Mitchell Construction

Last updated
Mitchell Construction
Industry Construction
FateAcquired
Successor Tarmac
Founded1933
Defunct1973
Headquarters Peterborough, UK
Key people
David Morrell, (Chairman)

Mitchell Construction was once a leading British civil engineering business based in Peterborough.

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom (UK), officially the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. With an area of 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi), the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world. It is also the 22nd-most populous country, with an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Civil engineering engineering discipline and economic branch specialising in design, construction and maintenance of the built environment

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines, structural components of buildings, and railways. Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is considered the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering. Civil engineering takes place in the public sector from municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector from individual homeowners through to international companies.

Peterborough City and unitary authority in England

Peterborough is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 196,640 in 2015. Historically part of Northamptonshire, it is 75 miles (121 km) north of London, on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea 30 miles (48 km) to the north-east. The railway station is an important stop on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh. The city is also 70 miles (110 km) east of Birmingham, 38 miles (61 km) east of Leicester, 81 miles (130 km) south of Kingston upon Hull and 65 miles (105 km) west of Norwich.

Contents

History

The business was founded by F.G. (Tiny) Mitchell in London in 1933 as an offshoot of Mitchell Engineering, his engineering business. In 1940 the Company moved to Peterborough because of the destruction created in London by The Blitz. [1] David Morrell took over management of the business from Tiny Mitchell in 1954. [2] During the 1950s the business expanded rapidly exploiting hydro-electric power opportunities in Scotland. [3]

Frederick Gilbert Mitchell was an English civil engineer and businessman who founded a major international construction business and promoted the development of a new range of helicopters.

London Capital of the United Kingdom

London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

The Blitz bombing of London during WWII

The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against Britain in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and is the German word for 'lightning'.

In 1962 Mitchell Construction acquired Kinnear Moodie, a leading tunneling business. [4]

Chapelcross nuclear power station built by Mitchell Construction Chapelcross Nuclear Power Station 2.jpg
Chapelcross nuclear power station built by Mitchell Construction

Major projects

Major projects undertaken by the business included:

Loch Cluanie reservoir in the United Kingdom

Loch Cluanie is a loch in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland at the south-east end of Glen Shiel. It is a reservoir, contained behind the Cluanie Dam, constructed by Mitchell Construction and completed in 1957 as part of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board's Glenmoriston project to generate hydroelectricity. Water feeds the dam from the west via two flows, from a tunnel from the dammed Loch Loyne and via the River Moriston.

Chapelcross nuclear power station

Chapelcross was a Magnox nuclear power plant near Annan in Dumfries and Galloway in southwest Scotland, in operation from 1959 to 2004. It was the sister plant to the Calder Hall plant in Cumbria, England; both were commissioned and originally operated by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority.

Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site in Cumbria, England

Sellafield is a nuclear fuel reprocessing and nuclear decommissioning site, close to the village of Seascale on the coast of the Irish Sea in Cumbria, England. The site is served by Sellafield railway station.

Demise of the business

After getting into financial difficulties over the Kariba Dam North Cavern project, the company was acquired by Tarmac and integrated into Tarmac Construction in 1973. [11]

Kariba Dam dam

The Kariba Dam is a double curvature concrete arch dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi river basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The dam stands 128 metres (420 ft) tall and 579 metres (1,900 ft) long. The dam forms Lake Kariba, which extends for 280 kilometres (170 mi) and holds 185 cubic kilometres (150,000,000 acre⋅ft) of water.

Carillion British multinational facilities management and construction services company

Carillion plc was a British multinational facilities management and construction services company headquartered in Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom, prior to its liquidation - officially, "the largest ever trading liquidation in the UK" - which began in January 2018.

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Holland, Hannen & Cubitts

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References

  1. What's in store for the Bridge House mural? Archived 2010-04-20 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Morrell, p. 17
  3. Morrell, p. 14
  4. Morrell, p. 70
  5. Morrell, pp. 19-20
  6. Morrell, pp. 21-23
  7. Morrell, p. 23
  8. Morrell, pp. 61-69
  9. "Scotswood Bridge". Bridges on the Tyne. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  10. Morrell, pp. 103-162
  11. Notes on Financial Times Actuaries Index 1973 Archived 2006-10-30 at the Wayback Machine

Sources

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.