Merz and McLellan was a leading British

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

consultancy based in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

History

The firm was founded by

Charles Merz Charles Hesterman Merz (5 October 1874 – 14 or 15 October 1940) was a British electrical engineer who pioneered the use of high-voltage three-phase AC power distribution in the United Kingdom, building a system in the North East of England i ...

and William McLellan in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

in 1902 when McLellan joined Merz's existing firm established in 1899.Charles Merz – Lessons from Boston
Institute of Engineering & Technology The partnership was instrumental in designing the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's first

three-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, Electric power transmission, transmission, and Electric power distribution, distribution. It is a type of polyphase system ...

electrical supply network, on

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

, and for the next century continued to advise other

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

countries on setting up their own networks. In the early 1960s, Merz & McLellan started a scheme in the interest of reclaming land owned by the

London Brick Company The London Brick Company, owned by Forterra plc, is a leading United Kingdom, British manufacturer of bricks. History The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill, a developer-architect who built houses in London and Peterbo ...

in Peterborough; James Price took up the position of senior resident engineer. This became known as the "Peterborough Dust Disposal Scheme". In 1995 the partnership merged with the

Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly Parsons Brinckerhoff, is an American multinational engineering and design firm. The firm operates in the fields of strategic consulting, planning, engineering, construction management, energy, infrastructure and community plann ...

consultancy, and in 2000 the new owners announced that the Merz & McLellan name would be discontinued. In 2010,

Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a management, engineering and development consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs over 19,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. ...

consultancy announced that it had bought Merz and McLellan South Africa.

Selected contracts

* 1901:

Neptune Bank Power Station Neptune Bank Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the River Tyne at Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne. Commissioned in 1901 by the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, the station was the first in the world to prov ...

* 1904: Carville Power Station,

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

, UK * 1908 & 1912: Electrification of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburban railways in Victoria, Australia. * 1911: Electrification of

North Eastern Railway (UK) The North Eastern Railway (NER) was an England, English rail transport, railway company. It was incorporated in 1854 by the combination of several existing railway companies. Later, it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London ...

* 1914-18: Mobile power stations for the battlefield * 1921: North Tees Power Station * 1925: Report on electrification of the New Zealand suburban systems in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. (including the Lyttelton railway line between Lyttelton and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

* 1933-51: Dunston B power station, Dunston,

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, UK * 1940s:

Orlando Power Station Orlando Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station in Soweto, South Africa. The power station was commissioned at the end of the Second World War and served Johannesburg for over 50 years. History Planning for the construction ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

* 1950s: Kariba South dam power generators * 1950s:

Wairakei Power Station The Wairakei Power Station is a geothermal power station near the Wairakei Geothermal Field in New Zealand. Wairakei lies in the Taupō Volcanic Zone. History The power station was built in 1958, the first of its type (wet steam) in the world ...

Geothermal Power Station,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

* 1953: Blyth A Power Station,

Cambois Cambois ( ) is a village in south-east Northumberland, England. It is situated on the north side of the estuary of the River Blyth between Blyth and Ashington on the North Sea coast. Etymology According to earlier scholarship, the etymon of ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, UK * 1960s: Bell Bay Power Station,

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

* 1962: Blyth B Power Station * 1967–76:

Cerros Colorados Complex The Cerros Colorados Complex is a group of dams and hydroelectricity generation facilities on the lower valley of the Neuquén River, in Neuquén, Argentina. Overview The complex was started in 1969, and the first machine started functioning in 1 ...

Plant Transmission System,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

* 1969: Longannet Power Station * 1980–1993: Kariba South dam hydroelectric upgrade * 1989: Subiya oil-fired power station,

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

Merz & McLellan firms still independent

Sinclair Knight Merz Sinclair Knight Merz (SKM) was a private Australian company operating across Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company had global capability in strategic consulting, engineering and project delivery. In 2013 t ...

(

)Sinclair Knight Merz

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merz and McLellan Electrical engineering companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne Consulting firms established in 1902 British companies established in 1902 1902 establishments in England Engineering consulting firms of the United Kingdom