Agustín de Betancourt
Encyclopedia
Agustín de Betancourt y Molina (Puerto de la Cruz
, Tenerife
, Spain
, 1758 – Saint Petersburg
, Russia
, 1824) (Avgustin Avgustinovich de Betancourt or Августин Августинович де Бетанкур in Russian) was a prominent Spanish-Canarian engineer
, who worked in Spain
, France
and Russia
. His work ranged from steam engine
s and balloons
to structural engineering
and urban planning
. As an educator
, Betancourt founded and managed the Spanish Corps of Engineers and the Saint Petersburg
Institute of Communications Engineers. As an urban planner
and construction manager, Betancourt supervised planning and construction in Saint Petersburg, Kronstadt
, Nizhny Novgorod
and other Russian cities.
Betancourt family can trace their roots to Jean de Béthencourt
, who launched colonization of the Canary Islands
in 1402 and became a self-proclaimed King of Tenerife in 1417 under the overlordship of the King of Castile. Augustín's father, also Augustín de Betancourt y Castro, was a well educated businessman with interests in textile machinery. His mother, Maria de Betancourt neé Castro, is believed to be the first woman in Tenerife to publish a scientific article (also related to textile dye
s).
In 1778, Augustin moved to Madrid
to study engineering at the San Isidro Royal College, and never returned to Tenerife again. His first jobs, after graduation in 1783, were related to the Aragon Canal and mining in Almadén
. In 1784, he travelled to Paris
to study hydraulics
and mechanics
at the School of Bridges and Roads.
. In 1788, he travelled to England
, visiting James Watt
and Matthew Boulton
, pioneers in steam engine
s. Watt was reluctant to reveal the secrets of his trade, however, Betancourt inspected Watt's engines working in London
mills. Back in Paris, he wrote a treatise on steam engines and designed a steam-powered pump, a mechanical loom
and sent a collection of machinery to Madrid. In 1791, he concentrated on naval technologies - harbor dredging and drilling gun barrel
s (his own dredge design materialized twenty years later, in Kronstadt
). Shortly before the fall of French monarchy
, Betancourt returned to Madrid with his new finds.
In 1792, Betancourt was appointed the Director of Royal Cabinet of Machinery, and catalogued hundreds of its exhibits scouted in France, England and Netherlands
; in 1793-1795, he continued intelligence in England. This assignment was interrupted by Spain's alliance with revolutionary France (1796). In Paris, Betancourt teamed with Abraham-Louis Breguet in perfecting their version of optical telegraph. Later however, the French chose a competing design by Claude Chappe. Betancourt built his telegraph in Spain, between Madrid and Cádiz
in 1798; same year, he was involved in launching Spain's first hot air balloon.
Soon after the establishment in 1794 of École Polytechnique
in Paris, Gaspard Monge
had proposed a class on the analysis of mechanisms and described the subject to fellow teachers. When the class was first taught in 1806 by Hachette
, Betancourt was among its students. Another student was José María Lanz
, whose lecture notes were revised and published together with Betancourt as Essai sur la composition des machines (1808; 2nd ed. 1819; 3rd ed. 1840), encouraged to do so by Monge and Hachette. This textbook on machine design became widespread in European universities. It was translated to English as Analytical essay of the construction of machines (1820, published by Rudolph Ackermann
) and by Thomas Fenwick as Essays on practical mechanics (1822) and to German by Wilhelm Kreyher as Versuch über die Zusammensetzung der Maschinen (1829).
In 1807, Betancourt left Spain for Paris, where he was inducted into French Academy of Sciences
; ironically, James Watt was inducted simultaneously. He was recruited into Russian service by Ivan Muravyov-Apostol
(ambassador to Spain until 1806) and left France for Saint Petersburg
in 1808.
, assigned to the Directorate of Communications. His first extant work is the famous fountain in Tsarskoye Selo
(1810), with sculpture by Pavel Sokolov immortalized by Alexander Pushkin's poetry. In 1816, Betancourt was promoted to head the Commission for Construction and Hydraulics, a national institution targeted primarily at Saint Petersburg development; since 1819 he also headed the Directorate of Communications. He recruited and trained such architects as Auguste de Montferrand
and Leo Carboniere.
In 1811-1813, Betancourt built Saint Petersburg' first bridge across Malaya Nevka
, connecting Kamenny Island
with Aptekarsky Island
. This seven-span wooden bridge, named after Betancourt, served for a record fifty years and was the only bridge to survive the disastrous 1824 flood. He designed similar bridges for Warsaw
, Tula
and Peterhof.
In 1816, Alexander I of Russia
assigned Betancourt to find an architect for rebuilding Saint Isaac's Cathedral
. Betancourt promoted Montferrand, and in February, 1818, the Tsar approved Montferrand' fifth draft. Betancourt provided Montferrand with an efficient, thoroughly calculated dome design utilizing three interconnected steel domes without any masonry vaults. Cathedral construction was delayed until Betancourt's death; the dome was erected only in 1841.
In Moscow, Betancourt supervised construction of the Moscow Manege
(1817). Architectural design was assigned to Leo Carboniere. The building, 166 [meter]s long and 44.7 meters wide, required a single-span roof without any internal columns. Betancourt personally designed the wooden roof truss
es and completed the whole project in six months. By 1824, roofing required replacement; new trusses, installed in 1824-1825, served until the fire of 2004.
_cathedral.jpg)
In 1816, accidental fire destroyed the Makaryev Fair. The Fairgrounds were transferred to Nizhny Novgorod
, equipped with temporary wooden shacks. Betancourt visited the site in 1817 and proposed a six million rouble, four-year project to rebuild the Fair in stone. He supervised overall planning and financing, while Montferrand, as the chief architect, was designing individual buildings and ensembles. Despite his Petersburg projects, Betancourt travelled to Nizhny Novgorod every year to inspect the progress of construction. The Saviour Cathedral, also known as Old Fair Cathedral (Спасский собор, Староярмарочный собор), was designed by Betancourt (overall structure) and Montferrand (facade and interiors) together and completed in 1822, the year when the Fair opened for its first season. The fair operated until 1930.
Betancourt designed other buildings for Nizhny, including the city jail, three brick foundries, and helped in preservation of two ancient churches. Throughout 19th century, the left bank of Oka River
was developing according to his master plan.
and Betancourt (1815).
In 1810, Betancourt completed his steam-powered dredge
. It was used to deepen the shallow waters around Kronstadt
and build a canal between this island and the Izhorsky foundries on the mainland. He could not patent the design immediately, because Russian patent law was enacted later, in 1812; eventually, patent was granted to completely different people.
) was inaugurated in 1818.
armouries
.
In 1809, Betancourt set up Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers, the nations' first engineering college, and headed the Institute until 1824.
cemetery in Saint Petersburg. His tomb, a 6.85 meter cast iron column, was designed and made by Auguste de Montferrand and paid for by Nizhny Novgorod merchant society. In 1979, the grave was relocated to Alexander Nevsky Lavra
.
Saint Petersburg has three monuments to Betancourt (in University Embankment, in Communications University and inside the Goznak currency printshop). Betancourt's Medal is an annual award instituted in 1997 by Russian Railways
for excellence in science and education.
Puerto de la Cruz
Puerto de la Cruz is a city and municipality located in Spain, on the north coast of Tenerife island, in the Orotava Valley...
, Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, 1758 – Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, 1824) (Avgustin Avgustinovich de Betancourt or Августин Августинович де Бетанкур in Russian) was a prominent Spanish-Canarian engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
, who worked in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. His work ranged from steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s and balloons
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
to structural engineering
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
and urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
. As an educator
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, Betancourt founded and managed the Spanish Corps of Engineers and the Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
Institute of Communications Engineers. As an urban planner
Urban planner
An urban planner or city planner is a professional who works in the field of urban planning/land use planning for the purpose of optimizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure. They formulate plans for the development and management of urban and suburban areas, typically...
and construction manager, Betancourt supervised planning and construction in Saint Petersburg, Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
, Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
and other Russian cities.
Childhood and education
The TenerifeTenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
Betancourt family can trace their roots to Jean de Béthencourt
Jean de Béthencourt
Jean de Béthencourt was a French explorer who, in 1402, led an expedition to the Canary Islands, landing first on the north side of Lanzarote...
, who launched colonization of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
in 1402 and became a self-proclaimed King of Tenerife in 1417 under the overlordship of the King of Castile. Augustín's father, also Augustín de Betancourt y Castro, was a well educated businessman with interests in textile machinery. His mother, Maria de Betancourt neé Castro, is believed to be the first woman in Tenerife to publish a scientific article (also related to textile dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
s).
In 1778, Augustin moved to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
to study engineering at the San Isidro Royal College, and never returned to Tenerife again. His first jobs, after graduation in 1783, were related to the Aragon Canal and mining in Almadén
Almadén
Almadén, Spain, is a town and municipality in the province of Ciudad Real, within the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The town is located at 4° 49' W and 38° 46' N and is 589 meters above sea level. Almadén is approximately 200 km south of Madrid in the Sierra Morena...
. In 1784, he travelled to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to study hydraulics
Hydraulics
Hydraulics is a topic in applied science and engineering dealing with the mechanical properties of liquids. Fluid mechanics provides the theoretical foundation for hydraulics, which focuses on the engineering uses of fluid properties. In fluid power, hydraulics is used for the generation, control,...
and mechanics
Mechanics
Mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the behavior of physical bodies when subjected to forces or displacements, and the subsequent effects of the bodies on their environment....
at the School of Bridges and Roads.
Intelligence missions
In France, Betancourt published treatises on engineering (e.g. on coal mining), however his real assignment was to scout new technologies for the benefit of Spain and acquire modern machinery for the future Cabinet of Machinery in Madrid, envisioned by Chief minister FloridablancaJosé Moñino y Redondo, conde de Floridablanca
José Moñino y Redondo, Count of Floridablanca , Spanish statesman. He was the reformist chief minister of King Charles III of Spain, and also served briefly under Charles IV. He was arguably Spain's most effective statesman in the eighteenth century...
. In 1788, he travelled to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, visiting James Watt
James Watt
James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...
and Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton
Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...
, pioneers in steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
s. Watt was reluctant to reveal the secrets of his trade, however, Betancourt inspected Watt's engines working in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
mills. Back in Paris, he wrote a treatise on steam engines and designed a steam-powered pump, a mechanical loom
Loom
A loom is a device used to weave cloth. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads...
and sent a collection of machinery to Madrid. In 1791, he concentrated on naval technologies - harbor dredging and drilling gun barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....
s (his own dredge design materialized twenty years later, in Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
). Shortly before the fall of French monarchy
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Betancourt returned to Madrid with his new finds.
In 1792, Betancourt was appointed the Director of Royal Cabinet of Machinery, and catalogued hundreds of its exhibits scouted in France, England and Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
; in 1793-1795, he continued intelligence in England. This assignment was interrupted by Spain's alliance with revolutionary France (1796). In Paris, Betancourt teamed with Abraham-Louis Breguet in perfecting their version of optical telegraph. Later however, the French chose a competing design by Claude Chappe. Betancourt built his telegraph in Spain, between Madrid and Cádiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
in 1798; same year, he was involved in launching Spain's first hot air balloon.
Administrative career
In 1797, Betancourt's achievements were rewarded with a position of Chief Inspector of Ports and Communications in Spain, Chief of Corps of Engineers of Spanish military and other important assignments. In 1802, he founded Spain's first engineering college, School of the Corps of Engineers, and managed the institution until 1807.Soon after the establishment in 1794 of École Polytechnique
École Polytechnique
The École Polytechnique is a state-run institution of higher education and research in Palaiseau, Essonne, France, near Paris. Polytechnique is renowned for its four year undergraduate/graduate Master's program...
in Paris, Gaspard Monge
Gaspard Monge
Gaspard Monge, Comte de Péluse was a French mathematician, revolutionary, and was inventor of descriptive geometry. During the French Revolution, he was involved in the complete reorganization of the educational system, founding the École Polytechnique...
had proposed a class on the analysis of mechanisms and described the subject to fellow teachers. When the class was first taught in 1806 by Hachette
Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette
Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette , French mathematician, was born at Mézières, where his father was a bookseller.For his early education he proceeded first to the college of Charleville, and afterwards to that of Reims...
, Betancourt was among its students. Another student was José María Lanz
José María Lanz
José María Lanz y Zaldívar was a Spanish-Mexican mathematician and engineer. Together with Agustín de Betancourt, he developed the classification of mechanisms begun by Jean Nicolas Pierre Hachette, and counts as one of the founders of industrial kinematics .His name is sometimes written as...
, whose lecture notes were revised and published together with Betancourt as Essai sur la composition des machines (1808; 2nd ed. 1819; 3rd ed. 1840), encouraged to do so by Monge and Hachette. This textbook on machine design became widespread in European universities. It was translated to English as Analytical essay of the construction of machines (1820, published by Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann
Rudolph Ackermann was an Anglo-German bookseller, inventor, lithographer, publisher and businessman.- Biography :...
) and by Thomas Fenwick as Essays on practical mechanics (1822) and to German by Wilhelm Kreyher as Versuch über die Zusammensetzung der Maschinen (1829).
In 1807, Betancourt left Spain for Paris, where he was inducted into French Academy of Sciences
French Academy of Sciences
The French Academy of 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...
; ironically, James Watt was inducted simultaneously. He was recruited into Russian service by Ivan Muravyov-Apostol
Ivan Muravyov-Apostol
Ivan Matveyevich Muravyov-Apostol was a Russian statesman and writer.Ivan Muravyov-Apostol came from an old notable family. His father was a military engineer Matvei Muravyov and his mother was Elena Apostol, granddaughter of a Ukrainian hetman Danylo Apostol)...
(ambassador to Spain until 1806) and left France for Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1808.
Career in Russia
Betancourt joined Russian service in the rank of Major GeneralMajor General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
, assigned to the Directorate of Communications. His first extant work is the famous fountain in Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo
Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...
(1810), with sculpture by Pavel Sokolov immortalized by Alexander Pushkin's poetry. In 1816, Betancourt was promoted to head the Commission for Construction and Hydraulics, a national institution targeted primarily at Saint Petersburg development; since 1819 he also headed the Directorate of Communications. He recruited and trained such architects as Auguste de Montferrand
Auguste de Montferrand
Auguste de Montferrand was a French Neoclassical architect who worked primarily in Russia. His two best known works are the Saint Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexander Column in St. Petersburg.-Family:...
and Leo Carboniere.
Structural engineering
Malaya Nevka
Malaya Nevka is the southern distributary of the Bolshaya Nevka. The Bolshaya Nevka splits into Malaya Nevka and Srednaya Nevka near the Kamenny Island's easternmost tip....
, connecting Kamenny Island
Kamenny Island
Kamenny Ostrov, Kamenny Island, or Stony Island is one of the islands in the Neva delta. It is part of Saint Petersburg, Russia....
with Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island
Aptekarsky Island is a small island situated in the northern part of the Neva delta. It is separated from Petrogradsky Island by the Karpovka River, from Kamenny Island and Krestovsky Island by the Malaya Nevka and from the Vyborgskaya region of St-Petersburg by the Bolshaya Nevka. It has an area...
. This seven-span wooden bridge, named after Betancourt, served for a record fifty years and was the only bridge to survive the disastrous 1824 flood. He designed similar bridges for Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Tula
Tula, Russia
Tula is an industrial city and the administrative center of Tula Oblast, Russia. It is located south of Moscow, on the Upa River. Population: -History:...
and Peterhof.
In 1816, Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
assigned Betancourt to find an architect for rebuilding Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor in Saint Petersburg, Russia is the largest Russian Orthodox cathedral in the city...
. Betancourt promoted Montferrand, and in February, 1818, the Tsar approved Montferrand' fifth draft. Betancourt provided Montferrand with an efficient, thoroughly calculated dome design utilizing three interconnected steel domes without any masonry vaults. Cathedral construction was delayed until Betancourt's death; the dome was erected only in 1841.
In Moscow, Betancourt supervised construction of the Moscow Manege
Moscow Manege
Moscow Manege is a large oblong building which gives its name to the vast Manege Square, which was cleared in the 1930s, adjacent to the more famous Red Square...
(1817). Architectural design was assigned to Leo Carboniere. The building, 166 [meter]s long and 44.7 meters wide, required a single-span roof without any internal columns. Betancourt personally designed the wooden roof truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
es and completed the whole project in six months. By 1824, roofing required replacement; new trusses, installed in 1824-1825, served until the fire of 2004.
Urban planning
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, equipped with temporary wooden shacks. Betancourt visited the site in 1817 and proposed a six million rouble, four-year project to rebuild the Fair in stone. He supervised overall planning and financing, while Montferrand, as the chief architect, was designing individual buildings and ensembles. Despite his Petersburg projects, Betancourt travelled to Nizhny Novgorod every year to inspect the progress of construction. The Saviour Cathedral, also known as Old Fair Cathedral (Спасский собор, Староярмарочный собор), was designed by Betancourt (overall structure) and Montferrand (facade and interiors) together and completed in 1822, the year when the Fair opened for its first season. The fair operated until 1930.
Betancourt designed other buildings for Nizhny, including the city jail, three brick foundries, and helped in preservation of two ancient churches. Throughout 19th century, the left bank of Oka River
Oka River
Oka is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir, and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as to the town of Kaluga. Its length exceeds...
was developing according to his master plan.
Naval engineering
Russia's first steamship, Yelizaveta was designed jointly by Charles BairdCharles Baird (engineer)
Charles Baird was a Scottish engineer who played an important part in the industrial and business life of 19th century St. Petersburg...
and Betancourt (1815).
In 1810, Betancourt completed his steam-powered dredge
Dredge
Dredging is an excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location...
. It was used to deepen the shallow waters around Kronstadt
Kronstadt
Kronstadt , also spelled Kronshtadt, Cronstadt |crown]]" and Stadt for "city"); is a municipal town in Kronshtadtsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on Kotlin Island, west of Saint Petersburg proper near the head of the Gulf of Finland. Population: It is also...
and build a canal between this island and the Izhorsky foundries on the mainland. He could not patent the design immediately, because Russian patent law was enacted later, in 1812; eventually, patent was granted to completely different people.
Currency printshop
After the French invasion of Russia (1812), Russian monetary system was ruined by war expenditure and a flood of counterfeit bills. Dmitry Guriev, Minister of Finance, assigned Betancourt to set up a modern currency printing facility. By 1816, Betancourt examined all existing printshop and persuaded the government to build a new factory equipped with steam-driven machinery. He designed the buildings, machinery and the technological process, using his childhood experience in textile mills. The new printshop (present-day Saint Petersburg GoznakGoznak
Goznak is a Unitary enterprise in Russia, responsible for the production of coins and bank notes. Goznak was established on July 6, 1919, under the conditions of civil war, as an agency that administered the whole process cycle of bank note manufacturing. It incorporated several factories involved...
) was inaugurated in 1818.
Other projects
Betancourt is credited with design of Russia's first modern highway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow, as well as numerous industrial projects like Tula and KazanKazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...
armouries
Armory (military)
An armory or armoury is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
.
In 1809, Betancourt set up Saint Petersburg Institute of Communications Engineers, the nations' first engineering college, and headed the Institute until 1824.
Final years
In 1822 Betancourt fell in disfavor at the court, lost his chair as the Director of Communications but retained other state jobs. In 1823 he was struck by the death of his only daughter and never recovered from this loss. In February, 1824 he finally resigned, and died July 14, 1824. He was buried at the Smolensk LutheranLutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
cemetery in Saint Petersburg. His tomb, a 6.85 meter cast iron column, was designed and made by Auguste de Montferrand and paid for by Nizhny Novgorod merchant society. In 1979, the grave was relocated to Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Alexander Nevsky Lavra
Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra or Saint Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded by Peter I of Russia in 1710 at the eastern end of the Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg supposing that that was the site of the Neva Battle in 1240 when Alexander Nevsky, a prince, defeated the Swedes; however, the battle...
.
Saint Petersburg has three monuments to Betancourt (in University Embankment, in Communications University and inside the Goznak currency printshop). Betancourt's Medal is an annual award instituted in 1997 by Russian Railways
Russian Railways
The Russian Railways , is the government owned national rail carrier of the Russian Federation, headquartered in Moscow. The Russian Railways operate over of common carrier routes as well as a few hundred kilometers of industrial routes, making it the second largest network in the world exceeded...
for excellence in science and education.
External links
- Betancourt Project (monographic website about Agustín de Betancourt, in Spanish, English and Russian) http://betancourt.fundacionorotava.es
- The German "Digitale Mechanismen- und Getriebebibliothek" provides information about Betancourt and has digitized:
- Essai sur la composition des machines (2nd ed. 1819) metadata, fulltext viewer
- Versuch über die Zusammensetzung der Maschinen (1829) metadata, fulltext viewer