrimes.

Hear what Hugh Ferguson and Mike Chrimes have to say on:

• What led them to write the third book in the collection?
• What will practising engineers learn from this book?
• Who were the the most important consulting engineers?
• Why were consulting engineers so important to British infrastructure?
• What impact did consulting engineers have on the rest of the world?

The Consulting Engineers is an ideal purchase for any engineer interested in the history of their industry. It will appeal to professional engineers, academics, students of engineering, historians and the wider public who are interested in the social and industrial history of Great Britain, and its influence throughout the world. 

Save 15% when you buy our bundle which includes The Consulting Engineers, The Civil Engineers and The Contractors.

Book Reviews

As well as being a racy and entertaining read for practising engineers, this volume will appeal to anyone interested in the personalities behind the businesses that created the world’s key infrastructure. Across 340 pages can be found stirring tales of nation and empire building; battles against the odds to design transport networks, water supply projects, public health schemes, power sources, great public buildings, and the great bridges that are civil engineering’s favourite icons. The projects are all here, but, importantly, so are the human stories of the personal drive and business growth of the people behind the projects. But this is no hagiography – the authors do not flinch from describing their occasional failures and setbacks.  Read more

Prof Gordon Masterton, OBE DL, President of the Institution of Civil Engineers 2005-06, and the chair for the ICE Panel for Historical Engineering Works

I cannot imagine how much work has gone into researching and compiling such a thorough volume, impeccably indexed and cross-referenced. The time line of Consultants is a masterpiece, something that we all need to help us keep track of who has absorbed who and what happened to all those firms that we used to do business with. This is truly a pièce de résistance, a historical record for posterity of the evolution of civil engineering design and imagination in the Britain. Magnificent!

Michael Thorn MA MS CEng FICE, Wallingford Research Consultancy

It covers Rail and Power, before moving onto the Two World Wars where it charts the massive increase in infrastructure building and demonstrates what manpower alone can achieve when at war and in peace time. This book explains iconic structures such as the Bridge on the River Kuai, Sidney Opera House, London Thames Barrage and the Second Severn Crossing (now the Prince of Wales Bridge) to name just a few. This is then followed by historic information on famous Consultants from the 1700’s right up to date.

Once you delve into this historic volume you will see many familiar names, past and present, but too many to mention here. A thoroughly enjoyable book to dip into and immerse yourself in the history of our industry regardless of your own specialist area – definitely worth a read as you will be surprised by how much you already knew, but you will learn a lot too! 

Claudia Currie, BSc(Hons) MSc PGDip CEng CTPP FCIHT FICE FCILT FCMI PIEMA, Associate Transport Planner