Bridge foundation on piles

Bridges require solid foundations, and the most common way of achieving this is to isolate a site by shuttering (cofferdam) to temporarily dry it. If the exposed ground is sufficiently firm, concrete foundations can be laid directly on it; otherwise piles are driven into it to create a ‘floor’ on which to build. This scale model by Charles Nepveu, probably shown at the Universal Exposition in 1855, illustrated a treatise on bridge foundations published by the engineer the same year. The many remarkable achievements of Nepveu’s mechanical construction company include the railway bridge over the Garonne at Bordeaux, whose piles were sunk using compressed air, and the installation of the Machine Hall at the 1855 Exposition. Nepveu also worked in an advisory capacity on the digging of the Suez Canal. His death at the age of forty ended a brilliant career largely eclipsed by the success of Gustave Eiffel, who began his career in 1856 as Nepveu’s personal secretary.