Germain Sommeiller
Encyclopedia
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
from Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
. He directed the construction of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel
Fréjus Rail Tunnel
The Fréjus Rail Tunnel is a rail tunnel of length in the European Alps, carrying the Turin–Modane railway through Mount Cenis to an end on connection with the Culoz–Modane railway and linking Modane, France and Bardonecchia, Italy...
between 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 Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, also known as the Mont Cenis Tunnel. This was the first of a series of major tunnels built in the late 19th century to connect northern and southern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
through the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. Sommeiller pioneered the use of pneumatic drilling
Jackhammer
A jackhammer is a pneumatic tool that combines a hammer directly with a chisel that was invented by Charles Brady King. Hand-held jackhammers are typically powered by compressed air, but some use electric motors. Larger jackhammers, such as rig mounted hammers used on construction machinery, are...
and dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
to achieve record-breaking excavation speeds. This 12.8-km tunnel was completed on December 26, 1870, 11 years ahead of schedule. It remained the longest tunnel in the world until the opening of the Gotthard Rail Tunnel
Gotthard Rail Tunnel
The Gotthard Rail Tunnel, is a 15-kilometre long railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Gotthard massif...
in 1882.
Germain Sommeiller was born in Saint-Jeoire
Saint-Jeoire
Saint-Jeoire is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-References:*...
(now part of Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie
Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. It borders both Switzerland and Italy. The capital is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland; to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc and Aravis mountain ranges and the French entrance to the Mont...
, 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...
) on February 15, 1815. He graduated in civil engineering at the University of
University of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
in 1841. He became a Royal Civil Engineer in the Public Transport Department of Savoy in 1845. From 1846 to 1850 he worked for the Cockerill steel company in Liège, which helped build the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
rail network. He met his future partner Sebastiano Grandis there. He then returned to Savoy as assistant to the Belgian engineer Henri Maus, who directed construction of the Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
-Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
railway.
Bardonecchia
Bardonecchia is an Italian town and comune located in the Province of Turin, in the Piedmont region, in the western part of Susa Valley....
and Modane
Modane
Modane is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It was part of the Kingdom of Sardinia until 1860.-Transportation:...
in 1857, Sommeiller was appointed head of design and construction. His collaborators were the Italian engineers Sebastiano Grandis and Severino Grattoni. He patented the pneumatic rock-drilling machine, used in the tunnelling works, based on the invention of Giovanni Battista Piatti
Giovanni Battista Piatti
Giovanni Battista Piatti was an Italian civil engineer.Civil engineer from Milan, inventor of the pneumatic rock-drilling machine that, with small modifications, was used in the Mont Cenis Tunnel...
.
In 1860, when Savoy was annexed
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
to France, he chose to become an Italian citizen and was subsequently elected as deputy in the first Italian Parliament.
Germain Sommeiller died in his native town of Saint-Jeoire on July 11, 1871.
Pointe Sommeiller, a 3332-meter-high peak in the Cottian Alps
Cottian Alps
The Cottian Alps are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France and Italy...
, and Col Sommeiller, the nearby mountain pass linking Bramans
Bramans
Bramans is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France....
, France to Bardonecchia
Bardonecchia
Bardonecchia is an Italian town and comune located in the Province of Turin, in the Piedmont region, in the western part of Susa Valley....
, Italy, were named in his honour. Several streets in Savoy cities such as Annecy
Annecy
Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:...
also bear Sommeiller's name.