Jean-Rodolphe Perronet

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet
Jean-Rodolphe Perronet

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet Born 27 October 1708 Suresnes 27 February 1794 Paris French Work Significant projects Significant advance Pont de la Concorde arch bridges

Died

Nationality

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (27 October 1708 27 February 1794) was a French architect and structural engineer, known for his many stone arch bridges. His best known work is the Pont de la Concorde (1787).

Life and career

Perronet was born in Suresnes, the son of a Swiss Guardsman. St 17 he entered the architectural practice of Jean Beausire, "first architect" to the city of Paris, as an apprentice. He was put in charge of the design and construction of Paris's grand sewer, embankment works and the maintenance of the banlieue's roads. In 1735, he was named sous-ingnieur (under-engineer) to Alenon and in 1736 entered the Corps des ponts et chausses. In 1737, he became sous-ingnieur, then engineer to the gnralit of Alenon. In 1747, Perronet was named director of the Bureau des dessinateurs du Roi (Royal office of designers), which had also just put Daniel-Charles Trudaine in charge of producing maps and plans for the kingdom. This first cole des ponts et chausses was based in the htel Libral Bruant in Paris. Perronet was given the task of training bridge and road engineers and of overseeing their work in the gnralits in which they worked. The Bureau became the Bureau des lves des ponts et chausses, then in 1775 was renamed the cole des ponts et chausses. Its organiser, inspiration and teacher, Perronet was a true spiritual father to his students and used a new teaching method which seems very contemporary to modern eyes. During this time he became friends with the Swiss bridge-builder Charles Labelye.

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet

He was named premier ingnieur du roi in 1763 and became a member of the associate of the Acadmie des sciences in 1765. Besides his bridges, between 1747 and 1791, 2500km of roads were created or repaired under his direction. He also contributed the article Pompe feu (fire-engine) to the Encyclopdie ou Dictionnaire raisonn des sciences, des arts et des mtiers. In 1772, Perronet was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He died in Paris, aged 85. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788. [1]

The street next to the site of the cole des ponts et chausses (delimiting Paris's VIe and VIIe) is now named after him and a statue of him has been erected on the north east corner of the le de Puteaux, at the foot of the pont de Neuilly (whose first stone version, built in 1772 and surviving until 1942, was his work).

Double portrait known as Architect Jean-Rodolphe Perronet with his Wife by Alexander Roslin (1759) Gothenburg Museum of Art

Works
1750-1760 : Bridge at Orlans. 1757-1765 : Bridge at Mantes. 1758-1764 : Bridge at Trilport. 1765-1786 : Bridge at Chteau-Thierry. 1766-1769 : Pont Saint-Edne at Nogent. 1768-1774 : Bridge at Neuilly-sur-Seine. 1770-1771 : Pont Les Fontaines. 1774-1785 : Bridge at Sainte-Maxence sur lOise. 1775 : Bridge at Biais-Bicheret. 1776-1791 : Bridge at Nemours. 1784-1787 : Bridge at Brunoy. 1786-1787 : Bridge at Rosoy. 1786-1791 : Pont Louis XVI, later renamed Pont de la Concorde, Paris.

Sources
(French) Guy Coriono, 250 ans de lcole des Ponts en cent portraits, Paris, Presses de lcole nationale des Ponts et Chausses, 1997, p.37 and following. (French) M. Guillot, "Un destin helvtique, Jean-Rodophe Perronet et sa famille suresnoise (1708-1794)" in Les gardes suisses et leurs familles au XVIIe et XVIIIe sicles en rgion parisienne, p.108-116. (French) Yvon Michel, "Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (1708-1794)" in Monuments Historiques, Paris, AprilJune 1987, nos 150-151, p.81-86. (French) Claude Vacant, Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (1708-1794). Premier ingnieur du Roi et directeur de lcole des ponts et chausses, Paris, Presses de lcole Nationale des Ponts et Chausses, 2006. 24cm, 344 p., ill.

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet

External links
[1] "Royal Society Library Archive" (http:/ / royalsociety. org/ dserve/ dserve. exe?dsqIni=Dserve. ini& dsqApp=Archive& dsqCmd=Show. tcl& dsqDb=Persons& dsqPos=0& dsqSearch=(Surname='perronet')). Royal Society. . Retrieved 2012-08-02.

(French) Biography (EPC) (http://www.enpc.fr/fr/enpc/historique/bio_perronet.htm) (French) Biography (Structurae) (http://fr.structurae.de/persons/data/index.cfm?id=d000167) (French) Jean-Rodolphe Perronet : article Pompe feu in the Encyclopdie ou Dictionnaire raisonn des sciences, des arts et des mtiers (http://portail.atilf.fr/cgi-bin/getobject_?a.45:6:1./var/artfla/encyclopedie/ textdata/IMAGE//) Britannica (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9059325/Jean-Perronet)

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=521981525 Contributors: Deb, JD554, Leszek Jaczuk, Lockley, Monegasque, Neddyseagoon, Plindenbaum, Plucas58, ProfessorXY, Thorvaldsson, Tomas e, 3 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Jean-Rodolphe Perronet.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Jean-Rodolphe_Perronet.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Beria, Bohme, Ecummenic, Kilom691, M-le-mot-dit, Mu, Shakko, TomAlt File:Architect Jean Rodolph Perronet with his wife, Alexander Roslin.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Architect_Jean_Rodolph_Perronet_with_his_wife,_Alexander_Roslin.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Billinghurst, Bohme, Boo-Boo Baroo, Darwinius, Ecummenic, Kaganer, Pierpao, Shakko, Sir Gawain, Thib Phil, Thorvaldsson

License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/