Giovanni Battista Piatti
Giovanni Battista Piatti (Milan, February 10, 1812 - Milan, September 4, 1867) was an Italian civil engineer from Milan. Life He invented a pneumatic rock-drilling machine that, with small modifications, was used in the Mont Cenis Tunnel. On 12 February 1853, he conceived how to carry out the excavation work, using compressed air, and published: "Proposal for the railroad between Susa and Modane of a new system of propulsion with air compressed hydraulic motors (system experimented in England) and first draft of plan for excavation of the Alps". He did not achieve fame during his life, since the invention was patented by Germain Sommeiller, but his work was recognized, especially by the architect Luca Beltrami Luca Beltrami (November 13, 1854 – August 8, 1933) was an Italian architect and architectural historian, known particularly for restoration projects. Biography Beltrami was born in Milan. He was initially a student at the Politecnico in Mi ..., and admirers co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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G B Piatti
G, or g, is the seventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''gee'' (pronounced ), plural ''gees''. History The letter 'G' was introduced in the Old Latin period as a variant of ' C' to distinguish voiced from voiceless . The recorded originator of 'G' is freedman Spurius Carvilius Ruga, who added letter G to the teaching of the Roman alphabet during the 3rd century BC: he was the first Roman to open a fee-paying school, around 230 BCE. At this time, ' K' had fallen out of favor, and 'C', which had formerly represented both and before open vowels, had come to express in all environments. Ruga's positioning of 'G' shows that alphabetic order related to the letters' values as Greek numerals was a concern even in the 3rd century BC. According to some records, the original seventh letter, 'Z', had been purged from the Latin alphabet somewhat ea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its Metropolitan City of Milan, metropolitan city has 3.26 million inhabitants. Its continuously built-up List of urban areas in the European Union, urban area (whose outer suburbs extend well beyond the boundaries of the administrative Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city and even stretch into the nearby country of Switzerland) is the fourth largest in the EU with 5.27 million inhabitants. According to national sources, the population within the wider Milan metropolitan area (also known as Greater Milan), is estimated between 8.2 million and 12.5 million making it by far the List of metropolitan areas of Italy, largest metropolitan area in Italy and List of metropolitan areas in Europe, one of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Civil Engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage systems, pipelines, structural components of buildings, and railways. Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is considered the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering. Civil engineering can take place in the public sector from municipal public works departments through to federal government agencies, and in the private sector from locally based firms to global Fortune 500 companies. History Civil engineering as a discipline Civil engineering is the application of physical and scientific principles for solving the problems of society, and its history is intricately linked to advances in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jackhammer
A jackhammer (pneumatic drill or demolition hammer in British English) is a pneumatic or electro-mechanical tool that combines a hammer directly with a chisel. It was invented by William Mcreavy, who then sold the patent to Charles Brady King. Hand-held jackhammers are generally powered by compressed air, but some are also powered by electric motors. Larger jackhammers, such as rig-mounted hammers used on construction machinery, are usually hydraulically powered. These tools are typically used to break up rock, pavement, and concrete. A jackhammer operates by driving an ''internal'' hammer up and down. The hammer is first driven down to strike the chisel and then back up to return the hammer to the original position to repeat the cycle. The effectiveness of the jackhammer is dependent on how much force is applied to the tool. It is generally used like a hammer to break the hard surface or rock in construction works and it is not considered under earth moving equipment, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fréjus Rail Tunnel
The Fréjus Rail Tunnel (also called Mont Cenis Tunnel) is a rail tunnel of length in the European Alps, carrying the Turin–Modane railway through Mont Cenis to an end-on connection with the Culoz–Modane railway and linking Bardonecchia in Italy to Modane in France. Its mean altitude is and it passes beneath the '' Pointe du Fréjus'' () and the '' Col du Fréjus'' (). Headed by the Italian civil engineer Germain Sommeiller, construction of the tunnel commenced during August 1857, at a time when both ends of the future tunnel were in the Kingdom of Piemonte-Sardinia. From the onset, the tunnel was an ambitious engineering challenge, its gallery being twice the length of any tunnel previously constructed. Some figures believed that it would take as many as 40 years to complete; the total construction time was 13 years, the work having been greatly accelerated by the introduction of new technologies such as pneumatic drilling machines and dynamite. On 17 September 1871, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Germain Sommeiller
Germain Sommeiller (February 15, 1815 – July 11, 1871) was a civil engineer from Savoy. He directed the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel between France and Italy, also known as the Mont Cenis Tunnel. This was the first of a series of major tunnels built in the late 19th century to connect northern and southern Europe through the Alps. Sommeiller pioneered the use of pneumatic drilling and dynamite to achieve record-breaking excavation speeds. This 12.8-km tunnel was completed on December 26, 1870, 11 years ahead of schedule. It remained the longest tunnel in the world until the opening of the Gotthard Rail Tunnel in 1882. Life Germain Sommeiller was born in Saint-Jeoire (now part of Haute-Savoie, France) on February 15, 1815. He graduated in civil engineering at the University of Turin in 1841. He became a Royal Civil Engineer in the Public Transport Department of Savoy in 1845. From 1846 to 1850 he worked for the Cockerill steel company in Liège, which helped bu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Luca Beltrami
Luca Beltrami (November 13, 1854 – August 8, 1933) was an Italian architect and architectural historian, known particularly for restoration projects. Biography Beltrami was born in Milan. He was initially a student at the Politecnico in Milan, then in the Brera Academy, where he studied under Camillo Boito. From there he moved to Paris, where he stayed till 1880. He was involved in works at Trocadero an at the Palace of the National Exhibitions. He was able to outscore those taking tests from the Ecole Nationale de Beaux Arts, and distinguished himself at the Salon with designs by aquaforte. He was nominated the second in command as inspector of the works of reconstruction at the Hotel de Ville of Paris. He collaborated with the architect Théodore Ballu in works on the Palace of Justice at Charleroi, Belgium. Returning from Paris in 1880, he won a contest for the Cathedra of Geometry and Descriptive Architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts of Milan. By commission fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1812 Births
Year 181 ( CLXXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Burrus (or, less frequently, year 934 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 181 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Imperator Lucius Aurelius Commodus and Lucius Antistius Burrus become Roman Consuls. * The Antonine Wall is overrun by the Picts in Britannia (approximate date). Oceania * The volcano associated with Lake Taupō in New Zealand erupts, one of the largest on Earth in the last 5,000 years. The effects of this eruption are seen as far away as Rome and China. Births * April 2 – Xian of Han, Chinese emperor (d. 234) * Zhuge Liang, Chinese chancellor and regent (d. 234) Deaths * Aelius Aristides, Greek orator and w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1867 Deaths
Events January–March * January 1 – The Covington–Cincinnati Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, in the United States, becoming the longest single-span bridge in the world. It was renamed after its designer, John A. Roebling, in 1983. * January 8 – African-American men are granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia. * January 11 – Benito Juárez becomes Mexican president again. * January 30 – Emperor Kōmei of Japan dies suddenly, age 36, leaving his 14-year-old son to succeed as Emperor Meiji. * January 31 – Maronite nationalist leader Youssef Bey Karam leaves Lebanon aboard a French ship for Algeria. * February 3 – ''Shōgun'' Tokugawa Yoshinobu abdicates, and the late Emperor Kōmei's son, Prince Mutsuhito, becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan in a brief ceremony in Kyoto, ending the Late Tokugawa shogunate. * February 7 – West Virginia University is established in Morgantown, West Virginia. * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Engineers From Milan
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost. "Science is knowledge based on our observed facts and tested truths arranged in an orderly system that can be validated and communicated to other people. Engineering is the creative application of scientific principles used to plan, build, direct, guide, manage, or work on systems to maintain and improve our daily lives." The word ''engineer'' (Latin ) is derived from the Latin words ("to contrive, devise") and ("cleverness"). The foundational qualifications of an engineer typically include a four-year bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, or in some jurisdictions, a master's degree in an engineering discipline plus four to six years of peer-reviewed professional ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |