of roads and bridges damaged or destroyed during the war, and, later, included the Victoria line of the London Underground and Australia's Melbourne Underground Rail Loop. The firm continued in these fields until the merger with Sir M MacDonald & Partners in 1989, at which time it was also working on the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France beneath the English Channel. Sir M MacDonald & Partners Sir M MacDonald & Partners was named after Murdoch Macdonald, a British civil engineer and later politician. The company formed out of affairs relating directly to British infrastructure development in Egypt between 1890 and 1930, in particular MacDonald's involvement with Aswan Low Dam, starting in 1898. MacDonald was involved in the original construction of the Aswan Dam and later became an advisor to the Egyptian Ministry of Public Works after the dam was completed in 1902. He became closely associated with the development and first heightening of the Aswan Low Dam for the development of hydroelectricity. MacDonald retired from his service with the Egyptian government in 1921 and returned to Britain where he began a partnership with Archibald MacCorquodale. In 1927, the two were later joined by PH East (also an engineer in the Egyptian government from 1907 to 1926) and OL Prowde, at which time the name of the company was changed to Sir M MacDonald & Partners. One of the first major projects of the partnership included the second heightening of the Aswan Low Dam, which continued from 1929 through design and construction stages until 1933. The firm continued on projects through its merger with Mott, Hay and Anderson in 1989. Post-merger Mott MacDonald began to expand after the 1989 merger. Early acquisitions included the consultancies of Husband & Company as well as James Williamson & Partners. These acquisitions brought Mott MacDonald's total staffing to 3,300. Its 1994 acquisition of Ewbank Preece expanded its reach into the power and telecommunication fields, with its 2000 purchase of Cambridge Education Associates expanding its education consultancy. Additional early acquisitions included India-based firm Dalal Consultants in 2001, cost consultants Franklin + Andrews in 2002 and health practice HLSP in 2003. In 2007, Mott MacDonald bought Dutch firm Euroconsult BMB who specialized in international development and natural resource management. 2008 marked the first year that Mott MacDonald earned more internationally than it did in the United Kingdom, earning it recognition by New Civil Engineer