Biography

 

After studying ancient languages, up to and including rhetoric, and mathematics at the Louis-le-Grand College in Paris, he entered the École Polytechnique in 1829, leaving in eighth place out of 113 students in 1831, when he joined École des Ponts et Chaussées.

His assignments included work on the Côte d’Or Bridge and on the Pontailler Bridge on the Saône (where he worked on a masonry arch with a span of 12 metres) in 1832, and another in 1833 on the Roanne Bridge and on the Montbrison railway in the Loiret region.As a cadet in 1834, he was appointed ordinary engineer in Puy de Dôme, employed by the Riom district, where he worked on road construction until 1836. Promoted to engineer second-class, he moved to the Côte d’Or at Semur and Châtillon-sur-Seine, where he supervised road and bridge projects, including the Menat Bridge over the Sioule.In 1841, he transferred to the Avallon District in the Yonne, where he was responsible for navigation on the Cure, a position he held until 1852. It was at this time that he developed his ideas about the relations between the geological structure of the soil and water systems.In 1846, the French Academy of Sciences acknowledged his “Hydrological studies in the upper part of the Seine basin”, which he rounded off with an article in Issue 153 of the Annales des Ponts et Chaussées titled “Hydrological studies in the granites and jurassic soils forming the upper part of the Seine basin”.

After promotion to engineer first-class in 1845, he was named chevalier de la légion d’honneur in 1847. In the same year, he received his first recognition for his work on the Seine system, a gold medal accompanied by an award of 300 Francs.In 1849, he published the description of water distribution in Avallon, recorded in an article in Issue 238 of the Annales des Ponts et Chaussées “Description of the establishment of a pipeline to carry the waters of the Aillon stream to Avallon, followed by a few remarks on fast-setting cement structures”, which also won him a gold medal in 1850. He completed the publication of the geological and agronomic map of the Yonne in 1851. It was then that he began a series of hydrological studies that would occupy him for 27 years.

In 1850, he came to the notice of Georges Eugène Haussmann, then prefect of the Yonne; when the latter became prefect of the Seine region in 1852, he called Belgrand to Paris and put him in charge of the navigation service on the Seine between Paris and Rouen.It was from 1854 onwards that Haussmann asked him to study the development of the water supply in Paris, through research on dams, on the hydrometric service in the Seine basin and through statistical research on the sources of the Seine basin.At this time, he published an article in the Annual of the French Meteorological Society on “Studies of the laws that govern waterway flooding (followed) by the relations between the manner in which rainwater flows on the surface of the ground and meadow cultivation”, which in 1854 earned him a gold medal and an award of 600 Francs.

In 1855, the administration placed him in charge of the water department and the study of the underground source of the Somme Soude (Marne), and then in January 1856 he was given responsibility for the Paris water service.He took control of this system, reorganised it and began designing the full network of sewers and water pipes in Paris, based on the prefect’s programme and Jules Dupuit’s preliminary designs.Work began in 1857:Asnières main sewer, sewers under boulevard Sébastopol, Passy reservoir, water pipes under the Champs-Élysées, the Rivoli, Lyon and Bercy streets and boulevard Mazas, and finally the big Bondy road project.In 1868, he was appointed chief engineer first-class. Admired by his peers, he was successively appointed a free member of the French Academy of Sciences and an Officer of the Legion of Honour in 1861.

Replacing his father-in-law, he successfully stood for election to the Yonne Regional General Council in November 1862.However, he continued to supervise the work to bring spring water to Paris, for example in September 85 channelling the water of the Dhuis River into the city through closed protective aqueducts and building underground storage reservoirs.When an English philanthropist, Richard Wallace, offered to build street fountains for the refreshment of Parisians, it was Belgrand who in 1871 chose their 50 locations. The first was inaugurated at 214 Boulevard de la Villette in August 1872.

These health and hygiene initiatives were recognised with a gold medal for his work at the 1867 Universal Exhibition. In 1867, he was appointed inspector-general second-class and director of the Paris water and sewerage system, which gave him the opportunity to continue his work:completion of the Ménilmontant reservoir, preliminary design for the la Vanne aqueduct, second main sewer, Trilbardou pumping station, St Maur pumping station, Butte aux Cailles and Hébert Square artesian wells.In 1874, Belgrand could take pride in the construction of the Charonne, Télégraphe, Ménilmontant and Passy reservoirs, and the Trilbardou, Isles-les-Meldeuses, Port-a-l’Anglais, Maisons-Alfort, Ourcq, Ménilmontant and Saint-Maur pumping stations.This was also the year when the Montsouris reservoir was built, providing one third of the capital’s daily water consumption.In the same year, he became engineering inspector-general first-class. In 1875, he was appointed a member of the French Geological Mapping Commission and published an “History of the water service from 1854 to 1874:note to the Prefect of the Seine Region” and began publication of his monumental work on “Underground engineering work in Paris” which would continue until 1887.

He died in his office on April 8, 1878, while signing his employees’ reports.

At the instigation of of M. Cadet, a member of the Paris Municipal Council, a street between Place Gambetta and Porte de Bagnolet (20th arrondissement) was dedicated to him on January 23, 1879. Finally, when the time came to decorate the great frise located 65 metres up on the Eiffel Tower, Belgrand’s name was placed on the facade facing the École Militaire, alongside Cauchy, Regnault, Fresnel etc. in gilded letters 60 cm high.

Links

• Belgrand Conference 2010

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