Laying a Foundation for Innovation— Louis-Joseph Vicat
Louis-Joseph Vicat developed a process for producing cement artificially and laid the foundation for a revolution in structural engineering. As a young engineer, Vicat was assigned to build a bridge across the Dordogne River at Souillac searched for a fast-setting hydraulic cement for this purpose. Roman engineers used hydraulic cement for construction thousands of years earlier, but they had to rely on naturally occurring deposits of a key material, Pozzolana. Through careful study, Vicat was able to concoct a substitute by heating a mixture of limestone and clay. Vicat also collaborated with Marc Seguin in develop the use of wire cable for constructing suspension bridges, an innovation that proved essential in the wide acceptance of this bridge technology.
Vicat declined to take out a patent for his discovery, giving up the opportunity of becoming a wealthy man but allowing wide dissemination of this new technology. The ability to manufacture cement with the desired characteristics provided builders with a valuable new material particularly well-suited for the immediate challenge of building bridge piers and harbor works, and later in the new applications made possible by reinforced concrete construction. In recognition of the immense benefit provided to society at large, Francois Arago arranged for the French government to award Vicat a pension of 6,000 gold francs in 1845, a sum worth between $500,000 and $1 million today.
Louis-Joseph Vicat is one of the 72 engineers and scientists named on the Eiffel Tower. Vicat’s son assisted in his research and went on to found the large cement and concrete manufacturing firm of Vicat SA, which is still in operation.
