Louis Favre

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Louis Favre

Louis Favre (born January 28, 1826 in Chêne-Bourg ; † July 19, 1879 in Göschenen ) was a Swiss building contractor and self-taught engineer . He was responsible for the construction of the Gotthard tunnel , the heart of the Gotthard Railway .

Life

Louis Favre was the son of master carpenter Claude Favre and Péronne nee Chevalier. He was a Catholic religion and was a citizen of Geneva. He married Caroline Eugénie Rondeau in 1849.

In 1846 he went to Neuilly-sur-Marne near Paris as a carpenter's journeyman . He took architecture courses and self-taught to become an engineer. In this way he managed to rise from a simple craftsman to a quarry and construction entrepreneur. Together with the railway engineer Jean-Daniel Colladon, he carried out various constructions: 1846–51 work for the Paris – Lyon (PL) railway company in Charenton, 1852–53 those on the Montbart– Dijon line , 1854 the Vaise station in Lyon , 1855 the Augné line (Jura) with tunnel in the marl, 1856–58 the extension of the Crédo tunnel (Ain) on the Lyon – Genève line and 1858–60 at the Grandvaux and La Cornallaz (Chexbres) tunnels on the Lausanne – Bern line . 1863–65 he had the Hôtel de la Paix in Geneva built for Henri du Bord and worked in France on the Chagny - Nevers line , the Creuzot tunnel and the aqueduct that carried water from the River Vanne to Paris.

Gotthard Railway

Favre's company triumphed over six competitors and was awarded the contract to build the Gotthard tunnel , the longest railway tunnel in the world at the time , despite the late submission of tenders . In the contract of August 7, 1872, he secured a construction period of eight years instead of nine of the closest offers, and at an offer price of 56 million Swiss francs a 12½ million Swiss francs cheaper offer. Should the construction time be shorter, he was promised a premium of 5,000 francs per day, if the construction time was delayed, Favre would have to pay a fine of 5,000 francs as well. If there is a delay in completion of more than six months, the penalty should be increased to CHF 10,000 per day.

The construction work ran from 1871 to 1880, the breakthrough took place on February 29, 1880. In addition to considerable technical and geological problems, Louis Favre also had to deal with multiple disputes with the financing bank and the building management of the Gotthard Railway Company , some of which were brought to court. In addition, in 1875 there was a brutally suppressed strike by the Italian tunnel workers .

The agreed eight-year construction period was delayed by ten months, which ruined the Favres family financially. Favre himself had died of a tear in the abdominal aorta a few months earlier during an inspection tour in the tunnel . Planning and construction were considered a technical masterpiece for the time.

literature

  • Catherine Courtiau: Favre, Louis. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Konrad Kuoni: The construction of the Gotthard railway tunnel in economic, political and social terms. 1996.
  • Hans G. Wägli: Louis Favre (1826–1879): builder of the Gotthard tunnel . Association for economic history studies, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-909059-40-9 ( Swiss pioneers in business and technology. Vol. 86).

Web links

Commons : Louis Favre  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catherine Courtiau: Article on L. Favre in the Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
personal data
SURNAME Favre, Louis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss engineer, responsible for the construction of the Gotthard tunnel
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1826
PLACE OF BIRTH Chêne-Bourg
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1879
Place of death Göschenen