Jean Aubert (engineer) explained

Jean Aubert
Birth Date:	2 July 1894
Birth Place:	Paris, France
Death Date:	25 November 1984
Death Place:	Paris, France
Nationality:	French
Education:	Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris, École nationale des ponts et chaussées, University of Paris (Bachelor of law)
Known For:	Engineer on river and canal works
Occupation:	Engineer

Jean Aubert was a French engineer. In 1961, he used the idea of the German engineer Julius Greve from the last century to describe a pente d'eau (English: [[water slope]]), which was a way of moving boats up the gradient of a canal without locks. The design consisted of a sloping channel, through which a wedge of water on which the boat was floating could be pushed up an incline. This concept was used in both the Montech water slope^[1] and the Fonserannes water slopes.^{[2] [3]}

Education

• Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris.^[2]
• 1913 - École Polytechnique. Soon left for service in First world war. Returned in 1919.^[2]
• 1920-1922 - École nationale des ponts et chaussées.^[2]
• University of Paris (Bachelor of law).^[2]

Career

• 1922-1932 - Engineer in charge of the navigation works in Paris.^[2]
• 1932-1961 - Professor in the Chair of Internal Navigation at the École nationale des ponts et chaussées. (English: National School of Bridges and Roads) ^[2]
• 1933-1945 - General manager and later chairman of the Compagnie Nationale du Rhône.^[2]
• 1945-1953 - Chairman of the electricity board of the SNCF
• 1949-1967 - Chairman of the Rhine Navigation Company ^[2]
• years unknown - Chairman of the Société de Construction des Batignolles.^[2]
• years unknown - President, Societe des Ingenieurs Civils de France.^[4]
• years unknown - Inspecteur Général des Ponts et Chaussées ^{[3] [4]}
• 1966-unknown - Consulting engineer and honorary chairman of Spie Batignolles.^[2]
• Chairman of several other companies.^[2]

Publications

• In 1919 he published La Probabilité dans les tires de guerre and was awarded the Pierson-Perrim prize by the Académie des Sciences in 1922.^[2]
• His article Philosophie de la pente d'eau appeared in the journal Travaux in 1984 when he was 90 years old.^[2]
• In 1961 he published his revolutionary ideas on the pente d'eau, or water slope, which was designed to transfer barges from one level to another without the use of locks.^[2]

Awards

• Croix de Guerre in 1916.^[2]
• Académie des Sciences

Prix Pierson-Perrim 1922.^[2]

• Awarded the Caméré prize in 1934 by the Académie des Sciences for a new type of movable dam.^[2]
• Ingénieur Général des Ponts et Chaussées 1951,
• Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur 1960.^[2]

Principle works

• Construction of the Pont Edouard-Herriort on the Rhône at Lyon.^[2]
• Design and construction of the Génissiat dam and Lonzères-Mondragon dam on the Rhône.^[2]
• Conception and design of the Denouval dam on the Seine near Andrésy, completed in 1980.^[2]

Further reading

David Tew, 1984, Canal Inclines and Lifts, Gloucester: Alan Sutton.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Book: Rolt, L. T. C. . L. T. C. Rolt . From Sea to Sea . Ohio University Press . 1973 . 9780713904710.
2. Book: Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology . Lance Day . Ian McNeil . September 2003. 9780203028292.
3. Book: An Encyclopaedia of the history of technology . Ian McNeil . June 2002. 9780203192115.
4. Lecture. Joint Meeting. Inland Navigation Today . 10.1680/iicep.1965.9574 . 29 December 2009. 1965 . Aubert . J. . Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. 30 . 187–192 .