Where we come from

Innovations

• Elastomeric bearings
• Neoprene bearings

1950 Archibald Kirkwood Dodds, a partner at L G Mouchel, recognised the benefits of prestressing and acquires the Freyssinet licence rights for the UK and some Commonwealth countries

After working with Eugene Freyssinet in Paris, Alan J Harris returns to the UK in 1949 to set up a consultancy with Dodds designing prestressed concrete structures, called Prestressed Concrete Company.

1950 Granted licence for the commercial use of Freyssinet systems by STUP in France (later known as Freyssinet International) Harris and Dodds establish PSC Equipment Limited in the UK, a product manufacturing company dedicated to developing innovative products and systems that leveraged the emerging technology

1951 Festival of Britain Footbridge – a number of structures were constructed, including a temporary footbridge, later known as the Hungerford Bridge footbridge, on the South Bank of London

1951 PSC Equipment expands its product range to include Tetron/Hi-Load bridge bearings and FT road joints

1951 Castle Walk Footbridge in Shrewsbury was the first prestressed concrete bridge in Shropshire. Built using balanced cantilever construction, with two cantilever sections and a central suspended span

Innovations

• Prestressed segments with combined joints
• Prestressing and reinforcement anchors

1962  The construction of the Commonwealth Institute in London is completed, recognisable for its distinctive hyperbolic paraboloid shell roof

1964  Telford Way Bridge crossing the River Severn in Shrewsbury is built – a pre-stressed concrete cantilever bridge

1964  PSC Equipment Ltd relocates to Iver, Buckinghamshire

1965  Brent Cross Flyover in London is constructed to carry the Hendon Way over the North Circular

1965  The first section of the Mancunian Way in Manchester is opened. The prestressed concrete structure is the first elevated main road built outside London, consisting of 30 spans reinforced with Freyssinet multi-strand prestressing cables

1967  PSC provides the prestressing system for the nuclear power stations at Oldbury and Wylfa. Oldbury Nuclear Power Station is the first nuclear power station in the UK to use prestressed concrete pressure vessels

Innovations:

• Moving of structures
• Freyssinet stay cables

1971 PSC launches its Contract Services Division, providing on-site services such as stressing and bearing installation to main contractors

1971 London Bridge is constructed using a prestressed box girder design with a total length of 269 metres, incorporating a balanced cantilever structure

1972 The Ekofisk oil production platform, one of the largest in the North Sea, is commissioned becoming the first offshore platform made of concrete

1973 Wynhol Viaduct in Somerset is a split-level structure built to carry the M5 across a hillside above the Gordano Valley. The viaduct utilises prestressed concrete trapezoidal box decks

1976 STUP France becomes Freyssinet

1979 PSC Equipment in the UK is renamed PSC Freyssinet Ltd

Innovations

• Cable lifting
• Stay cable tensioning using Freyssinet’s Isotension system
• Freyssinet dampers

1986 Lloyds of London Building features pre-stressed slabs, with post-tensioned U-beams enabling longer spans and prestressed corners to minimise deflections

1986 Snowhill Car Park pre-stressing, Birmingham

1987 – 1995 Sizewell B pressurised water reactor is constructed and commissioned on the Suffolk coast. The nuclear reactor is housed within a pre-stressed concrete building, measuring 65 metres in height and 45 metres in diameter

1988 Ravenspurn North Field gas platform uses a 55‑metre‑high prestressed concrete box base and three 37‑metre concrete legs. Weighing 27,600 tonnes, it incorporates the Freyssinet K‑Range system with almost 400 km of post‑tensioning strand

1988 PSC introduces its prestressing technology to building floor slabs at Harbour Exchange in the London Docklands on buildings 1 and 2, 6 and 7, 8 and 9

Innovations 

• Reinforcement of structures using Carbon Fibres

1995 Second Severn Crossing, cable-stayed bridge spanning the Severn Estuary was constructed to carry the M4 motorway between England and Wales. PSC install the stay cable system, post-tensioning, and manage heavy lifting operations

1996 Teams from France and the UK carry out repairs in the Channel Tunnel following damage caused by a fire

1997 Canary Wharf Station on the Jubilee Line features a cathedral-like interior with a distinctive domed ceiling. PSC is responsible for the installation of stay cables and specialist bearings

1998 PSC Freyssinet is renamed Freyssinet Limited

1999 Freyssinet designs and supplies post-tensioning for the new exhibition centre ExCeL in London’s Docklands

1999 Cardiff Millennium stadium – construction of the Millennium Stadium’s cable structure using four 80-metre-cabled masts, each supported by 18 stay cables, the longest of which reached 60 metres

Innovations

• New range of Freyssibar prestressing bars
• Cable-stayed roofs

2000 Freyssinet UK relocates to Telford, Shropshire

2005 The company expands activity in structural repairs, culminating in largest project to date to rehabilitate South Hook Jetty in Wales

2007 – 2010 Construction of Media City development in Manchester’s Salford Quays. Freyssinet provides the design and installation of four post-tensioned buildings, totalling 80,500m² of floor slabs, making it one of the UK’s most significant PT office developments

2007 Whiston Hospital, Liverpool design and installation of post-tensioning, including 77,000 m² of PT slabs

2007–2008 Clackmannanshire Bridge project used incremental launching to install 26 spans weighing over 22,000 tonnes. Freyssinet fitted the launching nose with Freyssibar, secured by 48 bars of 50 mm diameter, and installed replaceable external 19C15 and 37C15 post‑tensioning tendons

2008 – 2010 Freyssinet supplied and installed the post‑tensioning for four Isle of Grain LNG tanks. Each 190,000 m³ tank is 92 m in diameter, 40 m high, and contains 72,000 tonnes of concrete

2008 Construction of The Cube at the Mailbox, Birmingham. Levels 9 to 24 incorporate post-tensioned slabs, allowing for an additional storey within the building, totalling 28,100m² of PT slabs

Innovations

• Free sliding elastomeric bearings with anti-lifting system
• ElevArch® – revolutionary technique for vertically jacking masonry arch bridges
• ExoLeaf®- for the repair and strengthening of structures using Ultra High-Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete
• Development of Freyssicare accessories for asset life extension – Bodygarde® and Aquagarde

2011 The Library of Birmingham is a 10-storey reinforced concrete structure with post-tensioned slabs and beams, spanning 52x56m. The striking 10m cantilever is reinforced by post-tensioned concrete arches, installed with temporary supports for load transfer

2011 Freyssinet subsidiary Aquaforce Concrete Services Limited is established to compliment the company’s structural repair division, specialising in hydro demolition and surface preparation

2011 Freyssinet opens its London office, headed up by Gary McKenzie

2014 Complex strengthening work requiring the innovative design, prefabrication and installation of cables on the Dong Siri Oil Platform, located in the North Sea, in collaboration with Freyssinet International and Cie/VINCI Construction

2015 Hammersmith Flyover Phase 2 completed – post tensioning, strengthening and concrete repair works. Development of bespoke blister lifter, syringe and UHPC external anchor blocks

2015 – 2018 Freyssinet starts a four-year tunnel lining repair project on Glasgow Subway for SPT

2016 Gatwick MSCP Gatwick Airport Multi-Storey Car Park 6 (MSPC6) Rehabilitation Works

2016 ElevArch® masonry bridge arch lift trial takes place at Moco Farm in Buckinghamshire

2019 Bearing Bodygarde® patent application filed for the smart encapsulation cover designed to protect bearings from external elements

2020  M62 River Ouse Bridge bearing replacement of 208 bearings is completed

2020  Work begins on M5 Golden Valley Bridge refurbishment scheme

2020  Freyssinet awarded a second contract for the next phase of Glasgow Subway tunnel lining improvements works. Works on site starts in 2021

2022  Freyssinet completes the design, supply and installation of DEMAG roller shutter joint on A40 Westway

2022  Utilising its Autoripage® technique for heavy handling, Freyssinet pushes a 12,600-tonne Marston Box bridge structure over 165 metres, completing the world’s longest box slide to enable the HS2 railway line to cross over the M42.

2022  Completion of temporary works design and jacking of the Asticus building in London 3.6m to accommodate the installation of an additional level between the existing eighth and ninth floors

2023  M8 Woodside Viaduct, Glasgow. Design and installation of a temporary support system to ensure the transfer of the bridge loadings to temporary props in preparation for the pier head repair work

2023  Bearing design and supply, and post-tensioning works start on site for the HS2 Curzon Street Viaduct in Birmingham.

2023  Stabilisation works on Hammersmith Bridge begin. Freyssinet provides temporary works installation, jacking, grouting and bearing installation on the Grade II listed structure

2024  Completion of extensive concrete repair and carbon fibre wrapping works on Edinburgh North Bridge

2024  Freyssinet ‘slides’ the 6,000 tonne Radlett box structure across a railway to facilitate the Strategic Rail Freight Interchange (SRFI) development near St Albans.

2025  Work commences on Phase 2 for A40 Westway upgrade in London. Scheme includes expansion joint replacement, additional parapet protection and concrete repairs

2025  Successful installation of a 14,500-tonne box structure set to carry the HS2 line beneath the A46 Kenilworth Bypass in Warwickshire. The heaviest bridge slide ever undertaken in the UK