Victor Contamin, ingénieur

Catégorie : Personnalités du XIXe siècle > Divers XIXe
Année : Circa 1880
Type : Tirage albuminé
Format (cm): 11x16

Vintage print.
Victor Contamin (1840–1893) was a French structural engineer, an expert on the strength of materials such as iron and steel. He is known for the Galerie des machines of the Exposition Universelle (1889) in Paris. He also pioneered the use of reinforced concrete. Victor Contamin was born in Paris in 1840. He was admitted to the École centrale des arts et manufactures in Paris in 1857, and graduated in second place in 1860.[1] One of his teachers was Jean-Baptiste-Charles-Joseph Bélanger, a disciple of Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis. Bélanger treated Contamin with great affection, and gave him much advice when he left the school.[2]

Contamin's first work experience was in Spain. [1] In 1863 he joined the Chemins de Fer du Nord railway company as a designer, attached to the department responsible for the tracks. He was successively promoted to Inspector, Engineer (1876) and Chief Engineer (1890).[1] He also taught the course on Applied Mechanics at the École centrale from 1865 to 1873, and then held the chair of Applied Resistance[a] until 1891.[1][3] In 1874 Contamin published a textbook entitled Cours de résistance appliquée.[4]

As a recognized expert on the strength of materials, in 1886 Contamin was made responsible for control of metal structures in the 1889 exposition. He was to study all plans and projects in terms of the strength requirements for the buildings. He was also responsible for checking receipt of materials, strength testing and monitoring the erection of iron structures.[1] His approval of the quality of the materials, workshop production and on-site work was required for release of public funds.[1] As he noted in a letter to La revue le Travail in December 1888, the importance of this work was often not appreciated by the public.[5]

Contamin and his team checked all the calculations and all the metal installations, including the 300 metres (980 ft) tower that Gustave Eiffel was building.[1] He said of the Eiffel Tower:[b]

The flag that is flying from the summit of the tower is the flag of '89,[c] the one with which our ancestors have won great victories fighting for progress and science. This flag needed a large pedestal, with large dimensions. It was Mr. Eiffel who built it with the help of his dedicated collaborators. We are glad to honor them[6]


1889 view of the interior of the Galerie des machines
Contamin was one of the pioneers of the use of reinforced concrete. He worked with Anatole de Baudot (1834–1915) on a design for the Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre church, Paris, that used this material, built between 1894–1897.[7]

Contamin died in 1893.[8]

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