Eugène Belgrand

Eugène Belgrand

Eugène Belgrand (1810–1878) was a French engineer who made significant contributions to the modernization of the Parisian sewer system during the 19th century rebuilding of Paris. Much of Belgrand's work remains in use today.cite journal |title=The Sights Beneath the Sidewalks |journal=New York Times |author=Riding, Alan |date=1992-07-12 |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9E0CE7DD1738F931A25754C0A964958260 |accessdate=2008-01-09]

Civil engineering

Prior to 1850, the water system in Paris was inadequate for its growing population. Waste water was discharged into the Seine, a primary source of the critically limited supply of drinking water. [cite web |title=Hausmann |work=France Monthly |date=Dec 2002 |url=http://www.francemonthly.com/n/1202/index.php#article5 |accessdate=2008-01-08] Baron Haussmann, tasked by Napoléon III to modernize the city, appointed Belgrand as Director of Water and Sewers of Paris in March 1855. [cite book |title=The European Cities and Technology Reader: Industrial to Post-industrial City |author=Goodman, David C. |date=1999 |publisher=Routledge |id=ISBN 0415200792] Hausmann had been impressed by the École Polytechnique graduate's application of geology to water engineering during the design of a fountain in Avallon.

Belgrand embarked on an ambitious project. The tunnels he designed were intended to be clean, easily accessible, and substantially larger than the previous Parisian underground. [cite book |title=Building New York's Sewers: Developing Mechanisms of Urban Management |author=Goldman, Joanne Abel |date=1997 |publisher=Purdue University Press |id=ISBN 1557530955] Under his guidance, Paris's sewer system expanded fourfold between 1852 and 1869. [cite book |title=A History of Private Life |author=Perrot, Michelle |date=1990 |publisher=Harvard University Press |id=ISBN 0674400038] He also addressed the city's fresh water needs, constructing a system of aqueducts that nearly doubled the amount of water available per person per day and quadrupled the number of homes with running water. [cite book |title=Walks Through Lost Paris: A Journey Into the Hear of Historic Paris |author=Pitt, Leonard |date=2006 |publisher=Shoemaker & Hoard Publishers |id=ISBN 1593761031]

Public reaction to the improvements was overwhelmingly favorable, supported by tours of the newly-constructed sewer system and a series of photographs taken by Nadar, [cite web |title=Sewerage from 1789-1900 |work=Paris: Urban Sanitation Before the 20th Century |author=Krupa, Frederique |url=http://www.translucency.com/frede/parisproject/sewer1789_1900.html |accessdate=2008-01-08] pioneering the use of artificial lighting for photography. [cite book |title=Artists, Writers, and Musicians: An Encyclopedia of People Who Changed the World |author=Bossy, Michel-André, Thomas Brothers, et al. |date=2001 |publisher=Oryx Press |id=ISBN 1573561541] Belgrand shared his insights with others, writing "monumental publications" [cite book |title=Haussmann: Paris Transformed |author=Saalman, Howard |date=1971 |publisher=George Braziller |id=ISBN 0807605837] detailing his work and the science behind it. [cite journal |title=Hydrology |author=Meinzer, Oscar E., ed. |publisher=Dover Publications |date=1949]

Belgrand's projects remain "one of the most extensive urban sewer systems in the world" and served as a "transitional phase" leading to modern wastewater processing. [cite journal |title=The Paris sewers and the rationalization of urban space |journal=Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers |volume=24 |issue=1 |date=1999 |pages=23–44 |doi=10.1111/j.0020-2754.1999.00023.x |author=Gandy, Matthew]

Commemoration

To commemorate his work in Parisian civil engineering, Belgrand's name is one of 72 names engraved on the Eiffel Tower, opposite the École Militaire. [cite web |title=The 72 scientists |url=http://www.tour-eiffel.fr/teiffel/uk/documentation/dossiers/page/savants.html |accessdate=2008-01-09] The main gallery of the Paris Sewer Museum [cite journal |title=The sewer: Guardian against disease |journal=The Bulletin Online |author=Kahn, Laura H. |date=2007-10-18 |url=http://www.thebulletin.org/columns/laura-kahn/20071018.html |accessdate=2008-01-09] is also named in his honor, as is a street in Paris. [cite book |title=Paris: Capital of the World |author=Higonnet, Patrice |date=2002 |publisher=Harvard University Press |id=ISBN 0674008871]

References


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  • Eugene Belgrand — Eugène Belgrand Eugène Belgrand Eugène Belgrand, né à Ervy le Châtel (Aube) en 1810 et mort à Paris le 8 avril 1878, est un ingénieur français, connu pour sa participation aux travaux de rénovation de Paris dans la deuxième moitié du …   Wikipédia en Français

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  • Eugène Belgrand — Marie François Eugène Belgrand (* 23. April 1810 in Evry le Châtel; † 8. April 1878 in Paris) war ein französischer Bauingenieur, bekannt für seine Erneuerung des Pariser Abwassersystems und der Wasserversorgung von Paris. Belgrand Belgrand… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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