Marc Seguin | |
|---|---|
 Marc Seguin | |
| Born | (1786-04-20)20 April 1786 |
| Died | 24 February 1875(1875-02-24) (aged 88) |
| Nationality | French |
| Known for | suspension bridge,tubular steam-engine boiler |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Inventor, Engineer |
Marc Seguin (20 April 1786 – 24 February 1875) was a Frenchengineer,inventor of thewire-cablesuspension bridge and the multi-tubular steam-engineboiler.
Seguin was born inAnnonay,Ardèche to Marc François Seguin (1757–1832), the founder ofSeguin & Co., and Thérèse-Augustine de Montgolfier (1764–1843), a niece of the pioneerhot air balloonistJoseph Montgolfier.
Seguin was an inventor and entrepreneur who developed the firstsuspension bridge in continental Europe. He built and administered 186 toll-bridges throughoutFrance.[1][2]At the 1823Exposition des produits de l'industrie française a model was exhibited of a planned suspension bridge which would span theRhône fromTain-l'Hermitage toTournon-sur-Rhône. The bridge, designed by Seguin, was completed in 1825.[3]
Shortly after theStockton and Darlington Railway in England opened (1825) he visited it and observedGeorge Stephenson'sLocomotion in operation and acquired two of his engines, which however proved unreliable in French conditions.[4] In 1829, he delivered two steam locomotives of his own design to theSaint-Étienne–Lyon railway.[5] These used an innovative multi-tube boiler and also prominent mechanically-driven fans to provide draught on the fire, rather than Stephenson'sblastpipe. This boiler resembled the laterScotch marine boiler in some aspects, in that the boiler had a large single flue from the furnace, then many small-diameter fire-tubes returning to a chimney above the firebox door. Uniquely, Seguin's design also arranged the furnace in a large square water-jacketed firebox beneath the boiler to provide a large grate area and greater heating capacity.Robert Stephenson had also made the same decision with hisRocket, but placed his firebox separately andbehind the main boiler shell.[5] Seguin's boiler enabled steam-engine trains to increase power and velocity from 4 miles per hour to 25 miles per hour, making railroad a more viable mode of transportation.
Inventor and entrepreneur, teaming with his brothers, Camille, Jules, Paul and Charles, as well as his brother in law Vincent Mignot he continued his father's successful business in textiles, paper, gas-lighting, coal mines, construction and added to it a railroad company and a bridge construction business.
Marc Seguin was voted into theAcadémie des Sciences in 1845, was made a Knight (Chevalier) of theLégion d'honneur in 1836 and an Officer in 1866, and wrote numerous books on the use of physics and mathematics in building bridges and locomotives engines. His name is one of the72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.
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