Marc Seguin
Marc Seguin (born April 20, 1786 in Annonay ; † February 24, 1875 there ) was a French engineer . He went down in technical history as a designer of suspension bridges and steam locomotives . He was a nephew of the Montgolfier brothers .
life and work
Seguin, like George Stephenson, used the tubular boiler for steam engines . Whether Seguin Stephenson came up with this idea or whether he copied this design principle from Stephenson is still controversial today. In 1827 and 1828 he spent three months in England , where he also visited the Stephenson factory. In 1828 he applied for a patent in France for a steam boiler with several heating tubes for a stationary steam engine. He did the first test drives with his locomotive shortly after the Rainhill race . In any case, the Rocket was the first steam locomotive to operate with multiple heating pipes. The firebox of Seguins locomotive was part of the boiler. The fire box had to be ventilated with large fans on the tender . The chimney was mounted directly above the fire box. The exhaust steam from the cylinders evaporated unused. Overall, the Rocket was the more advanced design.
On June 7, 1826, he acquired the concession to build a railway from Saint-Étienne to Lyon, 58 km away . Commissioned in 1831 and fully completed a year later, this railway line was the first in France and mainland Europe to be operated by a steam locomotive and for public travel.
Seguin constructed a total of 12 locomotives before he turned to bridge building . He improved the system of suspension bridges and is considered to be the inventor of the suspension cable bridge . While chain bridges were common in Europe, especially in Great Britain, Guillaume-Henri Dufour developed a suspension bridge with wire cables with a central tower and two spans based on Seguin's sketches at the end of 1822. The Passerelle de Saint-Antoine bridge in Geneva, the first wire rope suspension bridge in Europe, was built in 1823 according to Dufour's plan in five months.
Shortly thereafter, Seguin built his first own wire rope suspension bridge in Annonay together with some neighbors on private property, which was opened in 1825. It was considered a test for the suspension bridge over the Rhône between Tournon-sur-Rhône and Tain-l'Hermitage , the construction of which had already begun and which later became known as the Passerelle Marc Seguin . Because its headroom was too low, it had to be torn down when steam shipping began and was later rebuilt. Based on this model, a further 20 bridges were finally built over the Rhône. Together with his four brothers, he built 186 bridges in France, some of which are still in use today.
Seguin was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 1836 . In 1845 he was accepted as a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences . His name is listed among the 72 names of eminent people on the Eiffel Tower .
He was married three times and had a total of 19 children.
literature
- Des Ponts en fil de fer , (1st edition 1824) 2nd edition, Bachelier, Paris, 1826 (digitized on Google Books)
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Details about Marc Seguin on medarus.org ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 29, 2012
- ↑ Ponts suspendus réalisés by Marc Seguin et freres , on art-et-histoire.com. Retrieved March 1, 2013
- ^ List of members since 1666: letter S. Académie des sciences, accessed on February 29, 2020 (French).
- ↑ The French Wikipedia page about Marc Seguin.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Seguin, Marc |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 20, 1786 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Annonay |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 24, 1875 |
| Place of death | Annonay |