Hennébique, François

SUBJECT AREA: Architecture and building, Civil engineering

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b. 25 April 1842 Neuville-Saint-Vaast, near Arras, France

d. 20 March 1921 Paris, France

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French engineer who contributed to the development of reinforced concrete.

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Hennébique was an important leader in experimenting with various ways of reinforcing concrete with iron and steel. He set up his own firm in 1867, so acquiring valuable experience in the number of commissions that he carried out when using this material. He patented his own invention in 1892; this was for a method of using hooked connections for reinforcing-bars of iron and steel. England lagged behind France in developing the use of reinforced concrete as a structural material: it was Hennébique who was most influential in changing this situation. He had used his new method of reinforcement in the construction of the Spinning Mills at Tourcoing in France in 1895, and he was commissioned by Weaver \& Co., who wished to build a new flour mill in Swansea: the mill was completed in 1898. Soon after, both Hennébique and Coignet established London offices for developing their constructional techniques in England.

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Further Reading

Le Béton armé 1898–1921 (monthly journal published by the Hennébique Company in Paris).

P.Collins, 1959, Concrete: A Vision of a New Architecture (a study of Auguste Perret and his predecessors), Faber.

C.C.Stanley, 1979, Highlights in the History of Concrete, Cement and Concrete Association.

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