Biography. Architectural buildings engineer gustav eiffel Eiffel projects

Engineer, specialist in the design of metal structures. He gained unprecedented popularity after the construction in Paris for the 1889 exhibition of a metal tower, belonging to the most remarkable technical structures of the 19th century and named after him.

Biography

Family and early years

Born in the French department of Côte d'Or. He was the first child of Catherine-Mélanie (nee Monez) and Alexander Eiffel. He was a descendant of Jean-René Bönickhausen, an emigrant from the German town of Marmagen (modern Nettersheim district) near Cologne, who moved to Paris at the beginning of the 19th century, and his descendant became one of three people of German origin who changed the face of Paris along with Baron Haussmann and an engineer Jacques Giettorf ( Jacques Ignace Hittorff) . The family adopted the surname Eiffel as a reminder of their native mountains Eifel (German: Eifel). Although family members used the surname Eiffel, Gustave was registered under the surname Bönichausen and did not officially change it until 1880.

Gustave's father served in the army, but at the time of the birth of his son remained with her in administrative work, however, he soon leaves the service and switches to helping his wife run the charcoal company inherited from her parents, when the wife decided to expand the scope of the company, including into it the distribution of goods. Due to his mother's busyness, the future architect spent much time with his grandmother, but remained attached to his mother, who was an influential figure in his life until her death in 1878. In 1843, Katrin sold the successful family business and retired, living on the proceeds .

The son studies at the Royal Lyceum in Dijon, but studies weigh him down until high school, when he takes classes under the influence of teachers of history and literature and successfully passes the exams for the title of bachelor in natural sciences and humanities.

An important role in the boy's education is played by his uncle Jean-Baptiste Mollerat, the owner of a large chemical plant near Dijon, the author of the vinegar distillation method, and one of his uncle's friends, the chemist Michel Perret, who taught him everything from chemistry and mining to theology and philosophy.

In Paris, to prepare for difficult entrance exams to the best technical universities in the country, Gustave enters the College Saint-Barbe. He is attracted to the Polytechnic School, but the teachers consider his results insufficient, and he passes to the more applied Central School of Arts and Manufactories. In his second year, he decides to specialize in chemistry and in 1855 he graduated 13th out of 80 candidates. That year, Paris hosts the World Exhibition, and Gustave's mother buys a season ticket for Gustave to visit the spectacle.

Career

In 1855 he received an engineering degree from the Central School of Arts and Manufacture in Paris.

Before the construction of the Eiffel Tower, it was known for its imposing steel structures for bridges, the Ponte de Dona Maria Pia across the Douro at Porto in Portugal (Maria Pia Bridge), as well as the 500-meter railway bridge in Bordeaux, stations in the city of Budapest. He also completed the Viaduct de Garabi, a railway viaduct in southern France, which rose above the valley at a height of 122 meters and was at one time the highest in the world.

He took part in the construction of the iron frame for the New York Statue of Liberty, in the competition for the construction of the Trinity Bridge in St. Petersburg, in the Amazonian outback he built the so-called. Iron house.

He was an engineer of the Panama Society and a supplier for him of machines manufactured at his machine-building plant in Levallois-Perret (near Paris). The revelations concerning the Panamanian society also touched him; he was accused of receiving 19 million francs from the Panama Society for fictitious works. Put on trial () along with his father and son Lesseps and other persons involved in the case, Eiffel was sentenced to 2 years in prison and a fine of 20,000 francs, but the court of cassation overturned the sentence due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Developed and brought to life the idea of the rotating dome of the observatory in Nice, which, despite the weight of 100 tons, is easily set in motion by one person; improved the system of movable bridges, etc.

He wrote, among other things:

« Conference de Gustave Eiffel sur la tour de 300 meters"(P., 1889);
« Les ponts portatifs economiques" (in collaboration with Collins, P., 1888).

Death

Gustave Eiffel died on December 27, 1923 at the age of 91 from pneumonia.

Objects designed by the atelier of Gustave Eiffel

Chronological list

Western railway station, Budapest, Hungary (1877)
Maria Pia Bridge, Porto, Portugal (1877)
Eiffel Bridge, Ungheni, Moldova (1877)
Metal footbridge, Onyar River, Girona, Catalonia, Spain (1877)
Dome for the observatory at Nice, Nice, France (1878)
Garabi Viaduct, railway bridge, Truyère River, France (1884)
Statue of Liberty, New York, USA (1886) (assisted principal architect)
Iron House, Iquitos, Peru (1887)
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France (1889)
Central railway station, Santiago, Chile (1897)
Santa Justa elevator, Lisbon, Portugal (1901)
The Tsagveri-Tsemi bridge of the Borjomi-Bakuriani railway line (Georgia), specially ordered by the Romanovs in France (1902) and installed on the Tsemistskali River.
Air bridge, Liepaja, Latvia (1906)

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was erected on the Champ de Mars, against the Jena bridge; in height (324 m), it is almost 2 times higher than the tallest structures of that time (the Pyramid of Cheops 137 m, Cologne Cathedral 156 m, Ulm Cathedral 161 m, etc.). The entire tower is made of iron and consists of three floors.

The construction of the Eiffel Tower lasted 26 months, from January 28, 1887 to March 31, 1889, and cost the taxpayers 6.5 million francs. During the six months of the exhibition, more than 2 million visitors came to see the Iron Lady. The construction was such a success that by the end of the year it was possible to recover three-quarters of all construction costs.

Memory

In 1983, on the 60th anniversary of the death of H. Eiffel, the French post issued (for the overseas department of Wallis and Futuna) a commemorative stamp with a face value of 97 francs depicting the structures of the Eiffel Tower and a portrait of its creator.

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Literature

// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

Notes and sources

Excerpt characterizing Eiffel, Gustave

“Farewell, Count,” she said to him loudly. “I will be waiting for you very much,” she added in a whisper.
And these simple words, the look and facial expression that accompanied them, for two months, were the subject of Pierre's inexhaustible memories, explanations and happy dreams. “I will be waiting for you very much ... Yes, yes, as she said? Yes, I will be waiting for you. Ah, how happy I am! What is it, how happy I am!” Pierre said to himself.

In Pierre's soul now nothing similar happened to what happened in her in similar circumstances during his courtship with Helen.
He did not repeat, as then, with painful shame, the words he had spoken, he did not say to himself: “Ah, why didn’t I say this, and why, why did I say “je vous aime” then?” [I love you] Now, on the contrary, he repeated every word of hers, his own, in his imagination with all the details of her face, smile, and did not want to subtract or add anything: he only wanted to repeat. There was no doubt now whether what he had done was good or bad, there was no shadow now. Only one terrible doubt sometimes crossed his mind. Is it all in a dream? Was Princess Mary wrong? Am I too proud and arrogant? I believe; and suddenly, as it should happen, Princess Marya will tell her, and she will smile and answer: “How strange! He was right, wrong. Doesn't he know that he is a man, just a man, and I? .. I am completely different, higher.
Only this doubt often came to Pierre. He didn't make any plans either. It seemed to him so incredibly impending happiness that as soon as this happened, nothing could be further. Everything ended.
Joyful, unexpected madness, for which Pierre considered himself incapable, took possession of him. The whole meaning of life, not for him alone, but for the whole world, seemed to him to consist only in his love and in the possibility of her love for him. Sometimes all people seemed to him busy with only one thing - his future happiness. It sometimes seemed to him that they all rejoiced in the same way as he himself, and only tried to hide this joy, pretending to be occupied with other interests. In every word and movement he saw hints of his happiness. He often surprised people who met him with his significant, expressing secret consent, happy looks and smiles. But when he realized that people might not know about his happiness, he felt sorry for them with all his heart and felt a desire to somehow explain to them that everything they were doing was complete nonsense and trifles not worthy of attention.
When he was offered to serve, or when some general state affairs and war were discussed, assuming that the happiness of all people depended on such or such an outcome of such an event, he listened with a meek, condoling smile and surprised the people who spoke to him with his strange remarks. But both those people who seemed to Pierre to understand the real meaning of life, that is, his feeling, and those unfortunate people who obviously did not understand this - all people in this period of time seemed to him in such a bright light of the feeling shining in him that without the slightest effort, he immediately, meeting with any person, saw in him everything that was good and worthy of love.
Examining the affairs and papers of his dead wife, he had no feeling for her memory, except for pity that she did not know the happiness that he knew now. Prince Vasily, now especially proud of having received a new place and a star, seemed to him a touching, kind and pitiful old man.
Pierre often later recalled this time of happy madness. All the judgments that he made for himself about people and circumstances during this period of time remained forever true for him. Not only did he not subsequently renounce these views on people and things, but, on the contrary, in internal doubts and contradictions, he resorted to the view that he had at that time of madness, and this view always turned out to be correct.
“Perhaps,” he thought, “I seemed then strange and ridiculous; but then I was not as mad as I seemed. On the contrary, I was then smarter and more insightful than ever, and I understood everything that is worth understanding in life, because ... I was happy.
Pierre's madness consisted in the fact that he did not, as before, wait for personal reasons, which he called the virtues of people, in order to love them, and love overflowed his heart, and he, loving people for no reason, found undoubted reasons for which it was worth loving their.

From that first evening, when Natasha, after Pierre's departure, with a joyfully mocking smile, told Princess Marya that he was definitely, well, definitely from the bath, and a frock coat, and a short haircut, from that moment something hidden and unknown to her, but irresistible woke up in Natasha's soul
Everything: face, gait, look, voice - everything suddenly changed in her. Unexpected for herself - the power of life, hopes for happiness surfaced and demanded satisfaction. From the first evening, Natasha seemed to have forgotten everything that had happened to her. Since then, she has never complained about her situation, has not said a single word about the past, and was no longer afraid to make cheerful plans for the future. She spoke little of Pierre, but when Princess Mary mentioned him, a long-extinct gleam lit up in her eyes and her lips puckered up in a strange smile.
The change that took place in Natasha surprised Princess Mary at first; but when she understood its meaning, this change upset her. “Is it possible that she loved her brother so little that she could forget him so soon,” thought Princess Mary, when she alone pondered the change that had taken place. But when she was with Natasha, she did not get angry with her and did not reproach her. The awakened power of life, which seized Natasha, was obviously so unstoppable, so unexpected for herself, that Princess Mary, in the presence of Natasha, felt that she had no right to reproach her even in her soul.
Natasha surrendered herself to the new feeling with such fullness and sincerity that she did not try to hide the fact that she was now not sad, but joyful and cheerful.
When, after a nightly explanation with Pierre, Princess Mary returned to her room, Natasha met her on the threshold.
- He said? Yes? He said? she repeated. Both joyful and at the same time pathetic, asking for forgiveness for his joy, the expression stopped on Natasha's face.
“I wanted to listen at the door; but I knew what you would tell me.
No matter how understandable, no matter how touching was for Princess Marya the look with which Natasha looked at her; no matter how sorry she was to see her excitement; but Natasha's words in the first minute offended Princess Marya. She remembered her brother, his love.
“But what to do! she cannot do otherwise,” thought Princess Marya; and with a sad and somewhat stern face she conveyed to Natasha everything that Pierre had told her. On hearing that he was going to Petersburg, Natasha was amazed.
- To Petersburg? she repeated, as if not understanding. But, peering into the sad expression on Princess Mary's face, she guessed the reason for her sadness and suddenly burst into tears. “Marie,” she said, “teach me what to do.” I'm afraid to be stupid. What you say, I will do; teach me…
- You love him?
“Yes,” Natasha whispered.
- What are you crying about? I’m happy for you,” said Princess Marya, forgiving Natasha’s joy for those tears.
“It won't be anytime soon. Just think what happiness it will be when I will be his wife and you will marry Nicolas.
“Natasha, I asked you not to talk about it. We'll talk about you.
They were silent.
- But why go to Petersburg! - suddenly said Natasha, and she herself hastily answered herself: - No, no, it’s necessary ... Yes, Marie? So you need...

French civil engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born December 15, 1832 in Dijon, France.

In 1858, he supervised the construction of a railway bridge in Bordeaux, using metal structures and using a method of pneumatic installation of bases invented by him. In the same year, he became a partner of the employer, and two years later he founded his own metalwork factory in Levallois-Perret near Paris.

In 1875, together with the architect Louis-Charles Boileau, he built the store "O Bon Marche" in Paris. Its passages, covered with glass domes, have become a model for imitation all over the world.

In 1877, according to the project of the architect, a bridge was built across the Douro River in Porto (Portugal) with a 162-meter arch.

In total, Eiffel built more than 200 structures: bridges, viaducts, train stations, banks, schools, churches, casinos. The main idea of the engineer was the manufacture of lattice structures, which he considered more durable and economical than solid ones. Nearly all of his 36 bridges have entered textbooks as examples of bold engineering. One of the most daring projects of Eiffel was the Garabit viaduct (1884) in France, which blocked a deep gorge with an arched span 165 meters long.

World fame Gustave Eiffel brought openwork steel tower, known as the Eiffel Tower, built for the World Exhibition in 1889 in Paris and has become one of the symbols of the capital of France.

The total height of the tower reached 312 meters, weight - 9.7 thousand tons. During its construction, a number of progressive for that time methods of installation of building structures were used. Three platforms were arranged on the tower at a height of 57, 115 and 276 meters. On the first and second of them there were restaurants and viewing platforms. On the third platform were placed the office of the engineer himself, as well as the astronomical and meteorological laboratories. In case of a breakdown of the elevator, a staircase of 1792 steps led upstairs.

In the 1890s, after the scandal over the Panama Canal, where Eiffel was developing a project for locks, the engineer went out of business and took up research work in the field of aerodynamics. In 1909, the engineer built the first aerodynamic laboratory in Paris. He discovered the phenomenon of the drag crisis of bluff bodies (1912), improved the technique of the aerodynamic experiment.

As an expert, Eiffel was on many commissions, including the one that was involved in the construction of the Paris metro.

Eiffel was married to the daughter of his supplier, Marie Gaudelet, who died after 15 years of marriage, giving birth to five children to the engineer.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Alexandre Eiffel was born on December 15, 1832 in Dijon, France. Gustave's father served in the army, but at the time of the birth of his son, he remained with her in administrative work, but soon he leaves the service and switches to helping his wife, in the management of the charcoal company inherited from her parents, when the wife decided to expand the scope of the company, including product distribution. Due to the busyness of his mother, the future architect spent a lot of time with his grandmother, but remained attached to his mother, who was an influential figure in his life until her death.

He studies at the Royal Lyceum in Dijon, but his studies weigh him down until high school, when he takes classes under the influence of teachers of history and literature and successfully passes the exams for the bachelor's degree in natural sciences and humanities. An important role in the boy's education is played by his uncle Jean-Baptiste Mollerat, the owner of a large chemical plant near Dijon, the author of the vinegar distillation method, and one of his uncle's friends, the chemist Michel Perret, who taught him everything from chemistry and mining to theology and philosophy.

In Paris, to prepare for difficult entrance exams to the best technical universities in the country, Gustave enters the College Saint-Barbe. He is attracted to the Polytechnic School, but the teachers consider his results insufficient, and he goes to the more applied Central School of Arts and Manufactories. In his second year, he decides to specialize in chemistry and in 1855 he graduated 13th out of 80 candidates. That year, Paris hosts the World Exhibition, and Gustave's mother buys a subscription ticket for Gustave to visit the spectacle.

In 1855, Gustave Eiffel received an engineering degree from the Central School of Arts and Crafts in Paris and got a job in the design firm "Charles Nevo", which was engaged in the construction of bridges. In 1858, he supervised the construction of a railway bridge in Bordeaux, using metal structures and using a method of pneumatic installation of bases invented by him. In the same year, he became a partner of the employer, and two years later he founded his own metalwork factory in Levallois-Perret near Paris.

In 1870-1873, Eiffel built architectural objects in Egypt and Chile, Hungary and Portugal, and also took part in the competition for the construction of the Trinity Bridge in St. Petersburg. In 1875, together with the architect Louis-Charles Boileau, he built the store "Hau Bon Marche" in Paris. Its passages, covered with glass domes, have become a model for imitation all over the world. In 1876, Eiffel designed the steel frame of the American Statue of Liberty. In 1877, the architect built a bridge across the Douro River in Porto, Portugal, with a 162-meter arch.

In total, Eiffel built more than 200 structures: bridges, viaducts, train stations, banks, schools, churches, casinos. The main idea of the engineer was the manufacture of lattice structures, which he considered more durable and economical than solid ones. Nearly all of his 36 bridges have entered textbooks as examples of bold engineering. One of the most daring projects of the Eiffel was the Garabit viaduct in France, which blocked a deep gorge with an arched span 165 meters long.

World fame Gustave Eiffel brought openwork steel tower, known as the Eiffel Tower, built for the World Exhibition in 1889 in Paris and has become one of the symbols of the capital of France. The total height of the tower reached 312 meters, weight - 9.7 thousand tons. During its construction, a number of progressive for that time methods of installation of building structures were used. Three platforms were arranged on the tower at a height of 57, 115 and 276 meters. On the first and second of them there were restaurants and viewing platforms. On the third platform were placed the office of the engineer himself, as well as the astronomical and meteorological laboratories. In case of a breakdown of the elevator, a staircase of 1792 steps led upstairs.

In the 1890s, after the scandal over the Panama Canal, where Eiffel was developing a project for locks, the engineer went out of business and took up research work in the field of aerodynamics. In 1909, the engineer built the first aerodynamic laboratory in Paris. He discovered the phenomenon of the drag crisis of bluff bodies in 1912, and improved the technique of the aerodynamic experiment. As an expert, Eiffel was on many commissions, including the one that was involved in the construction of the Paris metro.

Eiffel was married to the daughter of his supplier, Marie Godele, who died after 15 years of marriage, giving birth to five children to the engineer.

The end of the 19th century absolutely deservedly received the status of a golden period in the history of engineering. He owes this to the great designers, whose buildings still symbolize one or another milestone in history. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel is known to ordinary people as the creator of the famous Parisian tower. Few people know that he lived a very eventful life and created many more outstanding structures. Let's find out more about this great engineer and designer.

Childhood and education

Gustave Eiffel was born in 1832 in Dijon, Burgundy. His father grew grapes very successfully on his extensive plantations. But Gustave did not want to devote his life to agriculture and, after studying at a 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. Gustave Eiffel graduated in 1855.

Carier start

At that time, engineering was considered an optional discipline, so the young designer got a job in a company that was engaged in the development and construction of bridges. In 1858, Gustave Eiffel designed his first bridge. This project could not be called typical, like all subsequent activities of the designer. To keep the piles stronger, the man suggested pressing them into the bottom with the help. Today, this method is used extremely rarely, as it needs extensive technical training.

To accurately install the piles at a depth of 25 meters, Eiffel had to design a special device. When the bridge was successfully completed, 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-Akeim Bridge, the Alexander III Bridge, the Eiffel Tower and much more.

Extraordinary 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 industry. Creating his first bridge, Gustave Eiffel decided to abandon the construction of bulky scaffolding. A huge bridge was built in advance on the shore. And to install it in place, the designer needed only one stretched between the banks of the river. This method began to be applied everywhere, but only 50 years after Eiffel invented it.

Bridge over the Tuyers

Bridges by Gustave Eiffel have always stood out, but there are some crazy projects among them. These include the viaduct built across the Tuyer River. The complexity of the project was that it had to stand on the site of a mountain gorge 165 meters deep. Before the Eiffel, several other engineers received an offer to build, but they all refused. He proposed to block the gorge with a huge arch, which would be supported by two concrete pylons.

The arch consisted of two halves, which were fitted to each other with an accuracy of tenths of a millimeter. This bridge became an excellent school for Eiffel. He gained invaluable experience and determined his life and professional guidelines.

Together with a team of engineers, Gustave developed a unique technique that allowed him to calculate a metal structure of almost any configuration. Having built a bridge over the Tuyers, the hero of our story took up the design of an industrial exhibition in Paris, which was to be held in 1878.

"Hall of Machines"

Together with the famous French engineer de Dion, Eiffel designed a majestic building, 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 openwork metal beams, on which glass bindings of an interesting configuration were held.

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

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

The tower that might not be

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

It’s hard to imagine, but now there might not be a main Parisian attraction. At the beginning of 1888, a month after the start of work on the construction of the structure, a protest was written to the chairman of the exhibition committee. It was composed 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 well-known architect T. Alphand authoritatively suggested that the Eiffel project had great potential and could become not only a key figure in the exhibition, but also the main attraction of Paris. And so it happened, less than two decades after the construction, the majestic city became associated with the project of the designer, who made it a habit to think outside the box and not be afraid of bold decisions. The engineer himself called his creation the "300-meter tower", but society honored him with going down in history for the masses, calling the tower after him.

Statue of Liberty

Few people know, but it was Gustave Eiffel, whose biography interested us today, who ensured the longevity of the American symbol -

It all started with the fact that the French designer, during the construction of his tower, met his American colleague, the 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 bronze statue, which personified Freedom.

After the exhibition, the French increased the statue to a height of 93 meters and presented it to America. However, when the future monument arrived at the installation site, it turned out that a strong steel frame was needed for installation. The only engineer who understood the calculation of the water resistance of 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 are nothing to her. When the American Symbol was restored a few years ago, the decision was made to test the Eiffel calculations with a modern computer program. Surprisingly, the frame proposed by the engineer exactly matched the model that the machine developed.

Laboratory

After an incredible success at two exhibitions, the hero of our conversation decided to go deeper into scientific research. In the town of Auteuil, out of nothing, he created the world's first laboratory to study the effect of wind on the stability of various structures. Eiffel was the first engineer in the world to use a wind tunnel in research. The designer published the results of his work in a series of fundamental works. To this day, his developments are considered an encyclopedia of engineering art.

Conclusion

So, we have learned what, besides the Parisian tower, Gustave Eiffel is famous for. Photos of his creations are fascinating and make you think about human greatness and the widest possibilities of our mind. But at the beginning of the journey, Eiffel was a simple bridge designer, whose ideas caused bewilderment among his colleagues. Definitely an inspiring story.