Coyne, André (1891 - 1960)

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French civil engineer who designed 70 dams in 14 countries.

He received his education at École Polytechnique and its School of Civil Engineering afterwards. He worked on the Plougastel Bridge and in 1928 was appointed as the chief engineer of dams in the Upper Dordogne River. In 1935 he became the head of France's Large Dam Engineering Department and between 1945 and 1953 he served as President of the International Commission on Large Dams. In 1947 he departed civil service and started his own consulting firm, Coyne et Bellier. Other dams he later designed in France include the Grandval and Roselend Dams. Overseas he designed the Kariba Dam on the Zimbabwe-Zambia border and the Daniel-Johnson Dam in Quebec. Coyne also designed the Malpasset Dam in Southern France. Nearly immediately after construction was completed on the dam, cracks were noticed at the base. A few years later, on December 2, 1959, the dam abruptly swung open and released a 50 meter high wall of water that reached the nearby town of Fréjus, killing an estimated 421 people. It was said that Coyne was deeply affected by the dam's failure. He died half a year later.A study later found that the design of the dam was probably not the reason for its failure. Other factors were blamed instead, including the location of the dam, the stability of the rock material, the fact that a geological fault was found on the site, and heavy rain that had raised the water level by 15 feet that year. The company that André Coyne started is still operating under the name Coyne et Bellier.

diversas escrituras:
Coyne, André

Curriculum vitae

* 1891		nacido
1910 - 1919	Paris	Entre à l'Ecole polytechnique et devient ingénieur des Ponts et Chaussées.
1920	Brest	Ingénieur au Service maritime du Finistère à Brest.
1928		Ingénieur en chef des barrages des Pyrénées (de la Haute Dordogne River).
1930		Invente le système des procédés acoustiques d'auscultation et le principe de l'ancrage des ouvrages par des tirants d'acier pré-tendus. Son brevet de 1930 sur les « témoins sonores » connaîtra un développement prodigieux.
1935		Chef de la « France Département Ingénierie Grand Barrage ».
1937 - 1955		Président du Comité Français des Grands Barrages.
1942		Conception de barrage : Barrage de Santa Luzia.
1947		Fondation de sa propre société de conseil : «Coyne et Bellier ».
1947		Retraité de l'Administration pour fonder son bureau d'études d'ingénieur-conseil en partenariat avec Jean Bellier. La société Coyne et Bellier deviendra l’un des plus grands noms de l’ingénierie internationale.
1947		Création de la société TELEMAC pour l’exploitation des brevets sur les appareils à corde vibrante.
1951		Conception de barrage : Venda Nova Dam.
1951		Conception de barrage : Castelo do Bode Reservoir.
1953		Reçoit le grand prix « d'Architecture du Cercle d’Etudes Architecturales » pour l'ensemble des grands barrages qu'il a conçus et réalisés.
† 1960		fallecido

Collections

Automatización, desde 1950

Imágenes

Permanent links

DMG-Lib		https://www.dmg-lib.org/dmglib/handler?biogr=24476004
Europeana		http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/2020801/dmglib_handler_biogr_24476004.html

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Coyne, André (1891 - 1960)