Robert Maillart


Maillart, Robert

 

Born Feb. 6, 1872, in Bern; died Apr. 5, 1940, in Zürich. Swiss engineer.

Maillart graduated from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1894. One of the first to discover the architectural possibilities of reinforced concrete, he designed flat, girderless floor structures using mushroom-shaped supports (Federal Grain Warehouse in Altdorf, 1912). He also built a number of bridges with flat beams resting on graceful, gently sloping arches made of thin slabs bifurcated near the support (for example, the Salginatobel Bridge, 1930, with a 90-m arch). From 1912 to 1919, Maillart worked in Russia.

REFERENCE

Bill, M. R. Maillart. Paris, 1955.