Lee Freese, P.E.

Vice President

Lee Freese graduated from MIT with a bachelor’s degree in engineering and began working at Freese and Nichols the following month. Project manager, resident engineer and eventually leader of the pipeline and pump stations group, he played a key role in the Cedar Creek, Richland Creek and Owen Ivie Pipelines. A groundbreaking collaborator with technical experts and contractors, he was among the first to employ designs using steel pipe in conjunction with a native backfill soil support system, native excavated soil for backfill instead of trucking in sand, polyurethane coating to prevent corrosion, welding steel pipeline joints from the inside after backfill and using the S. Logan Kerr method of surge control on pipelines.

The American Society of Civil Engineers honored Lee Freese with the ASCE Bechtel Pipeline Engineering Award in 2001. He chaired the American Water Works Association’s Concrete Pressure Pipe Standards Committee for 20 years has been an active civic leader, including board of directors service for St. Joseph’s Hospital, Plaza Hospital and the Fort Worth Opera.