The Engineering Legacy of Dr. Halff Lives On in Dallas

It’s easy to notice when something doesn’t work. But have you given thought to underground drainage pipes, or noticed that massive bridge standing the test of time?

Engineers are often behind every piece of critical infrastructure—visible or invisible—adeptly designing roads, structures and water/wastewater systems to name a few.

When we look back, we see just how Dr. Albert Halff left a legacy of engineering—particularly in Dallas.

Small Firm, Big Impact

Firm founder Dr. Halff was featured in a 1984 Dallas Morning News piece titled “When city talks engineering, it usually talks Albert Halff.”

Heralding the legacy that Halff would continue to leave in Dallas, the article gives us a glimpse into Halff’s enormous impact.

News piece author Cliff Foster describes, “Halff is founder, president and ubiquitous mentor of a Dallas-based civil engineering firm that in recent years has landed more of the city’s lucrative engineering business than any other concern.”

Projects With Purpose

Throughout the early years of the firm in the late 1970s and ’80s, Halff was awarded millions of dollars in water utility and public works projects.

Working on several notable projects, Halff was behind the 1969 Bachman Branch study, a 1975 study on flood reduction in the Lower Peaks Branch area of South Dallas, and his hallmark endeavor on the study for Town Lake.

White Rock Lake and Dam spillway (left) and renderings of the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park.

Halff also led design of the White Rock water transmission line and improvements at Fair Park.

“It was Halff who delineated the floodplains in Dallas, topographical boundaries that determine whether a homeowner can get flood insurance and whether a developer can build near a creek. But despite the competition, his firm consistently is retained to design many large capital projects—such as water and sewer lines and drainage systems—that make up the steel and concrete guts of the city.”

A Man With a Plan

As interesting of a man as he was humble, Dr. Halff maintained a well-kept office near Hillcrest in Dallas, equipped with a small laboratory, library and his sculpture collection (including an alligator).

“Halff exhibits informality but still is called ‘Dr. Halff’ by his associates,” remarks the article. “[Albert] attended Southern Methodist University, earned a master’s degree from Illinois Institute of Technology and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.”

Genuine care for people remained centripetal to Halff’s approach, as he frequently donned his diary in hand to take notes on almost every conversation.

The United States has a long tradition of land surveying and many of our early political leaders took great pride in being land surveyors.

 

“The job of engineers, [Dr. Halff] says, is to point out technical alternatives and allow their clients to choose among them.

“But Halff is also sensitive to realities that have little to do with pure engineering principles. [Halff] also said he considers a client’s pocketbook in designing a project.”