Louis Vicat

Louis -Joseph Vicat ( born March 31, 1786 in Nevers, Nièvre, Bourgogne, † April 10, 1861 in Grenoble, Isere, Rhone- Alpes) was a French engineer who invented the artificial hydraulic lime, the " Roman cement " rediscovered and his work laid the foundations for the development of cement and lime mortar. He also did preparatory work to the later perfected by John August Roebling air spinning process for the preparation of the supporting cables of suspension bridges.

Life

After attending the École Centrale in Grenoble, he went with 16 years in the navy to Toulon, but soon returned to Grenoble. In 1804 he began his studies at the École polytechnique and moved in 1806 to the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées. In 1809 he was in Périgueux second-class engineer, where he designed his first road project and carried out, which was initially criticized as reckless, until it was discovered that it followed the route of a hitherto unknown Roman aqueduct. In 1812 he was sent to Souillac to build the 180 m long bridge over the Dordogne, was to be expected sometimes a raging river, the high difficulty in starting the bridge piers. The construction lasted because of financial difficulties until 1822.

Simultaneously with his transfer to Souillac he began his experiments with hydraulic limes to find a binder that would harden faster than the usual mixtures of lime, crushed brick and iron slag. He hired numerous experimental research on cement, concrete and mortar, where he invented the artificial lime. In 1817 he published his first results Annales de chimie in 1818 in his book Experimental studies on building lime, concrete and ordinary mortar. This work created quite a stir. The Academy of Sciences commissioned three experts, MM Prony, Gay- Lussac and Girard, with a review, the results of this vorlegten the following year with very positive reviews. Vicat had laid the foundations for the understanding of both cement and lime mortar of. After he had successfully demonstrated several attempts by the Commission for roads and bridges approved to use the hydraulic lime at the bridge of Souillac and prepare the appropriate calculations for the foundations of the bridge.

Vicat has observed at the Dordognebrücke also one of the first periodic opening and closing of the joints on the clamped arches depending on the temperature and tracked, thus giving impetus to the further development of the statics of the bridge arch.

In 1823 he was honored by the Society for the Promotion of National Industry for his research to produce a substance which is so constantly in the air like stone with a gold medal. The following year - 1824 - he was appointed chief engineer, second class and the job to seeking and providing appropriate lime materials for the construction of canals in Brittany, in the following year on the Canal du Nivernais and the Canal in the Loire ( Loire Lateral Canal ) and finally, for the Canal du Rhone au Rhin (Rhine - Rhône Canal ).

In 1827 he was appointed chief engineer first class and instructed about this time of the bridges and road management to examine the rock of about 900 French quarries on its usability. Already in 1828 he published his second book summary of the positive findings on quality, selection and usefulness of pure raw materials for the production of mortar and cement, the results of these investigations.

Marc Seguin, who had just built the suspension bridge between Tournon -sur -Rhône and Tain l'Hermitage over the Rhone, was to build the Pont Marie in Argentat (Corrèze ) over the Dordogne his second suspension bridge. Vicat was asked to lead the construction, so that he was involved in the 1828-29 construction of this suspension bridge. He developed the air -spinning process for the supporting cables of the suspension bridge. About the suspension bridge then he wrote a 1830 published report in which he described the rope production by the air spinning process.

In 1840 he discovered bricks, which enabled the production of Portland cement. In 1852 he retired, but continued his research and experiments, such as the small bridge that he along with his son Joseph in the Jardin des Plantes of Grenoble, built in 1855, which is said as the first concrete bridge, or with the 1857 published studies on the physical causes of the destruction of hydraulic components by sea water.

Honors

Louis -Joseph Vicat was elected on 25 March 1833 correspondent of the Académie des sciences ( section de mécanique ). As a tribute to his research he was awarded in 1841 by the city of Paris made ​​of a silver vase with a dedication. In 1846 he was appointed commander of the Legion of Honor and was also awarded the prize for the most important industrial invention of the last ten years. Unknown are the time points at which he was appointed Inspector General for bridge and road construction and as a member of the Academy of Sciences. In 1856 he was commissioned by the Society for the Promotion of National Industry for his work two prices with 2,000 francs.

The name of Louis -Joseph Vicat was immortalized as one of the 72 names on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

After-effects in the presence

His son Joseph (1821-1902) founded in 1853 the still family-owned French cement maker Vicat.

Louis -Joseph Vicat developed a range of test methods, some of which are still used today. His needle device for testing mortar samples is used in a modernized form, on the basis of DIN and EN standards as Vicat needle for initial set and as a Vicat needle apparatus for testing of cement or gypsum. In the plastics industry, there are devices for the Vicat method of determination of the Vicat softening temperature (VST Vicat softening temperature = ) for the determination of heat resistance.

Works (selection)

• Experimental studies on building lime, concrete and ordinary mortar ( 1818)
• Recherches sur les EXPERIMENTALES Chaux de Construction, concrete et les les Mortier ordinaires; Paris, 1818. Digitized on Google Books

• News from the observations of a periodic motion of the arch of the bridge over the Dordogne at Souillac, Journal for the architecture, Volume 4, G. Reimer, Berlin, 1831 ( digitized on Google books, retrieved on January 28, 2010)
• Note sur un Mouvement périodique observé aux Voûtes du Pont de Souillac. In: Annales de Chimie et de Physique, Volume 27, pp. 70-79, Crochard Libraire, Paris 1824 ( digitized on Google books, retrieved on January 28, 2010)

• Summary of positive findings on quality, selection and usefulness of suitable raw materials for the production of mortar and cement ( 1828)
• Résumé of connaissances positive actuelles, sur les qualités, le choix et la convenance réciproque of matériaux propres à la fabrication des Mortier et Ciments Calcaires; Paris, 1828th digitized on Google Books
• Description du pont suspendu: construit sur ​​la Dordogne à Argentat, départment de la Corrèze, aux frais de M. le comte Alexis de Noailles ...: suivie de l' exposé of divers procedes employés pour la confection of cables en fil de fer, pour le levage de ces cables et du tablier, et par une note sur quelques terminée prix de main - d'œuvre; Paris, 1830. Digitized on Google Books ( not open)
• Practical and Scientific Treatise on Calcareous Mortars and Cements, artificial and natural. Translated ... by Capt. J. T. Smith; London, 1837. Digitized on Google Books
• Recherches sur les diverses propriétés que peuvent acquérir les Pierres à Ciments et à Chaux Hydrauliques, par l' effet d'une incomplète cuisson; Paris, 1840.
• The calcareous compounds in hydraulic limes and natural cement (1853 ).
• Traité pratique et théorique de la composition of Mortier, Ciments et Gangues à leur emploi dans toutes et Pouzzolanes sortes de Travaux d'en suivi the Moyens apprécier la durée dans les constructions à la mer; Grenoble, 1856. Digitized on Google Books
• Recherches sur les Causes de chimiques destruction of composés hydrauliques par l' eau de mer et les moyens d' résistance à leur apprécier cette action, 1857. Digitized on Google Books ( not open)
• Studies on the chemical cause of the decomposition hydraulic substances by sea water and the possibility of improving the stability in seawater (1858 )