Use of petroleum as steam fuel in place of coal (original) (raw)
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Brick Vaults and Beyond The Transformation of a Historical Structural System from 1750 to 1970, edited by Paula Fuentes and Ine Wouters, Instituto Juan de Herrera Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Madre, 2021
The paper provides an overview of the use of hollow-clay-pot vaults in Paris in the late 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. Starting with a description of the pots’ artisanal production, the main construction methods of vaults and vaulted ceilings are then presented. Finally, some emblematic interventions using hollow clay pots – both in new buildings and in the restoration of existing ones – are described, grouped into three macro periods: a) the end of the 18th century, b) the 1810s to the 1830s, and c) the 1840s and beyond. The presentation concludes with a reflection on the transition between handmade pots (poteries creuses) and bricks (briques creuses), whose mass production was sanctioned by the Borie patent in the 1840s.
Iron, Steel and Buildings. Studies in the History of Construction (J. Campbell et al. Eds). Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the Construction History Society (University of Cambridge, Online Conference, 4 April 2020), 2020
In the second half of the 18th century, in particular during the last decades of the Old Regime, Paris became a vital centre of innovative experimentations on materials and techniques able to improve the fire resistance of buildings. The capital of the Kingdom was affected by daily fires which jeopardized its cultural and architectural heritage. At the same time, due to the scarce availability of wood, a material widely used in French buildings, alternative construction techniques were required. As testified by the success of the treatise published by the Count d’Espie in 1754, Manière de rendre toutes sortes d'édifices incombustibles, the theme of fireproof constructions and the research of materials capable of replacing wood, appeared of great concern. In the following decades, experiences and experimentations aimed at reducing the risk of fire spread multiplied. Architects, inventors and artisans such as J.G Soufflot (1713-1780), J.P. Ango (1739-1815), L. Reale (1736-1791), contributed actively to the development of new materials and systems that would replace traditional timber floor framing as well as wooden vaults and domes. In this cultural context the figure of the artist-engineer Jean-Far Eustache de Saint Far (1746-1828) is to be considered. As outlined by Antoine Picon, Saint Far belonged to the first generations of artists-engineers who studied at the École des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, representing the last offshoot of a professional category with a solid humanistic formation and a strong practical experience. Saint Far was a versatile technician, engaged on many professional fronts: as well as being an engineer of the Corps des ponts et Chaussées and architect of hospitals, he was also interested in constructive strategies to improve fire resistance of buildings as testified by his rich journalistic production published in the Journal des bâtiments civils et des arts. In fact, in 1785 he developed a lightweight and fireproof construction system for vaults and domes using hollow clay pots, reinterpreting a Roman-Byzantine technique and transforming what was once an ancient “technical object” into an artistic one with aesthetic and cultural traits too. His invention was positively evaluated by the Academies of Architecture and Science in Paris as well as by the Bureau de consultation des Arts et Métiers, inaugurating a season of interesting experimentations often associated with wrought iron. In the light of these considerations, the paper deepens Saint Far’s contribution to the debate on fireproof constructions in France at the end of the 18th century. The study reconstructs the genesis of his inventions through the critical reading of documents preserved in the Parisian archives (Archives nationales, Archives du Musée des Arts et Métiers, BnF) providing a small advancement in the history of fire engineering in France. Moreover, the proposed subject fits within the current literature on the figures of architects-engineers-artisans and on the role of the technical invention in the Age of Enlightenment: both are themes of interest for Architecture but also for human and social sciences.
The Notre Dame Pompe in the late seventeenth century. Water for the people.
By the middle of the seventeenth century the water needs of the Paris huge population were far from being met. In the early 1600s, Jean Lintlaër, a Fleming, had erected at the Pont Neuf, upon one of the piers of the bridge, an engine consisting of lifting pumps to be driven by the current of the Seine. Nevertheless, the contribution of this device, known as La Samaritaine, to the public supply was almost nil, as most of the water was diverted to the royal gardens of the Louvre and Tuleries. On 29 November 1669, Daniel Jolly, at that time gouverneur of La Samaritaine, proposed to the Paris municipality to establish, close to the bridge Notre-Dame, a device similar to the one whose administration was entrusted to him, offering to raise daily approximately 600 cubic meters to a height of 25 meters above the level of the river. A similar project was submitted at the same time to the City Council by Jacques Demance, who intended to raise approximately 1,050 cubic meters daily of water by means of a new hydraulic machine. His offer was accepted as well. Both undertakings worked successfully and fed fifteen new fountains built for use by the city population, thus increasing substantially the free water supply to the public.
Looking for Construction Process in Early Modern Paris: demolish to build better
Proceedings for 8th international congress of construction history, 2024
In order to reconstruct the act of building as a whole and to put it into a long-term perspective, the Early Modern period is an appropriate time for the historian to draw on a relatively large number of sources. The archives show us several building sites that allow us to piece together the chain of events. The site of the demolition of the Bastille in 1789 provides insight into all the players involved and some of the tools used, complemented by the study of graphic documents showing demolitions in Paris. Townhouses are also the site of recurrent demolition turnovers, leading to the reuse or sale of the materials removed. The ways in which reusable parts were salvaged, or rubbish discarded, highlight a circular economy driven by the desire to reduce costs and the need to remove the clutter from a city saturated with building sites that sometimes did not comply with urban planning regulations. Some of the bigger sites, such as the church of Saint-Sulpice, confirm this everyday economy of the site and make it possible to identify certain traces of reuse, even if it is not always easy to find them. Of all the sources that can be used to reconstruct the act of building in its entirety, those from the archaeology of building for the Early Modern period are still underrepresented in academic work and should be the subject of more extensive collaborative work in the future, in order to follow the outline of construction history within the broader scope of long-term history.
Scientific Reports, 2020
The Barbegal watermill complex, a unique cluster of 16 waterwheels in southern France, was the first known attempt in Europe to set up an industrial-scale complex of machines during the culmination of Roman Civilization in the second century CE. Little is known about the state of technological advance in this period, especially in hydraulics and the contemporary diffusion of knowledge. Since the upper part of the Barbegal mill complex has been destroyed and no traces of the wooden machinery survived, the mode of operation of these mills has long remained elusive. Carbonate incrustations that formed on the woodwork of the mills were used to reconstruct its structure and function, revealing a sophisticated hydraulic setup unique in the history of water mills. The lower mills used an elbow shaped flume to bring water onto overshot millwheels. This flume was specially adapted to the small water basins and serial arrangement of the mills on the slope. Carbonate deposits from ancient wate...
Fire, Décor, and Heating Machines
Oxford Art Journal, 2017
This article addresses the artistic and technological conditions adjoining the design of the iconic French fireplace, called the ‘cheminée à la royale’, as developed at the royal atelier of Jules Hardouin-Mansart, circulated in commercial prints by Pierre Lepautre and Jean Bérain the Elder, among others, and theorised by scientists shortly thereafter. The aim is to consider how the forms, materials, and technologies employed in its making contributed to period understandings of fire, heat, and sensation at the turn of the eighteenth century. In his treatise La Méchanique du feu (1713), Nicolas Gauger explained how the fireplace’s curvilinear forms and reflective surfaces enhanced heat efficiency and smoke management. This, he proposed to the Académie royale des Sciences, helped qualify its status as a machine, and in 1720, the institution included his invention into its approved records. What began as a luxurious furnishing at Versailles thus set the template for understanding physical phenomena as well as the bodily effects that they engendered, and in the process brought architecture and decoration into critical dialogue with art, technology, and the human body.
Art in La Samaritaine pump in Paris in the 1600s. One family, two generations, one success
The historiography of La Samaritaine, a building adjacent to the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris, housing a pumping machine, which was the 'theater' in which the subject of this study took place, does not go beyond references in eighteenth-century general histories of Paris and of the Pont Neuf in particular. The Samaritaine project in its earlier, less spectacular configuration before its rebuilding in the second decade of the 1700s, has hardly been studied until now. Much less has been discussed about the incredible deeds of the pioneer entrepreneur's son in the unique building housing the device, and no effort has been made until now to virtually reconstruct the fruits of his endeavors. This paper attempts to do so.
González Soutelo, S. (ed.), Thermal spas in the Roman Provinces. The role of medicinal mineral waters across the Empire, 2024
When considering the constructive characteristics of bath buildings with thermo-mineral waters in Roman times, one of the essential factors to consider was the need to adapt the bath building(s) to the site of the source of the thermal springs so as to protect and take advantage of the physical-chemical and salutary qualities of these waters. Because of the problems posed by the collection of these waters, Roman engineers sought different technical solutions for the use of these valuable natural resources. Different examples have been documented that we can analyse and interpret, individually and as a complete typology, based on the brief descriptions presented of these findings. From studies carried out in the western regions of the Roman Empire (González Soutelo 2015; González Soutelo and Ramón Sánchez 2016; Ghedini et al. 2018; Marcato 2017; Ramón Sánchez and González Soutelo 2019), we present an analysis of some of the best examples from the provinces of Roman Gaul, including comparative proposals based on selected cases from Iberian and Italian territories. Thanks to this study, it has been possible to identify a type of construction solution based on slabs of opus caementicium used for the capture and isolation of thermal springs. The first step for the engineers was to prepare the ground out of which the thermomineral waters gushed, to the level of the bedrock; the flow was then channelled with formwork and conductions according to the design of the establishment and topography; lastly, concrete layers were laid over the sites to ensure, inter alia, firm ground for subsequent constructions, the isolation of thermal and mineral springs from other surface water, and the elevation of constructions to levels that would protect them from local rivers and possible flooding in those areas closest to streams. With this new study we have been able to recognise some specific characteristics of these water collection methods and their uses, clearly demonstrating their technical complexities and the economic and political implications linked to the construction of this type of thermal establishment.
The forgotten pump on the Pont Rouge in Paris in the 1600s.
In 1601, an engine consisting of lifting pumps to be driven by the current of the river Seine was erected at the Pont Neuf, close to one of the piers of the bridge. The enterprise, which became known as La Samaritaine, was very successful. The excellent results achieved by this venture led several entrepreneurs to plan the construction of similar devices in different parts of the Seine. This is the story of one of these attempts:The Pont Rouge pump.