Alexandre Sarrasin

Alexandre Sarrasin (* 13. March 1895 in Saint-Maurice , Canton of Valais , † 24. July 1976 in Le Mont-sur-Lausanne , Canton of Vaud ) was a Swiss civil engineer , in particular through its reinforced concrete - Bridges became known.

Life

Sarrasin completed his civil engineering studies at the ETH Zurich from 1913 to 1918 . He then worked in an engineering office in Lausanne , which he took over in 1921. When the Belgian architect Michel Polak soon afterwards offered him the opportunity to work at the Résidence Palace in Brussels , he opened an office there too, in which further projects were soon worked on. In 1927 he moved to Brussels. He directed his office in Lausanne mainly by letter; Projects in Switzerland were mostly processed in Brussels. After the outbreak of the Second World War , he returned to Lausanne in 1940, where he implemented numerous projects in western Switzerland. From 1949 to 1957 he held lectures on reinforced concrete as a visiting professor at the École polytechnique de l'Université de Lausanne, today's École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne . Then he concentrated on his engineering offices, which he had meanwhile also founded in Geneva and Sion . There he advised, among other things, on the construction of motorways beginning in western Switzerland and began working with the architect Jean Tschumi . He stayed in his office until the end of his life, which his son Philippe continued.

Works

 Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap

A selection of his works include:

• Pont de Branson (1924–1925) ( ), a girder bridge over the Rhone in the village of Branson (formerly also Brançon ) in the municipality of Fully in the canton of Valais . The 106.24 m long bridge with its three openings of 28.80 + 38.40 + 28.80 m was the first wide-span reinforced concrete bridge in Switzerland. In the years 2006–2008 it was replaced by a reinforced concrete bridge built a few meters above with a steel framework.

• Equalization basin in the village of Les Marécottes (1924–1925) ( ) in the municipality of Salvan for the SBB Vernayaz power station in the Rhone valley . The approximately 200 m × 40 m large basin with a capacity of 47,000 m³ built into the slope is built on the valley side in the manner of a dam by a more than 200 m long and 7 m high, eye-catching construction made of a series of sloping vaults with a thickness bordered by only 12 cm, which are supported by trapezoidal transverse panes. Contrary to the construction methods customary up to then, Sarrasin used reinforced concrete instead of unreinforced concrete and the same angle of inclination on both sides of the wall.

• Résidence Palace (1927–1928), a luxury residential building in Brussels.

• Merjenbrücke (1928–1930) ( French Pont de Meryen ) ( ) in Stalden , a 117.50 m long and 5 m wide reinforced concrete bridge designed by Sarrasin together with the architects Kalbermatten , Polak and Hoch, with an arch with a Span of 66.33 m and two side frames that Matter Vispa crosses at a height of 150 m. The massive parapets, also made of reinforced concrete, serve to reinforce the two slender, clamped arched ribs.

• Pont de Naou-Hounts (1930–1931) in the French Pyrenees south of Bagnères-de-Luchon , a reinforced concrete bridge made of two Vierendeel girders with a span of 52.9 m.

• Rhone bridge between Vernayaz and Dorénaz (1933) ( ), a 99 m long girder bridge with a main opening span of 45 m and a deck that is positively connected to the main girders and the parapets so that a trough cross-section is created.

• Pont de Gueuroz (1932–1934) ( ) over the Trient Gorge above Vernayaz , a 168 m long reinforced concrete arch bridge with two slender, clamped arched ribs, which crosses the gorge at a height of 187 m.

• Railway viaduct (1953) ( ) in Sembrancher in the canton of Valais , a 370 m long railway viaduct that leads from the station over Hauptstrasse 21 and the Dranse and crosses the river with a 50 m wide arch with a rectangular plate cross-section.

• Rhone bridge (1957) ( ) near Saint-Maurice . The prestressed concrete bridge on Hauptstrasse 21 or Route de Lavey was originally planned as a motorway bridge . Their spans of 30 + 116 + 30 m were a Swiss record at the time.

• Mühlebach railway bridge (1959) in Stalden.

• Nestlé headquarters (1959–1960) in Vevey together with the architect Jean Tschumi

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas Fuchs: Alexandre Sarrasin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . April 20, 2015 , accessed July 8, 2019 .
2. ↑ ^{a b} Alexandre Sarrasin engineer portrait in db deutsche bauzeitung 12/2004
3. ^ L'ancien pont de Branson. Photos on the Fully website
4. ↑ 1924-1925 - Pont sur le Rhône, à Brançon. In: Alexandre Sarrasin: Ponts récents en béton armé. Bulletin technique de la Suisse romande, Volume 59, No. 25 of December 9, 1933, pp. 305–307
5. ↑ New Pont de Branson
6. ↑ Emmanuel Rey: Le barrage des Marécottes. In: matières , published by the Department d'architecture de l'École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Institut de théorie et d'histoire de l'architecture , Presses Universitaires et polytechniques romandes, Lausanne 1998, ISSN 1422-3449, p 98 ( excerpts Excerpt on Google Books)
7. ^ 1928-1930 - Pont sur la Viège, à Meryen. In: Alexandre Sarrasin: Ponts récents en béton armé. Bulletin technique de la Suisse romande, Volume 59, No. 25 of December 9, 1933, pp. 307–309
8. ↑ Pont de Ravi, Naou-Hounts, Bagnères de Luchon - Haute-Garonne, France on the private site Vierendeel.
9. ↑ 1930-1931 - Pont sur la Pique à Naou-Hounts, près de Luchon (Haute-Garonne), France. In: Alexandre Sarrasin: Ponts récents en béton armé. Bulletin technique de la Suisse romande, Volume 59, Issue 26 of December 23, 1933, pp. 318-321
10. ↑ 1932-1933 - Pont sur le Rhône à Dorénaz. In: Alexandre Sarrasin: Ponts récents en béton armé. Bulletin technique de la Suisse romande, Volume 60, No. 2 of January 20, 1934, pp. 14-15
11. ^ 1931-1933 - Pont sur les gorges du Trient à Gueuroz. In: Alexandre Sarrasin: Ponts récents en béton armé. Bulletin technique de la Suisse romande, Volume 60, No. 4 of February 17, 1934, pp. 37-39