2000 - Present

• Terminal Renewal Improvements Program

  2010

  Freese and Nichols is selected for DFW Airport's Terminal Renewal Improvements Program (TRIP).

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  Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

  2010

  Freese and Nichols is first engineering firm to receive the award.

• 

  Parker County Transportation Bond Program

  2008

  Freese and Nichols provides Program Management for the 30-project, $90-million bond program.

• 

  Lake Brazos Labyrinth Weir Dam

  2007

  Freese and Nichols design the 3,000-foot-long, award-winning labyrinth weir dam in Waco, Texas.

• 

  Robert F. Pence

  2002

  Robert F. Pence is named President and CEO.

• Marvin Nichols Dam Project

  2001

  Freese and Nichols is selected for the Marvin Nichols Dam project with MTG Engineers.

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  One of the Best Engineering Firms in the U.S.

  2001

  Freese and Nichols is second in the United States as one of the best engineering firms in the United States for employees by CE News.

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  Automated People Mover at DFW Airport

  2000

  Freese and Nichols, as part of a team of consultants, wins the Automated People Mover project at DFW Airport, the largest airport people mover project to date.

1975 - 1999

• Mayor's Export Award

  1999

  Freese and Nichols receives the "Mayor's Export Award" for being Fort Worth's leading exporter of services.

• 

  Senate Bill I Firm Selection

  1998

  Freese and Nichols is selected to eight of the 16 regions to provide water planning services under Senate Bill I, confirming the firm's role as a major contributor to Texas water planning.

• Tarrant Enterprise Award

  1997

  Freese and Nichols receives the "Tarrant Enterprise Award for Employee Motivation and Retention."

• 

  Awards for the O.H. Ivie Project

  1996

  Freese and Nichols receives a National ASCE "Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award Nomination" and the State of Texas "Oustanding Civil Engineering Award" for the O.H. Ivie Project.

• 100th Anniversary

  1994

  Freese and Nichols celebrates 100 years of service and looks forward to the next 100 years.

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  The "Cowboy" DVORTAC

  1993

  The "Cowboy" DVORTAC is commissioned, the largest Doppler VHG omnidirectional navigation facility in the United States.

• 

  Robert L. Herchert

  1991

  Robert L. Herchert is named President and CEO.

• Death of Simon W. Freese

  1990

  Simon W. Freese dies on July 27, 1990 at age 89.

• Second Federal Aviation Administration Contract

  1990

  Freese and Nichols is awarded its second consecutive five-year contract with the FAA.

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  Simon W. Freese Dam and O.H. Ivie Reservoir

  1989

  The Colorado River Municipal Water District renames the Stacy Reservoir project the "Simon W. Freese Dam and O.H. Ivie Reservoir" in honor of the contributions to Texas water supplies by the two men.

• 

  Morris Sheppard Dam

  1989

  Freese and Nichols completes design of repairs to Morris Sheppard Dam on the Brazos River. This project was named by the National Society of Professional Engineers as one of the eight outstanding American engineering achievements of 1989. It also won the Engineering Excellence Award of the Consulting Engineers Council of Texas.

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  Richland-Chambers Dam and Reservoir

  1987

  Richland-Chambers Dam and Reservoir, proposed by Freese and Nichols in 1955, is completed, providing 187 MGD to the Tarrant Regional Water District.

• Federal Aviation Administration Contract

  1985

  Freese and Nichols is awarded a five-year contract by the Federal Aviation Administration to help modernize and improve air traffic control and navigation systems.

• 

  Jim Nichols Named "Engineer of the Year"

  1983

  Jim Nichols named "Engineer of the Year" for 1983 by the Texas Society of Professional Engineers for his "outstanding achievement in technical and professional work and community involvement."

• 

  Bob Nichols Named NSPE President

  1978

  Bob Nichols becomes President of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

• Freese and Nichols, Inc.

  1976

  Freese and Nichols incorporates, becoming Freese and Nichols, Inc., with Simon Freese as the chairman of the board and Jim Nichols as president.

1950 - 1974

• Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant

  1974

  Freese and Nichols designs civil engineering aspects of the Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant outside of Glen Rose, Texas.

• Rolling Hills Water Treatment Plant Completed

  1973

  Designed by Freese, Nichols and Endress, the Rolling Hills Water Treatment Plant is completed, with an initial capacity of 80 MGD, doubling the water supply to the Fort Worth-Arlington metropolitan area.

  Endress retires, firm name reverts to Freese and Nichols.

• Arlington Stadium Expansion

  1972

  Freese and Nichols designs and manages construction for the expansion of Arlington Stadium into a home for the Texas Rangers. Design and construction were begun the previous October and completed for the April 6 opening day game.

• DFW Airport Utilities and Roads

  1969

  Freese, Nichols and Endress is selected to develop airport utilities and roads for DFW Airport.

• San Jacinto River Authority's Conroe Dam

  1969

  Freese and Nichols and Endress completes designs and specifications for the San Jacinto River Authority's Conroe Dam, designed to yield 89 MGD.

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  Marvin C. Nichols Dam and Reservoir

  1969

  Marvin Nichols dies on April 10, 1969. Within hours of Nichols' death, the Texas Legislature passed a resolution to name a proposed dam and reservoir in Northeast Texas the "Marvin C. Nichols Dam and Reservoir." The reservoir was a key part of the original Texas Water Plan that Nichols was instrumental in developing.

• Lake E.V. Spence

  1966

  Construction begins on Lake E.V. Spence for the Colorado River Municipal Water District

• Cedar Creek Reservoir

  1965

  Cedar Creek Reservoir, designed by Freese and Nichols, is completed with a yield of 156 MGD.

• Hubbard Creek Reservoir

  1962

  Hubbard Creek Reservoir, designed by Freese, Nichols and Endress, is completed in the Brazos River basin, supplying water for the West Central Texas Municipal Water District.

• Freese, Nichols and Endress

  1959

  Freese, Nichols and Turner breaks off from Freese and Nichols and forms Turner, Collie and Braden, Inc.

  Freese and Nichols changes its name to Freese, Nichols and Endress, as S. Gardner Endress is made a partner.

• 

  Lee B. Freese

  1958

  Lee B. Freese joins Freese and Nichols.

• IH-30 Bridges and Lake Arlington Dam

  1957

  The Texas Water Development Board is created, with Marvin Nichols as its first chairman.

  Freese and Nichols designs 42 bridges over major streams, railroads, streets and highways for the Dallas-Fort Worth Toll Road, which later became part of Interstate Highway 30.

  Lake Arlington Dam, recommended and designed by Freese and Nichols, is completed, and fills in 26 days. To filter Lake Arlington water, Freese and Nichols designed Pierce-Burch Water Treatment Plant for the City of Arlington.

• Cedar Creek Lake and Richland-Chambers Reservoir

  1955

  Freese and Nichols recommends additional water supplies for Tarrant County: Cedar Creek Lake and Richland-Chambers Reservoir.

• Fort Worth South Holly Treatment Plant

  1954

  Freese and Nichols begins design on the City of Fort Worth's South Holly Water Treatment Plant, designed with an initial capacity of 50 MGD, expandable to twice that size.

• Marvin Nichols Appointed

  1953

  Marvin Nichols appointed as the Federal Commissioner of Reclamation. This appointment would later be blocked for political reasons.

• Lake J.B. Thomas

  1952

  Lake J.B. Thomas, a 204,000 acre-foot water supply reservoir, is completed for the Colorado River Municipal Water District.

  Simon Freese, principal author, produces A Water Policy for Texans, a guide to the State for solving the State's water problems and keeping Texas' water resources under State control.

• Bob and James R. Nichols

  1950

  Bob Nichols becomes a partner of Freese and Nichols, and James R. Nichols joins the firm.

1925 - 1949

• Colorado River Municipal Water District

  1949

  The Colorado River Municipal Water District is formed, with Freese and Nichols retained as consulting engineers, a relationship that still exists.

• Robert L. Nichols

  1948

  Robert L. Nichols joins the firm.

• Nathaniel P. Turner, Jr.

  1946

  Nathaniel P. Turner, Jr. joins Freese and Nichols as a partner, and became managing partner of Freese, Nichols and Turner, a separate firm based in Houston.

• Lieutenant Colonel Freese in Germany

  1945

  Freese promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Shipped to Germany ten days after Germany surrendered. He was part of a team that searched for Nazi records and documents, questioned German officials and studied sensitive records pertaining to industry, economy and personnel.

  Freese spent many hours analyzing the Potsdam Agreement, which called for Germany's administration to be transferred to the United States, the USSR, Great Britain and France.

• Major Simon Freese

  1943

  Simon Freese commissioned as a Major in the Specialists Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army.

• Pantex Ordinance Plant

  1942

  Freese and Nichols provided design and construction supervision for the Pantex Ordinance Plant in Amarillo.

• 

  Preparations for War

  1941

  Freese and Nichols provides design work to help the U.S. prepare for war. The firm helped with design of Camp Bowie, Camp Hulen, Camp Swift, the Houma Blimp Base, and Camp Barkeley.

  Freese and Nichols was the lead firm for the design and construction of Camp Barkeley outside of Abilene. More than 12,000 troops began moving into the camp within 90 days of the award of the contract.

• Death of Major John Hawley

  1940

  Major Hawley dies.

• Freese and Nichols Hired by City of Abilene

  1939

  Freese and Nichols is retained by the City of Abilene to design the City's entire water supply program.

• Honory Doctorate for Major Hawley

  1938

  TCU confers upon Major Hawley an Honorary Doctor of Science.

• North Texas' First Air Conditioned Buildings

  1937

  Hawley, Freese and Nichols enters the air-conditioning business, forming the Texas Air Conditioning Corporation, and installs Chrysler "Airtemp" window units in Fort Worth's Hotel Texas and the Burk Burnett Building downtown, making these the first air conditioned buildings in North Texas.

  Major Hawley retires.

• Nichols Appointed to Texas Planning Board

  1935

  Texas Governor James Allred appoints Marvin Nichols chairman of the Texas Planning Board, tasked with obtaining federal emergency relief funds for the State and making recommendations for the development of the natural and economic resources of the Texas.

• Freese and Nichols Hired by City of Austin

  1934

  With Public Works Administration financing, Freese and Nichols designed the City of Austin's new 6 MGD, $400,000 activated sludge sewage plant, water extensions, sanitary sewer lines, new headhouse for the city filter plant and outfall lines for the new plant.

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  Paving the Way for the San Antonio Riverwalk

  1929

  From the firm's San Antonio office, Hawley, Freese and Nichols designs the Great Bend Cut-Off Channel on the San Antonio River, which made possible the San Antonio River Walk.

• Nichols Makes Partner

  1928

  Freese designs the Rilling Road sewage treatment plant for the City of San Antonio, being one of the first in the U.S. to design circular clarifiers with center feed and peripheral weirs.

  Marvin C. Nichols named partner.

• Freese Makes Partner, Nichols Joins Firm

  1927

  On March 28, 1927, Hawley makes Simon Freese a partner in the firm, renaming the firm Hawley & Freese.

  Hawley & Freese wins a contract to design the Eagle Mountain and Bridgeport dams for the Tarrant County Water Control and Improvement District Number One (TCWCID).

  Marvin C. Nichols joins the firm and is named the primary consultant to TCWCID.

• Water Improvement District Legislation

  1925

  Hawley assists in the legislation that allows for the creation of area-wide agencies with the power to finance and build multipurpose flood protection and water conservation reservoirs (water improvement districts).

1900 - 1924

• Death of Edward Sands

  1923

  Edward Sands dies of a cerebral tumor.

• Texas' First Water Improvement District

  1923

  Hawley helps with the formation of the Tarrant County Water Improvement District Number One (now the Tarrant Regional Water District), the first water improvement district in the State of Texas.

• Environmental Engineering Begins in Forth Worth

  1922

  Hawley & Sands designs a sewage collection main to catch Fort Worth's raw wastes, making it the firm's and Fort Worth's first environmental engineering project.

• Simon Wilke Freese Begins Work for Hawley

  1922

  Simon Wilke Freese begins work for Hawley. Hawley's brother called Freese a "remarkable young man and one of the coming engineers of the State."

• Hawley Joins with Edward Sands

  1921

  Hawley joins with Edward Sands to form Hawley & Sands, with offices in Fort Worth and Houston. The firm specialized in sewage treatment plant design.

• 

  Hawley Commissioned Major of Engineers

  1917

  His contributions over the next eighteen months earned him international recognition for service to the Allies in the First World War.

• Hawley Appointed to Industrial Preparedness Board

  1916

  Hawley appointed Texas Chairman of the U.S. Industrial Preparedness Board, organized by the Secretary of War to collect data on the United States' capacity to manufacture munitions.

• Formation of Texas Section ASCE

  1913

  At a conference in Corpus Christi, Hawley proposes that the Texas Section ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) be organized. Hawley, along with J. Milton Howe, R.J. Potts, Julian Field, James C. Nagel, and J.F. Witt, formed the Texas Section ASCE on July 12, 1913.

• 

  Construction of Lake Worth

  1911

  Hawley, along with city engineer J.D. Trammell and Dean T.U. Taylor, head of the department of civil engineering at the University of Texas, recommended that the City of Fort Worth build a reservoir six miles northwest of the City, and they subsequently designed and directed construction of Lake Worth and the associated dam.

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  Consulting on White Rock Lake

  1910

  Hawley and William Barclay Parsons of New York to provide consulting for the City of Dallas White Rock Lake, leading Hawley to develop one of the first municipal water supply reservoirs in Texas, beginning a long history of water supply engineering for Hawley and his successors.

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  Hawley Advises on Panama Canal Conditions

  1906

  Hawley is sent to Panama to investigate the conditions that would be encountered in constructing the Panama Canal to help contractors decide if they should bid on the work. Hawley advised against bidding on the job due to the geologic conditions. Contractors decided not to bid, and the U.S. Government proceeded without contractors. The enormous "slippage of earth" demonstrated the wisdom of Hawley's advice.

• City of Sherman Waterworks Remodel

  1904

  Hawley and Professor Daniel Mead work together to remodel the municipal waterworks for the City of Sherman, Texas.

1891 - 1899

• Hawley Appointed City Engineer

  1897

  Respected at City Hall for his work on the Fort Worth water supply, Hawley is appointed city engineer under the administration of Mayor B.B. Paddock. Over the next 10 years, Hawley is responsible for all street and highway design and construction. One of his projects was the old Summit Street viaduct over the Texas and Pacific Railroad.

• Clear Fork Trinity Dams

  1895

  Hawley designed and supervised construction of three channel dams on the Clear Fork of the Trinity, located one, six, and eight miles west of the city. The smallest of the combination concrete and stone dams was 12 x 100 feet; the largest, 14 x 180 feet.

• Hawley "Hangs Out His Shingle"

  1894

  Hawley "hangs out his shingle" in Fort Worth, becoming the first independent consulting engineer in Texas in water and sewer work.

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  John Hawley Arrives in Texas

  1891

  John Blackstock Hawley moves to Fort Worth from Minnesota to help Fort Worth with its first water system evaluation and plan.