Marc Seguin (20 April 1786 – 24 February 1875) was a French

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

, inventor of the

wire Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm A wire is a flexible strand of metal. Wire is co ...

- cable suspension bridge and the multi-tubular steam-engine

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

Early life

Seguin was born in Annonay, Ardèche to Marc François Seguin, the founder of Seguin & Co., and Thérèse-Augustine de Montgolfier, a niece of the pioneer hot air balloonist

Joseph Montgolfier The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune An ...

Career

Bridges

Seguin was an inventor and entrepreneur who developed the first suspension bridge in continental Europe. He built and administered 186 toll-bridges throughout

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. At the 1823 Exposition des produits de l'industrie française a model was exhibited of a planned suspension bridge which would span the Rhône from

Tain-l'Hermitage Tain-l'Hermitage (; oc, Tinh de l'Ermitatge or ), commonly known as Tain, is a commune in the French department of Drôme, southeastern France. Geography It is located on the left bank of the river Rhône, opposite Tournon-sur-Rhône, which is ...

Tournon-sur-Rhône Tournon-sur-Rhône (; oc, Tornon) is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. It is one of the most populous commune in the Ardèche department, after Annonay, Aubenas, and Guilherand-Granges. Geography It is located on the ri ...

. The bridge, designed by Seguin, was completed in 1825.

Steam locomotives

Shortly after the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England opened (1825) he visited it and observed George Stephenson's '' Locomotion'' in operation and acquired two of his engines, which however proved unreliable in French conditions. In 1829, he delivered two steam locomotives of his own design to the

Saint-Étienne–Lyon railway The Saint-Étienne to Lyon line is a railway linking Saint-Étienne to Lyon. The line was built between 1828 and 1833 by Camille Seguin and Marc Seguin at a cost of 14,500,000 FRF. History Construction Construction began in September 1 ...

. Also see: These used an innovative multi-tube boiler and also prominent mechanically-driven fans to provide draught on the fire, rather than Stephenson's blastpipe. This boiler resembled the later Scotch 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 his ''

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

'', but placed his firebox separately and ''behind'' the main boiler shell. 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.

Other businesses

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.

Honours

Marc Seguin was voted into the ''

Académie des Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at ...

'' in 1845, was made a Knight (Chevalier) of the '' Légion 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 the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower. Marc Seguin-Tournon-sur-Rhône

References

External links

Biography and list of works
* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Seguin, Marc 1786 births 1875 deaths People from Annonay French bridge engineers 19th-century French inventors French science writers French railway pioneers French railway mechanical engineers Locomotive builders and designers Members of the French Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Legion of Honour French male non-fiction writers