Our Story

WSP USA traces its origins back to 1885, when William Barclay Parsons founded the company that would become Parsons Brinckerhoff in New York City. Early projects included the design of the original New York City subway system and the Cape Cod Canal, as well as consulting for hydropower projects in New York State. The firm has worked on many of the major transit systems in the U.S., including San Francisco, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Seattle, and has designed countless highways, bridges and tunnels, in addition to consulting on energy, water/wastewater and community development projects.

Parsons Brinckerhoff was acquired in 2014 by WSP, a global professional services consultancy.

WSP first entered the US market in 2000 through the acquisitions of Cantor Seinuk, a structural engineering firm established in 1953, and of Flack + Kurtz, a mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering business founded in 1969. The two firms later comprised the buildings service line of the company. Environment & Energy, an environmental and energy consulting business established in 1986, became part of the company in 2006.

The following year, WSP acquired Chas H. Sells, Inc., a firm established in 1925. During its history, Chas H. Sells, Inc. worked on such iconic New York projects as Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and the Gowanus Expressway. The firm is also known for its expertise in the planning and design of large-scale developments, including residences and offices. After its acquisition in 2007, it became WSP's transport and infrastructure engineering group in the U.S., with a specialization in bridge design and engineering.

In 2014, following the acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff, WSP acquired ccrd, a Texas-based MEP engineering and commissioning firm with deep experience in building for the healthcare, science and technology markets. ccrd was the MEP engineer for the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas in Austin, the world's first LEED® Platinum hospital.

WSP expanded its buildings services in the Midwest with the acquisition of Halvorson and Partners in 2015. The structural engineering firm, established in Chicago in 1996, provided structural designs for high-profile, award-winning projects in the U.S. and internationally, including the Burj Mohammed Bin Rashid Tower in Abu Dhabi, which won the 2015 Best Tall Building Award for the Middle East and Africa from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats.

WSP acquired the water management division of Schlumberger, a specialist in the development, management and environmental protection of water resources, in 2016. Later that year, WSP also acquired substantially all the assets of CRC, a New York-based firm with expertise in central utility plants and cogeneration systems.

In 2017, WSP acquired Leggette, Brashears & Graham, a groundwater and environmental engineering services firm with seven decades of wide-ranging experience in hydrogeology, groundwater and surface water modeling, dewatering and depressurization, environmental investigation and remediation. We acquired YR&G, a sustainable design and consulting firm with offices in NYC, Chicago, Denver and Portland; this greatly expanded our sustainability services, adding consulting to our offering. The acquisition of Willoughby Engineers, an MEP firm with offices in Dallas and Chicago, expanded our MEP presence in Chicago and added additional market sector expertise to our Dallas office.

Today, WSP USA continues to enjoy growth and enrichment of its service offering. Every milestone reached has enabled us to better fulfill our purpose of preparing our communities and environment for the future.