View source for Eugène Freyssinet

{{Short description|French structural engineer (1879–1962)}}
{{Infobox engineer
|image                = File:Eugène Freyssinet uniforme école polytechnique.jpg
|image_size           = 
|caption              = Freyssinet in the uniform of the ''[[École Polytechnique]]''
|name                 = Eugène Freyssinet
|nationality          = French
|birth_date           = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|7|13}}
|birth_place          = [[Objat, Corrèze]], France
|death_date           = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1962|6|8|1879|7|13}} 
|death_place          = [[Saint-Martin-Vésubie]], France
|education            = 
|spouse               = 
|parents              = 
|children             = 
|discipline           = [[Structural engineer]], [[civil engineer]]
|institutions         = [[Institution of Structural Engineers]]
|practice_name        = 
|significant_projects = [[Plougastel Bridge]]<br />[[Pont le Veurdre]]<br />[[Hangar d'Orly]]
|significant_design   = 
|significant_advance  = developments in [[prestressed concrete]]
|significant_awards   = [[IStructE]] Gold Medal<br />[[Frank P. Brown Medal]] (1950)<br />[[Wilhelm Exner Medal]] (1960)
}}
'''Eugène Freyssinet''' ({{IPA|fr|øʒɛn fʁɛsinɛ|lang}}) (13 July 1879 – 8 June 1962) was a French [[structural engineer|structural]] and [[civil engineer]]. He was the major pioneer of [[prestressed concrete]].

==Biography==
Freyssinet was born in at [[Objat, Corrèze]], France. He worked in the ''[[École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées]]'' in Paris, France where he designed several [[bridge]]s until the [[World War I|First World War]] intervened. His tutors included [[Charles Rabut]].<ref name="Bill">{{cite book| last = Billington| first = David| title = The Tower and the Bridge| publisher = Princeton University Press| location = Princeton| year = 1985| isbn = 0-691-02393-X| url = https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill}}</ref> He served in the [[French Army]] from 1904 to 1907 and again from 1914 to 1918 as a road engineer.

His most significant early bridge was the three span [[Pont le Veurdre]] near [[Vichy]], built in 1911. At the time, the 72.5 metre (238&nbsp;ft) spans were the longest so far constructed in France although [[Grafton Bridge]] a 97.6 metre reinforced concrete bridge had been opened in April 1910 and the [[Rocky River Bridge]] in Cleveland Ohio, an 85.34 metre unreinforced bridge had been opened in October 1910.

Freyssinet's proposal was for three [[reinforced concrete]] [[truss]] [[span (architecture)|spans]], and was significantly less expensive than the standard masonry arch design. The design used jacks to raise and connect the arches, effectively introducing an element of prestress. The bridge also enabled Freyssinet to discover the phenomenon of [[creep (deformation)|creep]] in concrete, whereby the concrete deforms with time when placed under stress. Regarding this bridge, Freyssinet wrote: "I have always loved it more than any other of my bridges, and of all that the War has destroyed, it is the only one whose ruin has caused me real grief".<ref name="Bill"/>

He served as the director of Public Works in Moulins starting in 1905. He also served as a road engineer in central France from 1907 until 1914.

Eugène achieved a significant breakthrough in [[thin-shell structure]]s with the design of two huge and celebrated airship hangars at Villeneuve-[[Orly Airport]] in 1923. The principle of the corrugated form for the concrete shell was introduced there to obtain necessary stiffness for a 70m span. In 1924 he applied the same principle of
corrugated shell roofing for two airplanes hangars spanning 55m at [[Vélizy – Villacoublay Air Base|Vélizy – Villacoublay]].<ref>Bernard Espion, Pierre Halleux, Jacques I. Schiffmann, "Contributions of André Paduart to the Art of Thin Concrete Shell Vaulting," Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History (2003) citing: Freyssinet, Eugène (1923) Hangars à dirigeables en ciment armé en construction à l’aéroport de Villeneuve-Orly, ''Le Génie Civil'' (Paris) 83: 265-273, 291-297, 313-319; Gotteland, J. (1925) Les hangars d’avions de Villacoublay, ''Annales des Ponts et Chaussées'' (Paris) fasc.5 : 169-183; and Fernandez Ordoñez, José A. (1979) ''Eugène Freyssinet'', Barcelone: 2c editions.</ref>

Working for Claude Limousin until 1929, he designed a number of structures including a 96.2&nbsp;m (315&nbsp;ft) [[arch bridge]] at [[Villeneuve-sur-Lot]], and several large [[thin-shell structure|thin-shell]] concrete roofs, including aircraft hangars at Istres, Bouches-du-Rhone in 1917 and  300-foot-wide, 200-foot-high twin ''[[Airship|dirigible]]'' sheds at [[Paris - Orly Airport|Orly]] from 1916 to 1923.<ref>Billington, op. cit.</ref> During the First World War he also built cargo ships using reinforced concrete at Rouen.<ref>Bennett, David: "The Creation of Bridges", Aurum Press Ltd, undated (circa 1998)</ref> Freyssinet's major contribution to the science of concrete construction was the use of forced steam around the concrete moulds which significantly shortened the curing time of the concrete.

His 1919 design at St Pierre du Vauvray again increased the record for a concrete arch span, with 132&nbsp;m (435&nbsp;ft) hollow arches, completed in 1923.<ref name="Bill"/> Also in 1919 his ''Pont De La Liberation'' in Villeneuve-sur-Lot was completed which was the largest single span in the world at 96.25 metres.

His largest structure was the [[Plougastel Bridge]] with three identical spans of 180&nbsp;m (592&nbsp;ft) each, completed in 1930. Here he studied creep in more detail, and developed his ideas of [[Prestressed concrete|prestressing]], taking out a patent in 1928.<ref name="Bill"/>

Although Freyssinet did much to develop prestressed concrete, he was not its inventor. Other engineers such as Doehring had patented methods for prestressing as early as 1888, and Freyssinet's mentor Rabut built prestressed concrete [[corbel]]s. Freyssinet's key contribution was to recognise that only high-strength prestressing wire could counteract the effects of creep and relaxation, and to develop anchorages and other technology which made the system flexible enough to be applied to many different types of structures.<ref>Troyano, L.F.: "Bridge Engineering - A Global Perspective", Thomas Telford Publishing, 2003</ref>

Having left Limousin, he set up his own firm to build prestressed concrete [[electricity pylon]]s, but the business failed.<ref>Bennett, op.cit.</ref>

In 1935, he used prestressing to consolidate the maritime station of [[Le Havre]] which was threatening to [[settlement (construction)|settle]] beyond repair. Freyssinet introduced prestressed concrete beams, and jacked up the shipyard buildings. Following this success, he joined the firm of [[Campenon-Bernard]] and went on to design several prestressed bridges.

Many of Freyssinet's designs were new and elaborate for his time—some of them so much so that they were never built, such as the ''[[Phare du Monde]]'', a 2,300 foot tower planned for the [[Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne|1937 World Fair]] in [[Paris]]. According to Leonardo Troyano, "his capacity for creation, invention and research and his non-conformity with existing ideas and doctrines made him one of the most notable engineers in the history of engineering".<ref>Troyano, op.cit.</ref>

==Key achievements or collaborations==
* 1906: Pont de Moulin Neuf (in [[Ferrières-sur-Sichon]])
* 1907: Pont de Prairéal-sur-Besbre
* 1909 : [[Freyssinet Test Arch]] in [[Moulins, Allier|Moulins]] (a test for prestressed concrete before the construction of three road bridges over the Allier River)
* 1911-1912: Pont du Veurdre (demolished in 1944 by French Resistance),
* 1913: [[Bridge Boutiron]], à Creuzier le Vieux, near Vichy,
* 1910-1919: [[Pont de Villeneuve-sur-Lot]]
* 1914-1923: Pont de [[Châtel-de-Neuvre]] (demolished in 1940 by French Army),
* 1922-1930: [[Pont Albert-Louppe]] across the [[Élorn]] between [[Plougastel-Daoulas]] and [[Brest, France|Brest]]
* 1922-1923: [[Pont de Saint-Pierre-du-Vauvray]]
* 1922: [[Pont de Tonneins]] across the Garonne,
* 1923: Airships hangars of the [[Paris-Orly Airport|Orly Airport]]
* 1927-1929: the [[Halle Freyssinet]] or Halle messengers of the Gare d'Austerlitz in Paris
* 1927-1929: [[central market (Reims)|Les Halles "Le Boulingrin"]] in [[Reims]]
* 1926-1928: Factory of the [[Compagnie Nationale de Radiateurs|Compagnie nationale des radiateurs]] de [[Dammarie-lès-Lys]] ([[Seine-et-Marne]])
* 1933-1935: renovation of the ferry terminal of [[Le Havre|Havre]]
* 1934-1940: [[Église Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur de Montrouge]]<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA92000015|Eglise Saint-Jacques le Majeur}}</ref>
* 1936: Aqueduct at Fodda, in Algeria
* 1937-1941: Steel gates on the Barrage at Béni Badhel, Algeria,
* 1938: Bridge on the Autobahn 2 Oelde in [[Warendorf]] in Germany, the first prestressed concrete bridge in the country.<ref>[http://fr.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0003543 Notice du pont d'Oelde sur Structurae.com]</ref> 
* 1941-1946: [[pont de Luzancy]] on the [[Marne (river)|Marne]] ([[Seine-et-Marne]]), {{cvt|54|m}} span,
* 1946-1951: Orleans Reservoir
* 1947-1950: series of five similar bridges on the [[Marne (river)|Marne]] ({{cvt|74|m}} span) to [[Esbly]] [[Ussy-sur-Marne]] [[Changis -over Marne]] [[Trilbardou]] and [[Annet-sur-Marne]] ([[Seine-et-Marne]])
* 1947 and 1953: runway at Orly airport
* 1948-1951: cut and cover of Rouen,
* 1951-1953: Three overpasses on the highway to Caracas La Guaira, Venezuela
* 1954: Reconstruction and consolidation of the roof of the issuer of l'émetteur d'Europe 1 à Felsberg, Sarre,
* 1955: water pipe sealed Kunu, India
* 1955-1957: Viaduct access [[pont de Tancarville]], the left bank,
* 1955-1958: [[Basilica of St. Pius X|basilique Saint-Pie X]] in [[Lourdes]] with the architects [[Pierre Vago]] and André Le Donne.
* 1955-1961: a multiple-arch dam on the river Erraguene Djen-Djen, Algeria,
* 1957: Bridge No. 10 on the N7 at Orly
* 1957: [[Pont Saint-Michel de Toulouse|Pont Saint-Michel]] à [[Toulouse]],
* 1961-1964: Reservoir des Lilas in Paris
* 1961-1964: [[Gladesville Bridge]], Australia.

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* {{cite book | last = Bennett | first = David | title = The Creation of Bridges | publisher = Chartwell Books | location = Secaucus | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-7858-1053-6 }}
* {{cite book | last = Billington | first = David | title = The Tower and the Bridge | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton | year = 1985 | isbn = 0-691-02393-X | url = https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill }}

==External links==
* {{Structurae person|id=d000012|name=Eugene Freyssinet}}

{{IStructE Gold Medal Winners}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freyssinet, Eugene}}
[[Category:French civil engineers]]
[[Category:École Polytechnique alumni]]
[[Category:École des Ponts ParisTech alumni]]
[[Category:Corps des ponts]]
[[Category:IStructE Gold Medal winners]]
[[Category:French bridge engineers]]
[[Category:Concrete pioneers]]
[[Category:Structural engineers]]
[[Category:Concrete shell structures]]
[[Category:20th-century French engineers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:People from Corrèze]]
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]