In 1975, American Engineering Company was founded by Bill Lupher and sons, Trigg and Mark. The firm began as a civil engineering and land surveying consultant. Much of the work in the early days was for residential development in the Fondren Southwest Project in Southwest Houston. The land surveying personnel in the firm performed all of the fieldwork required for the firm’s design staff. Early on, the field crews grew to anticipate the information and data that the engineers would need and provided it without it being requested.
In 1978, American Engineering Company did its first “public” work for the Harris County Flood Control District on Lateral C156-00-00 of Sims Bayou. Also in 1978, American did its first job for the Klein Independent School District on a new school site survey for Lemm Elementary School. Klein ISD would come to be American’s oldest client with the firm still working for them at present.
In 1980, the firm expanded into structural engineering in addition to civil and land surveying. Between 1980 and 1985, the firm designed two interchanges for the Harris County Toll Road Authority, FM 525 (Aldine-Bender Road) on the Hardy Toll Road and US 290 (West Ramps) on the Sam Houston Parkway. During the same period, the residential work phased out and additional roadway design and surveying was performed for the City of Houston and Harris County.
In 1987, the firm scaled back in size with a slowdown in the Houston economy. Founder, Mark Lupher, left to take a position with The Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO). From 1989 through 1997, American Engineering Company did engineering and surveying on various projects for Harris County, Klein ISD, and Metro.
In 1997, the firm began to transition away from civil engineering and more into land surveying support for other engineering companies. The name was changed to American Engineering Surveys since they were doing surveys for engineering projects. Founder, Bill Lupher, retired from the firm in 1997 and did private consulting.
American Engineering Surveys continued with limited engineering and primarily land surveying for Harris County, Klein ISD, and METRO until 2001. At this point, the firm ceased doing civil engineering and began doing solely land surveying. From 2001 through 2006, American Engineering Surveys performed topographic/design surveys for Klein ISD projects and various civil design firms for Harris County and Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT). These projects included: Westgreen Boulevard Realignment at Interstate Highway 10 and Texas Highway 99 (Grand Parkway) in Harris County.
The firm was incorporated in late 2006 under a new name, American-Lupher Land Surveyors, Inc. The firm recently completed a contract for Harris County Flood Control District establishing selected new benchmarks in northwest Harris County and continues to serve Klein ISD and select private concerns.