Gustave Eiffel: biography, photo. Bridges Gustave Eiffel

The end of the XIX century absolutely deservedly received the status of a golden period in the history of engineering. This he owes to the great designers, whose constructions still symbolize this or that milestone of history. Alexander Gustave Eiffel is known to ordinary people as the creator of the famous Parisian tower. Few people know that he lived a very busy life and created many more outstanding buildings. Let's find out more about this great engineer and designer.

Childhood and Education

Gustave Eiffel was born in 1832 in the city of Dijon, which is located in Burgundy. His father very successfully grew grapes on his vast plantations. But Gustave did not want to devote his life to agriculture and after studying at the local gymnasium he entered the Paris Polytechnic School. After studying there for three years, the future designer went to the Central School of Crafts and Arts. In 1855 Gustave Eiffel finished his studies.

Carier start

At that time engineering was considered an optional discipline, so the young designer got a job at a firm that worked on the development and construction of bridges. In 1858, Gustave Eiffel designed his first bridge. This project could not be called typical, as well as all subsequent activities of the designer. To piles held firmer, the man suggested pushing them into the bottom with a hydraulic press. To date, this method is used extremely rarely, since it requires extensive technical training.

To accurately set piles at a depth of 25 meters, Eiffel had to design a special device. When the bridge was successfully built, Gustave was recognized as a bridge engineer. Over the next twenty years, he designed many different structures and the greatest architectural monuments, which include the Bir-Akem bridge, the Alexander III bridge, the Eiffel tower and much more.

An Unusual Look

In his work Eiffel always tried to come up with something innovative that could not only alleviate the fate of designers and builders, but also make a useful contribution to the industry. Creating its first bridge, Gustave Eiffel decided to abandon the construction of cumbersome scaffolding. The huge metal arch of the bridge was built in advance on the beach. And to install it in place, the designer needed just one steel cable stretched between the river banks. This method began to be applied everywhere, but only 50 years after the Eifel invented it.

Bridge over Thuyer

Gustave Eiffel's bridges have always stood out, but there are some crazy projects among them. These include a viaduct built across the river Tyuyer. The complexity of the project was that he had to stand in the place of a mountain gorge 165 meters deep. Prior to Eiffel, several engineers were offered to build this viaduct , but they all refused. He proposed to cover the gorge with a huge arch supported by two concrete pylons.

The arch consisted of two halves, which were fitted to each other to within a tenth of a millimeter. This bridge became an excellent school for the Eiffel. He received invaluable experience and defined his life and professional guidelines.

Together with a team of engineers, Gustave developed a unique technique that allowed calculating the metal structure of almost any configuration. Having built a bridge through Tyuyer, the hero of our story took up the design of an industrial exhibition in Paris, which was to take place in 1878.

«Hall of cars»

Together with the famous French engineer de Dion, Eiffel designed a majestic structure, which was nicknamed "The Hall of Machines". The length of the structure was 420, width - 115, and height - 45 meters. The frame of the building consisted of metal beams of openwork form, on which glass bindings of an interesting configuration were kept.

When the leaders of the company, which was supposed to reproduce the Eiffel project, got acquainted with his idea, they found it for something impossible. The first thing that alarmed them was the fact that at that time buildings with such dimensions did not exist at all. Nevertheless, the "Hall of Machines" still was built, as a result of which the brave designer was awarded a gold medal for an unsurpassed technical solution. Unfortunately, we can not see the photo of this interesting building, since in 1910 it was dismantled.

The design of the "Hall of Machines" completely relied on concrete cushions, a relatively small size. This technique helped to avoid deformations that inevitably occur due to natural displacement of the soil. This cunning way the great designer used in his projects more than once.

A tower that might not have been

In 1898, on the eve of the next Parisian exhibition, Gustave Eiffel built a tower about 300 meters high. According to the idea of an engineer, it was to become the architectural dominant of the exhibition city. At that time, the designer could not even imagine that this tower would become one of the key symbols of Paris and glorify the bridge builder for centuries after his death. Developing this design, Eifel again applied his talent and made more than one discovery. The tower consists of thin metal parts that are attached to each other by means of rivets. The translucent silhouette of the tower seems to float above the city.

It is difficult to imagine, but now might not be the main Parisian landmark. In early 1888, a month after the start of the construction works, a protest was written in the name of the chairman of the exhibition committee. He was formed by a group of artists and writers. They asked to abandon the construction of the tower, as it could spoil the usual landscape of the French capital.

And then the famous architect T. Alfan authoritatively suggested that the Eiffel project has great potential and can become not only the key figure of the exhibition, but also the main attraction of Paris. So it happened, less than two decades after the construction, the majestic city began to be associated with the design of the designer, who took it as a habit to think uncommonly and not be afraid of bold decisions. The engineer himself called his creation "the 300-meter tower", but society honored his honor to go down in history for the broad masses, calling the tower his name.

The Statue of Liberty

Few people know, but it was Gustave Eiffel, whose biography you and I were interested today, ensured the longevity of the American symbol - the Statue of Liberty.

It all began with the fact that the French designer, during the construction of his tower, met with his American counterpart - architect T. Bartholdi. The latter was engaged in the design of the American pavilion at the exhibition. The center of the exposition was to be a small statue of bronze, which personified Freedom.

After the exhibition, the French increased the statue to a height of 93 meters and gave it to America. However, when the future monument arrived at the installation site, it became clear that a strong steel frame was needed for installation. The only engineer who understood the calculation of waterproof structures was Gustave Eiffel.

He managed to create such a successful frame that the statue has been standing for more than a hundred years, and strong winds from the ocean do not bother her. When a few years ago the American symbol was restored, it was decided to check the Eiffel calculations using a modern computer program. Surprisingly, the framework proposed by the engineer exactly coincided with the model the machine developed.

Laboratory

After an incredible success at two exhibitions, the hero of our conversation decided to study research in depth. In the town of Auteuil, he created from nothing the world's first laboratory, which examines the effect of wind on the durability of various structures. Eifel was the world's first engineer who used a wind tunnel in research. The designer published his results in a series of fundamental works. To this day, its development is considered an encyclopedia of engineering.

Conclusion

So, we have learned that, besides the Parisian tower, Gustave Eiffel is famous. Photos of his creations fascinate and make you think about human greatness and the widest possibilities of our mind. But in the beginning of the road Eiffel was a simple designer of bridges, whose ideas aroused confusion among his colleagues. Definitely an inspiring story.