Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel

a cura di Fausto Giovannardi 1


Vladimir Grigorevich Shukhov (Владимир Григорьевич Шухов) (1853-1939)

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the debate about the artistic value of engineering in general and about the steel (iron style) in particular, was very strong and controversial. Involved engineers, architects and artists, occupying the front pages of magazines. The innovative work of Vladimir G. Shukhov is then to the summit in the field of architecture and is convinced supporters in those who believe that the form derives from the characteristics of strength of the material and the ability not to hide behind the redundant decorations, as in arches at the base of the Eiffel tower.

“The structures of Shukhov complement the efforts of the engineers of the nineteenth century and show the way for those of the twentieth. " Christian Schadlich (Wiemar 1967) "The hypar of Shuchov are generally regarded as the first structures in which the membrane covering the structure and the same thing." Frei Otto

Life Vladimir Shukhov Grigorevich (hereafter VGS) was born on August 28 1853 at Grajvoron, a Russian citizen, in the Belgorod region southwest of Moscow. The father Gregory Petrovich, came from a family of Russian army officers, from different generations. He had graduated in law in the University of Kharkiv. Welleducated and from a firm and resolute, to 29 years had already received a bronze medal for participation in the Crimean War (1853-1856). At the birth of Vladimir, is director of the local bank of St. Petersburg. His mother, Vera Capithonovna, owned a small farm near Grajvoron. In 1864 he was writing to VGS gymnasium of St. Petersburg, which leaves graduated with distinction in 1871, and which already shows a marked talent for mathematics. Driven by his father enrolled at the prestigious Imperial College of Technology

in Moscow, which was once one of the best polytechnics universities of Europe, also open to non-noble. While studying the project developer and a prototype of a nozzle for combustion of oil derivatives. He graduated in mechanical engineering, with honors and gold medal in 1876. Prof. P.F. Pafnutij Cebysev, a famous mathematician, made him just the proposal for a research and teaching in universities, but refused the VGS feel more attracted by the industry. He accepted instead and good position to be part of the Russian delegation at the scientific world of Philadelphia in May 1876, bound for the centenary of independence from the United States, and that could admire the novelty of the technology (the telephone Bell The first typewriter, etc.). The journey in the U.S. will play a key role in the life of VGS. At the exposure knows Alexander Veniaminovich Bari, a young engineerentrepreneur Russian, who worked in the exhibition and a number of years lived in America. The trip also took the opportunity to visit the factories and machinery to Pittsburgh to study American Railroads. Returned from America in 1877, VGS comes to work at the Company's projects railway Warsaw-Vienna in St. Petersburg. The vivid memory of the visit, soon contrasts with the gray paperwork to the railways. It 'still an experience that will be useful in the future, but no space for creativity and under the yoke of higher ottuse and rigid, VGS is not good and decides to accept the advice of a renowned surgeon, a family friend and join the Academy of Military Health. During the same period A.V. Bari is part of Russia along with the family, intends to launch an industry confident of being at the beginning of a period of strong growth in the country devoid of industries. A.V. Bari at that time is very young (25 years), presence of beautiful, good education and able to speak properly three languages (English, French, German). Having enjoyed the creativity of VGS in Philadelphia, asked him to take the driving technique of his construction company based in Moscow, but with oil interests in the area of Baku in Azerbaijan. In 1878 VGS goes to Baku and officially start the company that will see the fruitful union between a manager and a brilliant engineer from incredible talent. It will last until the October Revolution of 1917 and will bring enormous benefits to Russia. In addition to the civil construction, A.V. Bari, after an initial period when he worked as an importer, founded a factory steam boilers in Moscow, that over time he opened several branches throughout Russia. Initially there were assembled the pieces

2

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel imported from England and France. VGS, in 189092 he invented a new type of tubular boilers: vertical and horizontal, which consisted in greater benefits heated surface, the simplicity of construction and use of similar items. In 1896 A.V. Bari it began production in series, getting an award at panrussa of Nizhny Novgorod in the same year and thereafter prize and gold medal for Schukhov, universal exposure of Paris of 1900. In his work V.G. Shukhov, will deal with works of civil engineering, shipbuilding, mechanics and oil. Always find the time to keep updated through the study of technical documentation Russian and foreign (read regularly reviewed "The Engineer" and "Cashiers's Magazine") and maintain a continuous exchange of views with many colleagues, as well as cultivate its great passion for photography, which will reach high levels of art. The photographic work of VGS us back the reality of his era, seen through the eyes of a cultured person, a fine technical and expert in literature and art, who knew 3 languages. About 2,000 photos of VGS came up today. Married Anna Nikolaevna, that was close and sustained him in work and who had several children.

Another milestone in the life of la VGS will participate at the Russian Academy of Arts and Industrial Activities, which was held from May 28 to October 1 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod. Financed by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, occupied 84 hectares on the left bank of the river Oka, with nearly 70 buildings and 120 pavilions. At the exhibition were made by VGS for the first water tower structure with metal mesh-shaped hypar (iperboloide) and the first roofing metal mesh suspended and sometimes a trellis, in 8 pavilions covering a total area of 25,000 sqm. After exposure the name of VGS had global resonance. The start of the new century was full of events. Before the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905, lost in the tragic battle of Tsushima, then the First World War broke out in 1914 and last October

1

revolution of 1917 , which ended the Emperor czarist. In 1913 he died A.V. Bari and enterprise passed to his son, who continued the business until 1917, when the entire family, emigrated to America. In these turbulent years, while VGS spoke publicly against the policies of war in Russia, had no choice but to deal with the construction of military equipment: guns and gun of underwater mines. The last major work that VGS built before the 1917 revolution, was the shed Kievsky railway station in Moscow (1912-1917), with huge arms and light reticular 48 mt of light and arrow 30 meters, which were raised with 'Use of two simple wooden towers with winch, which was moved next to each span. At the outbreak of the October Revolution of 1917, contrary to the heirs of AV Bari to other colleagues, VGS not escaped the U.S. or Europe, believing that it was essential that the technicians remained in their country: "We must work, and work independent of politicians. Buildings, tanks, boilers, piping and we are indispensable. " His sons, former czarist army officers, participated in the revolution with whites. In his notebooks, VGS shows the difficulty and atmosphere of those terrible years. Only his great creativity allowed him to survive and to further develop its plans. "Nov., 1917. Destroyed coverage, the aquarium. The windows shattered. A bullet had broken through the wall and destroyed a cabinet. The family took refuge in the basement. The fighting ended Nov. 3, when the Bolsheviks won. " "Sept., 1918. We were ordered to leave the house from 20.09. Entered the office (at n.11/13 of Krivokolennomu pereulku) on 19.09 and destroyed many old projects executed for Bari, draft nozzles, ...". After the revolution of 1917 the situation in Russia changed radically. 1 Revolution of October: so called because it occurred between 25 and Oct. 26 according to the Julian calendar then in force in all regions of the czarist. It was the end of the path of profound transformation of the state and power began with the revolution in February of that year. The provisional government meanwhile successive were not able to solve the serious problems of the population (primarily the negative consequences of the war on levels of material life) and to stop the progressive deterioration of the political authority and credibility of institutions. The Bolsheviks, under the direction of Lenin, returned from exile in March, became in a few months the political force which clots around the unhappy, gradually increasing in strength and influence among the popular areas of major cities and bodies representing Recent training (Soviet). In only two days, mainly thanks to the sailors of the fleet's base of Kronstadt and "Red Guards" (armed soldiers and laborers from the Soviet Pietrogrado), power passed into the hands of Bolsheviks in almost unbloody the evening of October 25 the government Kerenskij was dismissed and his ministers arrested during the assault at the Winter Palace. The power is consolidated in Soviet times and different ways: while in most of the country by the end of 1917 the new bodies of power had been formally established in Ukraine, in the Don and the Caucasus, the revolution was a greater opposition that lasted, making their impact felt across Russia, in the three years following the Russian civil war.

3

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel The company Bari and office projects were nationalized and workers chose to VGS head of construction, which took the name of "Stal'most", while the factory steam boilers became the "Parostroj." At the age of 64 years VGS is found in a completely new situation, but not surrendered, actively engaging in reconstruction work from damage of the civil war (1917-21). Firstly Reconstruction of several railway bridges, reconstructed through the recovery and repair, in the face of tragic lack of new materials. The group of technicians and workers trained in this period by VGS, then become the core of the state to build new bridges. A clear example of the ability of VGS to address and solve the enormous problems of the time, is the invention and construction of pipelines for water, wood. Since 1918 VGS is a member of the State Committee for the Petroleum Industry. VGS received in 1919 by the will of Lenin2 its most important task, or at least what they gave him a higher profile: the construction of an antenna for the radio station of the new Soviet state, in the village Shabolovka in Moscow. Originally designed for 350 meters. high, the tower was built for the shortage of steel, 150 meters high. The antenna is a reworking of the towers iperbolodi for water and consists of 6 segments overlapped in that pattern. While enormous

2 Vladimir Il'ič Ul'janov detto Lenin (Владимир Ильич Ульянов, Ленин) Simbirsk, April 22 1870 - Nižnyj Novgorod, formerly Gorkij, 21 January 1924) was a Russian politician, revolutionary communist leader of the Bolshevik Party, President of the Council Commissioners of the People of Russia and Soviet of the USSR and principal theorist of Leninism, which he described as the application of Marxism with the 'era of imperialism.

difficulties between mid-March 1922 the radio station was activated. This antenna, original shape, very light and refined, with simple details, is a model of the most brilliant structures at the top of the building. Nine years after VGS built three pairs of these towers, to act as pylons for the transition of power line high voltage above the river Oka, near Nizhny Novgorod. Their maximum height is 128 meters. Many projects symbol of the USSR bring his signature. In 1924 a delegation from the American firm Sinclair Oil had visited VGS with reference to a dispute that had in the U.S. by Standard Oil of Rockefeller, regarding the birthright of the 3 discovery procedure "oil cracking” . They argued that the patent of U.S. engineer Jim Barton, used by Standard Oil was a modification of patent VGS 1891. VGS confirmed that the procedure Barton had a change of its patent. It is said that it was offered to VGS the sum of 50,000 dollars, which he refused, saying that he was satisfied with the 4 salary received by the state . The long case was resolved after years without winning because the two companies wanted to avoid the risk of having to buy the patent Russian VGS. In 1927 he was elected in the Academy of the USSR Academy of Sciences and honorary member since 1929. In 1928 he was appointed labor hero in 1929 and awarded the Lenin Prize. The latest work of VGS in the construction work was unusual for him, but it reaffirms the eclectic and value. An intervention of restoration and preservation of historic memory: the minaret (XV century) of the famous Madrasah Ulugh Beg at Samarkand, was unsafe following the earthquake and close to collapse. This work led to terms with success, not only according to the draft VGS, but also under his leadership, which began the same commitment as ever. Since 1932, with the climate of inquisition of Stalin's Russia, VGS retires to private life attending only close friends and former colleagues. The last five years of his life VGS them spent in a house of the Academy of Sciences, in Zubovsky Boulevard, yet autonomous and work, assisted by the eldest daughter Ksenia Kuznetsova. It was not a comfortable environment, but as her niece Anna Kournikova "he loved Zubovsky Boulevard. Li near there was his first home, and for years had walk in the Boulevard alone or with his wife. " In the era of VGS overnight at his desk working by candlelight, when a fire caused by accidental fall of the candleholder, and wrapped it. He had burns over one third of the body, and died after six days 3

In refineries with cracking (cracking) compounds are produced "light" (for example petrol and LPG) from the heavier fractions (Masut) and residues from distillation of crude oil. 4 Shukhov has left the state ownership of all his inventions

4

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel of painful agony, who knew how to cope with great dignity and seems, even with irony. It was February 2 1939 and was buried in the cemetery of the monastery Novodevicij (New Virgin) in Moscow. On the occasion of 110 anniversary of the birth (1963) in the USSR was issued a stamp with the effigy of VGS and its tower. In 2003, during the 150 years since birth, the University of Belgorod was called "Polytechnic VG Shukhov. "

The

projects

and

achievements

The nature had endowed VGS of a large quantity 5 and variety of talents: he designed boilers, oil installations, pipelines, injectors, oil tanks, pumps, water towers, aqueducts, barges, lights, railway bridges, parking lots for buses, mines , Public buildings. Built in Russia about 200 towers. Designed and built the aqueducts of the city of Tambov, Kharkov, Voronezh and many others across Russia. Defined as the Russian Edison, for the quantity and quality of his pioneering work, VGS was the first to develop methods of calculation to determine the stresses and deformations of beams, plates and elastic membrane on foundations and studies of hydrodynamic oil. These results enabled the theory to design the first tanks for refined petroleum, and to calculate the optimal diameter, thickness and velocity of the fluid in pipelines. Shukhov designed barges for the transportation of oil, weighing half of the previously existing one. Built long barges from 50 to 130 meters. (to 1917 had built 82). His approach to the design ship, using a model plate on elastic soil is completely new for that time. 5

His talented employees were E.K Knorre e C.E. Lembke

In the field of oil VGS built the first Russian oil pipeline, planned new metal tanks for oil, much cheaper for the time, made the crucial discovery of cracking and designed and built a plant for refining with international patent of 1891. Original pump designed to lift the oil, which revolutionized the industry resulting in higher yields extremely than before. Designed one of the first kilns for use as fuel, waste refinery, which until then were disposed of without use, and that henceforth will be known as fuel oil. In 1892 built its first railway bridge. In the years following its 417 bridges will be constructed across Russia. The 1893 is the construction of the first suspended coverage achieved in a circular building, when a boiler factory in Moscow. For the exposure of Nizhy Novgorod 1896 VGS designed and built 8-iron pavilions with lighter coverage, to cover 27,000 square meters. A water tower with hypar structure that served as a model for another 30 similar structures built in Russia and thousands in the rest of the world. VGS creates a new type of timber construction, using its knowledge on areas with double curvature. In 1897 VGS Viksa to build a laboratory for metallurgy, once with a low trellis, which in comparison with the contemporary roofing is a significant innovation. Fortunately, this bold structure of coverage, the forerunner of modern roofing read, was preserved until today by the destruction in this small Russian town. From 1885 to begin work on building the first Russian tanker, whose assembly will be done to Tsaritsyn (Volgograd) and Saratov. Work around boilers and kettles and in 1896 started the construction of new boilers vertical and horizontal. In 1886 the competition was launched for an extension of Moscow. In the three years following VGS with his staff develops a project, that being the cheapest, Bari allows the company to obtain the award from the City Council. However, the Ministry of Finance gave the job to another company, which then followed in the implementation part of the draft Shuchov. Are Shukhov, the innovative time in the steel and glass store GUM on Red Square in Moscow (1889-94) and the Art Museum "Pushkin (18981912) and the tunnel Petrovsko (1903-06); as well as the huge metal arches to form the turn of coverage of parking trains (1908) and from the station Kievskiy (1912-1917). The colossal hall of the offices of Posts central Moscow, was covered in 1912 by a horizontal lattice structure, which can be considered the forerunner of the towers spacecraft developed since 1940 by Konrad Wachsmann and Max Mengeringhausen. In 1900 its steam boiler (steam boiler) was highly appreciated at the World Expo in Paris, and

5

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel the

minaret"

is

form.

The enormous work of VGS can be summarized in one word: SUPERLATIVE. In ancient Greek art was called "tehne" and meant a high technical skills combined with an artistic vision. The technical and artistic were inseparable, as in the work of Vladimir Shukhov Grigorevich. Recently the initiative of the Fondation Shukhov Tower an international group of specialists led by Rainer Graefe began to check the status of conservation of VGS. In addition to the tower were seen buildings of Nizhny Novgorod, the workshop and the only Viksa pylon remained on the river Oka (128 meters).

General characteristics of the work of VGShukhov

received VGS, so the gold medal. Thousands of these boilers will be built in subsequent years and some are still in operation today .. In 1914 VGS works at the dry dock in Sevastopol, which becomes an example in this field. In 1919, at the request of Lenin VGS propose, for the construction of antenna of the radio state, a tower hypar 9 sections to a height of 350 meters. The tower was built in 6 sections for 150 meters, with the help of his original method of mounting "telescoping". Nine years after VGS built in the vicinity of the river Oka, six towers for high voltage, high up to 120 meters, which succeeded in further improving the ethereal lightness of these structures. In the climate ardent of Russian constructivism, VGS realized some projects in collaboration with the architect Konstantin Melnikov, including the bus garage for Bakhmetevsky. In Moscow designed the rotating stage of a theater. The latest engineering work of VGS has been the restoration of one of the pearls of Central Asia, the Madrasah minaret of the famous Ulugh Beg fifteenth century, Samarkand, which was damaged by an earthquake. In 1932 the funds were found to save the tower and VGS won with his restoration project, which as usual was based on an amazingly simple and beautiful. Through the use of a system to balance, on January 7 1932 began straightening of the minaret, which is completed in three days, with great success, but "not a piece of brick or a new crack in the stem of

"My private life and were of a whole. They say that A.V. Bari has exploited me, that my work has been paid modestly compared to the income produced. This is partly true, but I have been conscious and participatory received in exchange for the possibility of doing things more ambitious, with the greatest autonomy, having at its disposal a budget of expenditure and the opportunity to choose the staff. A.V. Bari was not only a skilled businessman with a sixth sense for new ideas, but also a good engineer. As a businessman of the time it would be assumed the risk for the construction of halls of NN, to be achieved in six months and at the risk of not selling them once the exhibition.

6

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel A.V. Bari has understood that we must invest in finding new ideas. Thus for the first tower hypar, for which using external resources to the study. My principle to work out: win a contract with better terms than other competitors, both as amounts as the delivery date. " The method of work of VGS, very modern even for today, was developed by successive approximations between the theoretical analysis of the problem, using sophisticated differential equations, and analysis of the practical feasibility, with construction and economic problems . The characteristic of the work of VGS is the unity between theory and practice, and enforcement project, up to the technical perfection and the economic cost more appropriate. VGS had a solid scientific basis in the field of advanced mathematics, engineering, and knew very well the theory and principles of flexibility of the hydrodynamic, and had a great curiosity that led him each day to examine new ideas. The office headed by VGS will consist of 20 engineers. From his group out talented technicians for industry and universities. VGS has actually founded a school of engineering for the installation of the structures, whose bestknown example is that of telescopic method for assembling the towers hypar, but that includes numerous examples, such as for the coverage of the station Kiever, reticular arches with three hinges, for the lifting and assembling two towers were built of wood furniture and used winches designed by the same VGS through the use of steam boilers, and last an ingenious system for the arm straightening of the Madrasah minaret Ulugh Beg at Samarkand. Even in the construction of boilers, tanks etc. VGS was not limited to the design of individual machines, but he is also author of a new method of producing standardized. To extend the Russian railway network, the company Bari was initially involved in the construction of bridges and later for other tasks. VGS in 1892 built its first railway bridge. Also in this area Shukhov followed the path of standardization. He designed a type of bridges with spans varying from 25 to 100 meters, which was a reworking of the bridges, networked, and an improvement to their buildings come to light particularly because of the lack of iron in Russia. The pillars masonry had all the same look, and the digging of foundations in the riverbed, caissons were used in wood and iron, in which the compressed air was produced by the boilers Shukhov. Even for the assembly were invented new techniques: the spans were assembled and taken ashore in winter, one after the other on wooden scaffolding put on ice. The scaffolding

could be lowered and moved with a few simple maneuvers. At the same time building bridges VGS began to deal with structures of coverage. The goal was always to get optimal results with minimal waste of material, labor and time. Initially (1890) were built slight arched roofs, which still can be admired, as the structures in to botte glass tunnel Petrovkij and the GUM department stores in Moscow. In 1895 VGS patented its first "network coverage". It was a technology that, through the use of simple and affordable metal (flats by 50/60mm and angular light), to form rhomboidal mesh, you could build roofs and suspended shells networked. For the first time in structurals there was a distinction between primary and secondary elements, but all the elements had an equal role. These hedges were 2-3 times more light than traditional, with a cloak of cover sheet steel and skylights, with wooden frames and glass. After some experiments testing, new coverings were presented to the public exposure panrussa of Nizhni Novgorod (Gorkij) in 1896. The company Bari, taking a big financial risk, he built eight large exhibition halls and rented them to exhibitors. Four were covered with a roof suspended from four shells reticular barrel. I doubt the stability of the shell were allayed by testing natural, made from the snowy winter of 1895. Further two halls were built with read times composed of several layers of thin wooden boards. In addition to pavilions, VGS built a tower for the water needed for the display, using a lattice-shaped hypar of rotation. The success of it translated into many committed that in later years came to the firm Bari for the construction of sheds and water towers. The fame of VGS beyond the borders of Russia and increasingly, he was consulted by Moscow architects for construction projects. The covers were suspended following a modest, while the reticular shells were used as covers for industrial sheds, such as in 1897, the factory boiler Bari and a shed for steel mills to Vyksa, an innovative shell with a double curvature, which is yet efficient. The lattice towers had the most success, their shape, completely new, given by a iperboloide (Hypar) turn, could obtain through the use of straight bars placed obliquely to connect the two rings upper and lower. Towers were read and extremely hard, elegant in appearance and capable of handling high loads at the top, such as water tanks. The tower of Nizhni Novgorod claimed 114,000 lt at a height of 25.60 meters. In comparison to other towers they were easier to implement and cheaper. While having standardized production, the towers made show a continuous formal variety, linked to property of the hypar can assume more formal variants, varying the tilt of the bars or the diameter of The lower or higher. The maximum height of these towers, a single

7

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel section, was reached by the beacon of Kherson, 68 meters high. without the burden of reservoir water. Particular attention was paid to scale realized in the towers. Spiral staircases were extraordinarily bold and, in general were suspended and consisted of some bars and strip into two vertical strips of sheet made of coastline and a spiral shaped, among which are fixed with metal Rivets the steps. At least since 1911, Shukhov began to think about the possibility of forming a tower with several sections of stacked hypars (iperboloidi). The increase in the number of pages tapered increases the general shape, so that begins to resemble a cone. Before 1918 Shukhov had developed this concept, which brings in the draft of antenna for the radio broadcasts in Moscow. Shukhov has designed a tower of 9 sections, 350m high, which would have surpassed the Eiffel tower height of 50m, using less than one fourth of the amount of material. His project, full of calculations which analyze the hyperbolic geometry and dimensions of the various structural elements, was completed by February of 1919, but the 2200 tons of steel needed to build the tower of 350m were not available. In July 1919, Lenin decreed that the tower would be built to a height of 150m and steel needed to be made available from the army stores. The construction of the tower with six smaller hypars (iperboloidi), began after a few months and was completed in March 1922. The VGS relationship with the culture of his people was great. His works have always had a social value. In May 1905, six young engineers of the Moscow Polytechnic, died in the battle of Tsusimoy that ended the war between Russia and Japan (19041905) for possession of Korea and Manchuria. Their professor P.K. Khudiakov, a friend of VGS, wanted to remember with a book "The road to Tsusimoy" which came out in 1907. A collection of essays, among which stands out to VGS, one of the few signed, and apparently the only written his non-technical, of which we are aware, and which manifests an "uncomfortable" and convinced rejection of war of aggression. "The Christian morality of European nations, does not allow the killing of other people for patriotism. War is always a way to brutal solve problems between people, when they can not resolve them peacefully." The cases of life forced him shortly after and probably because of the crisis of the firm Bari, following the death of the founder (1913), to engage in military orders. In 1914 VGS works at the dry dock in Sevastopol, which becomes an example in this field in the first repair of ships, then in the construction of underwater mines, and last until the summer of 1917, under the guns.

The work in the oil industry Was opened in 1877 in Baku (Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea), a branch company's engineering and construction Bari, whose headquarters was in Moscow. The founder and owner was the young and brilliant manager, Alexander V. Bari, while the engineer Vladimir G. Shukhov was the main technical director of the company. The oil technology was very primitive then, so much so that the extracted oil was stored in open and were transported in barrels on wagons drawn by horses, up to ships. Since oil is extracted kerosene for lighting and Masut as fuel, while 6 gasoline is volatilization . Bari and Shukhov and introduced many new ideas and use new tools and new technologies. Began to work on behalf of the Brothers Nobel, who was very active in the oil market in Baku. Now we realized that the key problem of the Nobel was transporting oil from wells to the refinery. , Prepared a draft and won the Nobel contract for the construction of a pipeline from the fields of Balakhany at the refinery at Chernyi Gorod. After signing the contract, the twenty-five years VGShukhov got the complete freedom of action in the project and construction of the pipeline. It the first Russian engineer who designed a pipeline and that he become a reality. The journey of VGS in America, has certainly influenced this project, in fact, the Americans first had no refineries built near the wells, but where there were markets, businesses and infrastructure. The pipes for the pipeline were imported from America, because their quality, low price and short delivery times, did win the competition. The importance of the expected length was about 10 km and the diameter of the tube of 76 mm. Construction of the pipeline met

6

The invention of the petrol engine is 1883.

8

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel the opposition of companies that did public transportation and in general all that was damaged caused by this new work. An arson slowed down operations but construction Shukhov and his outweigh the difficulties and the first Russian oil pipeline was completed in 1878. The company receives the Nobel brothers soon transport committed by other owners of wells and the importance of the cost is depreciated quickly. The company Bari receives orders for the construction of new pipelines. Already in 1879, is the second pipeline started Balakhany - Chernyi Gorod, (12.9 Km, 70mm dia.) And after this three 7 other new pipes are put in work . All these pipelines were designed and built by VG Shukhov. In 1879, Shukhov should direct the office projects of the parent company of Bari in Moscow. In 1881 published his work "Pipelines and their use in the oil, which will remain for many years the best text relating to the design of pipelines. In this work Shukhov describes the dependence between consumption of liquid and the thickness of the pipe, showing its formulas for determining the best diameter of the pipeline, the speed of the liquid, the optimal thickness of the walls of the pipe. He invents a graphical-analytical method of organization of intermediate pumping stations, which is still in use. In 1880 the first in the world, VGS plans a nozzle that can burn fuel oil (Masut), hitherto considered a waste product and disposed of without use. Also designed an original pump oil, which revolutionized the industry resulting in higher yields extremely than before. In the remainder comes to what will be a fundamental discovery in the oil sector: the cracking (oil craking), designing a facility with international patent of 1891. The company Bari, as well as in the design and construction of pipelines realized, since 1881, more than 130 steel tanks for petroleum products all designed by Shukhov (over 20,000 until 1917). VGS is designed in 1878 a new type of steel tanks for oil, very cheap for that time .. Compared with heavy tanks rectangular plate used in the U.S., new tanks VGS cylindrical and the base is calculated as an elastic membrane on the ground, with walls of different thickness, it showed just convenient. All tanks were standardized, and the production took a kind of proceeding chain, with the use of specialized teams and sagomari reference. Following Bari also began production in series of reservoirs for water, acids, etc. Some of these tanks are still in use today. While working in the department of research, Shukhov creates a scientific theory for the construction and operation of pipelines. The result 7

Balakhany - Surakhansky Zavod, Surakhansky Zavod - Zykhskaya Kosa e Balakhany - Cherny Gorod

of this long and laborious work leads to the 8. publication of "Pipelines" in 1884 In this and in his later works, Shukhov will be the first to study the movement of crude oil and heavy oil heated, long tubes, which will form the basis of the study hydraulics of pipelines. In 1883, total length of pipelines in the region of Baku was 96 km, and the pipes had raiseo almost all other means of transporting oil. In the area of Grozny oil instead, until 1894, transport was by horse-drawn carts. In September 1895 is initiated on VGShukhov project, the construction of a fiveinch pipeline to connect the area of oil wells with refineries in Grozny. V.G. Shukov can take care of the big Transcaucasian pipeline Baku-Batumi (Georgia on the Black Sea). is a 1885 study for the feasibility of intervention, it will be done over a long period of time, the enormous economic difficulties of a work of this magnitude. VGShukhov will still pipelines as head of the State 9 Commission of the oil industry. 1928 is the construction of the pipeline last Groznyi-Taupse of 618 km. The rail network of Southern Russia was not yet sufficiently developed to allow the oil to the North, were used large waterways, using large barges, similar to vessels that were towed at a disadvantage. It opened an area of development for the company Bari and studies of VGS is addressed primarily to build barges for the transportation of oil along the Volga, which at that time was affected by headlands and several small fords. The barges designed by VGS, weighing half of the background, were based on a very sophisticated approach, which considered a model of elastic plate on the ground, absolutely new for that time. The barges were shaping suited to current and hulls extremely flat and long, which came up to 150 meters, and were very agile for their size designed specifically for low depths and resistant VGS has included dividing walls between the structures. The assembly took place with industrial planning, through the use of standardized elements, in the shipyards of the city of Tsaritsyn (Volgograd) and Saratov, located on the Volga. Shukhov, built, starting in 1885 the first Russian 10 oil tanker . At the age of 79 years VGS witnessed the completion of a project his youth, the planting of oil refining "Sovietskij Kreking" was inaugurated in 1932 in Baku in his presence.

8

Published on: Vestnik Promyshlennosti

9

Some sources give him in 1907 as chief designer and engineer of the Baku-Batumi to 883 km 10 The first German tanker on the high seas is 1886

9

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel The exhibition of Russian Nizhny Novgorod in 1896: Roofing network and the hypars towers The Russian exposition was held from May 28 to October 1 1896 in Nizhny Novgorod. Financed by Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, occupied 84 hectares on the left bank of the river Oka, with nearly 70 buildings and 120 pavilions. At the exhibition were made by VGS for the first water tower with steel structure hypar and the first roofing metal mesh suspended and sometimes a trellis, in 8 pavilions for a total area of 25,000 sqm. VGS for the first time the world realized shell suspended and to trellis. Up to 1890 he created just hedges with light arms, networked, to form a glass wall, which still cover elegant buildings, such as Kiever station, store and gallery GUM Petrovsky and many others in 11 Moscow . Around 1880, Shukhov begins to think about the implementation of hedges using less material, time and labor. Its projects are derived, most likely from an original synthesis of the work of mathematician Pafnuty Chebyshev on the theory of best approximations of functions and that, on non Euclidean geometry, the mathematical Nikolai Lobachevsky. By applying his analytical skills to the surface with double curvature discovered by Lobachevsky called "iperboloide" Shukhov gets a family of equations that have led to new structural systems and construction, known as iperboloidi rotation and hyperbolic paraboloids. The study of metal structures of lesser weight at the same strength, had led to the curved surfaces grills. These areas may be distorted geometrically without losing their formal characteristics and can be processed with continuity in other areas regularly. And 'the case of the hypar rotation and the cylinder. In the work of the VGS hypar rotation plays a particular role, having been used for the construction of towers in an incredible number of variations for different purposes. The 1893 is the construction of the first coverage suspended in a circular building of the factory boiler Bari in Moscow. These coverings grilled or suspended, are a new type of structures. For the first time realized VGS coverage will be suspended again only after many decades. Even in comparison with the times of metal made in that time, his sometimes grilled, formed only by assembling a single item basis, represent a significant leap forward. During the exposure of Nizhny Novgorod 1896

VGS presented to the public its new coverage. A total of 8, the halls were filled with innovative structures. One of them, with grilled suspended, had the finish made of thin plates of tin (tin) never used before. Roofing hypar to the halls of the exhibition of Nizhny Novgorod, are the first examples of "public" of the new system invented by Shukhov. The roofs of these pavilions are double curvature surfaces formed entirely by a grate of L-irons and flat bars. Shukhov that he called "iron lace." The covers a network of suspended VGS are still unsurpassed example of a happy marriage between creativity and engineering, using simple elements to form a standardized grid lozenges, which allows the laying of the mantle on the network, saving the use of purlin (arcarecci), which constitute a substantial proportion of the total weight of the cover. To absorb the forces VGS uses thin steel bars used with unusual talent, even in curves grill covers, simple and elegant. Shukhov had also turned his attention to the development of an efficient structural system and easily built for water towers. The solution seems to have been inspired by, observing a basket from office, in wicker. The VGS solution took the form of a hypar rotation: a double curvature surface in non-Euclidean built with a slight network of straight bars of iron to L and U. The shape of the tower is substantially similar to that of pseudosfere used to illustrate explanations of Lobachevskii the postulate of Euclid of parallel. Shukhov built its first water tower, for the display of 1896. In the course of the winds coming years, he designed and built about two hundred of these towers, all different, most with heights in the range from 15m 40m. The structure of the tower, presented the exhibition, was a tower of steel form a hypar rotation, a new form never used before. VGS patented this type of construction just before exposure. It was possible to create a barbecue

11

Some are quite a few but very bad state of conservation and other risk being demolished by the interests of "new powerful", to make way for the needs of speculation

10

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel area through the use of simple straight bar placed inclined to link the two circles at the base and top, the result is a light and rigid. The tower was high of 25.6 mt and brought in a top water tank capacity of 114,000 liters, which served to supply all the exposure. At the end shows the tower was purchased by a 12 wealthy landowner , that the installed in his property to Polibino, near Lipetsk, for watering gardens, which still is, even if in very bad condition. The construction of VGS had enormous resonance and the foreign press reported in detail the structures of VGS, which came copious orders in the following years, the towers, times, etc. In particular towers iperboloidi, economic and extremely versatile, many were being requested. The VGS towers were also used as ship masts, on some U.S. ships and on two Russian ships: the Andrei and the Pervozvanny Emperor Paul I.

The tower/antenna Shabolovkaya (Шуховская башня) Photo: Alexander Rodchenko, 1926

30 July 1919, the day after the slogan "Brothers, our homeland is in danger," Lenin had asked the Commission of the People for the Post and Telecommunications "in order to ensure a reliable and continuous communication system with Western states and the outer suburbs, to proceed urgently to build a radio station in Moscow equipped with appropriate instrumentation and art." The task is to V.G. given Shuchov, which had already carried out projects of towers, the last of which a water tower with two overlapping sections of hypar, in 1911 in Yaroslavl '. Already in the spring of 1919 VGS has done designs for a tower 350 meters high, consists of 12,000 pieces of various shapes, but always simple profiles of the 12

Baron Nechaev Mal’cev

total weight of 2200 tons. Amounting to less than one fourth of the tower Eiffel (305 meters high and weighing 8850 tons). In this VGS had executed the project for towers 175-200-225-250-275-300-325-350 meters high, sending it to the Commissioner. The hypar placed on one formed in a slender tower of almost conical shape. Finding all this metal in Russia devastated by civil war, was a huge problem and unfortunately insurmountable, the project was then adjusted accordingly and the tower was built just 150 meters high. with a base of 42 meters. in 6 sections of 25 meters each and a total weight of 240 tons. Everything on a foundation of concrete diameter of 40 meters and a thickness of 3 meters. The construction of the tower opened, in the village of Shabolovska, which takes its name. VGS writes in his diary: "Work to the tower high 150mt: before 12/08/1919. August 22, signed a contract with the National Association Radiotelegraphy. The work of excavation beginning Aug. 29. Finish work on 29/03/1920. Oct 1: At last, at personal request of Lenin, the metal was taken from the army reserves. But quality is highly variable and limited quantity. ". The tower was to be built in eight months, including winter. But these times are not met, would be almost impossible now included at that time under those conditions and in a country devastated by an economy destroyed and a demoralized population, leaving little to a civil war. I shall work in extreme weather conditions in Moscow, the interplay of seasons with the heat, rain, wind and frost of winter wheat, where a crust of ice covering everything. Only constructive process "telescoping", invented by VGS, with the assembly of the sections on land, in the first and the subsequent lifting with the help of cranes 5 simple wooden A-shaped (with the simple purchase lifting), placed on board each time the segment just installed. This method allowed to proceed without having to resort to complicated systems elevation and limiting the maximum work at heights, proved crucial to the success of the work. The bars of individual hyperbolic segments are each composed of two profiles UPN140, together with others at the opposite angle, from 4 Rivets. The bars in one direction are fixed directly to the tightening of intermediate rings, made from UPN100 profiles, while those in the opposite direction, which are separated, are linked through the use of angles. The spacers between the Ushaped profile of the bars are made from pieces of pipe, where is passed the nail. The rings of union between the various segments of the tower, have two corners 100x100x10 placed at a distance of about 30 cm and joined by a grating light. To be able to operate with the telescopic method, VGS shrink the diameter of the

11

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel bottom of the section to raise through the use of special bolts that were loose, once the section had gone completely over, and the two segments were then connected . VGS has 68 years, visiting almost daily work and record his impressions: "Deans for the rings of steel. 4x0 shelves, 5 inch. Ropes and blocks. Firewood for the workers. Working in the cold is very difficult. J. P. Tregubov is angry about low pay. Italian workers on strike. " These concerns must be added those working families for the loss of their youngest son and mother. But despite all the tower rises. The second and third section assembled and stable, confirming the accuracy of the calculations. All proceeds regularly to the unfortunate June 29 1921 (one of the most ugly day of my life, then write VGS), when at 7 am, during the lifting of the fourth section, this fell below the damaging. Fortunately there were no decrease in casualties. The reason of collapse was to be charged to the Community (toil). "Project perfect", this will be the response of the Committee of Inquiry, set up immediately by the Soviet authorities, to ascertain the causes of the accident. However, despite these findings, VGS was repeatedly interrogated and subjected to pressure, so much so that on July 30 1921, writes on his notebook: "sentence of execution" and then "sabotage". However gone are the facts, remains the VGS since remained at the head of which was completed successfully. On 19 March 1922, the radio began broadcasting Cominter. The tower was built over a period of major emergency and its costly building was not without criticism. But on the other hand, the tower was born at the beginning of a new era and deeply impressed contemporaries, becoming one of the main symbols of the young Soviet state. On it were written poems enthusiastic. Nikolai Kuznekov wrote these verses:

photograph in general and the art world it was fervor, with the exception of official remained cold, with the commendable exception the architect. 14 Melnikov . They called several times to VGS cooperation, and not being slaves to ideology, it led for the rest of life a deep respect. VGS will speak well about this: Melnikov was described as an architect who has been involved with pure art, instead he, more than many other architects of his time, understood the importance and function of the structural component of the architecture. The tower was tested in 1947 following the installation of two new antennas and found the excellent state of health, with a corrosion in the elements of connection of only 5%. In 1970 the corrosion was only 10%. Several intermediate reinforcement rings were installed over time, while not changing the appearance of the tower, which still can stand comparison with modern towers. The old Moscow Shuhovska called the antenna, named after its creator. Today SHUKHOV TOWER FOUNDATION oversees the tower. At his direction is the nephew of VGS, Vladimir Fyodorovich.

"In blue, at a height of one hundred and fifty meters, from where you dominate the fields away, until the clouds driven by wind grew high tower ... " Inspired by the tower Alexei Tolstoy wrote the science fiction novel "The iperboloide engineering Garin" (1926). 13 A. Rodchenko the immortalized in a famous 13

Aleksandr Mikhailovich Rodchenko (Александр Михайлович Родченко) (St. Petersburg, 23 November 1891 - Moscow, 3 December 1956) was a Russian painter and photographer. Collaborated to the establishment of the constructivist movement. He studied art at the city of Kazan, where he met future wife, Varvara Stepanova and artist. Was interested in the poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky and this was leading to new currents in the suprematismo futurism and Russian.

14

Konstantin Melnikov Stepanovitch (Константин Степанович Мельников) (Moscow, August 3, 1890 / 28 November 1974.) Russian architect, was one of the greatest figures of constructivism. Subdued the obstructionism of the Stalinist period that forced him all'inattività for a long period.

12

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel Model CAD 3D tower Shabolovska and the pylon on the Oka, can be found at the addresses: http//bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/ 0/Number/382756/page/2/vc/1 http//bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/showthreaded.php/Cat/ 0/Number/423966/page/0/vc/1 Shukhow’s Tower (150-350) and the Eiffel’s tower

WRITTEN: "Pipelines and their use in the oil", 1881 "Pipelines", 1884 "The backbone of covers. Vol.1 "1897 "The road to Tsuschima." Essay in the book of PK Kudjakov. 1907

DOCUMENTATION: The documentation on the work of Shuchov is kept mainly in the following archives: Archive of the Academy of Sciences in Moscow Central State Historical Archive in Moscow Private collection of the grandson of VGS, Fedor Vladimirovic Shuchov Lenin Library in Moscow Central State Historical Archive in Leningrad Central State Historical Archives of the Navy warship in Leningrad

REFERENCES: 1. “Vladimir G. Suchov 1853-1939 Die kunst der sparsamen konstruktion“, Rainer Graefe, Verlags Anstalt, Stuttgart 1990. 2. "The Nijni-Novgorod exhibition: Water tower, room under construction, springing of 91 feet span", "The Engineer", 19.3.1897, P.292-294, London,1897. 3. The origins of Soviet avant-garde rationalist architecture in the Russian mystical-philosophical and mathematical intellectual tradition, Elizabeth Cooper English, Ph. D., a dissertation in architecture, 264 p., University of Pennsylvania, 2000. 4. “ Vladimir Grigor’evic Suchov, der grösste Russische Ingenieur (1853-1939)” G.M. Kovel’man. Üniversitätsbibliothek Stuttgart doc. UE208 19 Nov.1979 5. “Vladimir Grigor’evic Suchov (1853-1939): un ingegnere rivoluzionario“ Casabella n.573, Nov. 1990

13


Round and rectangular pavilion Shukhov, Nizhny Novgorod 1896

The main work of Vladimir G. Shukhov • Pipelines. VG Shukhov in 1877, designs and builds A. Bari with the company, the first oil pipeline in Russia, and between Balkhany Chernyi Gorod near Baku (10 km), completed nel1878. In 1883 the total length of pipelines designed by Shukhov and manufactured by Bari over 94 km. In 1894 a similar pipeline is built in the oil industry of Grozny. Built in 1907 is the first Transcaucasian kerosene pipeline between Baku and Batumi (800km). • Aqueducts. VGS designs and builds the company Bari, the aqueducts for water supply of the city of Tambov, in Kharkov and Voronezh and many others. At that time this drastically reduced the spread of contagious diseases. Design an extension of Moscow. • Lighters. The barges designed by VGS, primarily for the River Volga, stretched up to 150 meters, will weigh less than half of existing, with regard to the new calculation method developed by VGS through a plate on elastic soil. VGS also designs the first Russian oil tanker. • Tanks for oil. In 1881 they were built, the only region of Baku, 130 metal tanks designed by VGS, very cheap and calculated by reference to plates on elastic soil. • Plant for the refining of petroleum (oil cracking). The draft VGS with Russian patent no. 12,926 of 27 November 1891 for un'impianto petroleum refining, will be used by competitors to invalidate the U.S. patent of 1913 used by Standard Oil of Rockefeller .. • Pumps. VGS original plans to pump oil, which revolutionized the oil industry of Baku oil with a significant increase in production. • Furnaces. VGS has designed one of the first furnaces that used oil refining residue (heavy oil), hitherto regarded as waste products. • VGS designs and manufactures innovative 8 pavilions with roofs read to the Exposition of Nizhny Novgorod of 1896, covering an area of 25,000 sqm, and an elevated tank for water, with a metal tower in the shape of hypar, which will be an example for 30 similar structures built in later in Russia and thousands worldwide. • The antenna for the radio broadcasts of the USSR, Moscow, called Shabolovkaya, completed in 1922. Originally planned 350 meters high, but then realized, for lack of steel, 150 meters and will be the capostipide for another 200 towers iperboloidi. • Times. VGS has designed elegant and innovative metal roofing vaulted glass roof, at the prestigious spaces. Significant 's Upper Trade Rows GUM on Red Square (1889-94), Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (1898-1912) and Petrovka Passage (1903-06).

14

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel • About 500 railway bridges in steel, through the Volga river, Yenisey, Dnieper, etc. • railway stations. VGS has designed the enormous arches reticular times with metal parking of the Municipal Railway Park (1908) and Kievskiy Station (1912-17). The covers are made up of light arms, networked to three hinges, to put distance between them and regular connected by arcarecci, Protected from light elements diagonals. • The colossal coverage trellis horizontal space, metal and glass hall of the Moscow Central Post Office (1911-13). • The revolving stage of the Theater of Arts in Moscow. • Collaboration on various projects of Russian Constructivism, particularly with the arch. Konstantin Melnikov, including major bus garage for Bakhmetevsky (1926-28). • The restoration and consolidation "seismic" of the Minaret Madrasah Ulugh Beg at Samarkand, which was his last job and probably the first involving a historic building with masonry works.

The structures still in Moscow: • Kievsky Station Cover (1912-1917) • Deposit Insurance tram Miussky, 69х28.25 m (1908). • Coverage parking Bakhmetievsky Bus (1926). . • Coverage of the garage for trucks at no 27 Novoryazanskaya St. (1927 to 1929). • Coverage of the central hall of Postal at No. 26 Myasnitskaya St (1912) .. • Coverage of the tunnel Petrovsky (1902). . • Coverage of 'Metropole hotel. (1889-1903) .. • Coverage of the three galleries inside the store GUM (1889-1893). • Deposit tram to the corner of St. Shabolovskaya. Donskaya and St. • The antenna Shabolovskaya (1919-1922). Build of factory boilers Bari (Dynamo today). • Coverage of the conference room of the headquarters of the Academy of Sciences of the Leninsky Av.n.4

15


Several versions of water tanks on towers hypars. The archive photos of the Academy of Sciences in Moscow, show the towers were built between 1902 and 1905, height between 10 and 36 mt. and capacity between 60,000 and 600,000 lt of water.

16


Shukhov pylons supporting the power line crossing the river Oka

Panrussa exposure of the Nizhni Novgorod 1896. Photos (1895) during the construction of coverage suspended steel strips in an environment at a plant oval.

17

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel The first tower hypar of Vladimir Shukhov, Nizhny Novgorod, 1896

Coverage of Shukhov time with steel and glass of Kievsky railway station, Moscow

18


The lighthouse Adziogol Fifty miles (80 kilometers) south-west of the city on a very small, is the beacon of Adziogol. An important beacon for ships traveling the tangle of sandy slums. Built in 1911, this steel is an example of how elegance and ingenuity can find a summary in building a compact car. Designed by Vladimir Schuchov, the lighthouse appears, from a distance, a column with very lean over a fire. The structure 68 meters high is a clear hypar (iperboloide) steel, affusolantesi to the small casing for the lighthouse. The staircase wraps around a vertical column placed inside .. The base of the tower is almost in contact with the sea and the green bushes and the spray of the sea, nearly hiding the white cottage of the keeper. photo di Matt Bridgestock

19

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel Factory to Navky

Photos during construction grilled metal structure (lattice) with a double curvature

20


Railway bridge over the river Enisej. The ice has made it possible to build above the mountings support constructive. (1899 archive Bari)

21


Shed coverage barrel, grilled

Dome in the structure of wood (under construction)

Draft shed

Shukhov boiler

Barge on the Volga

22


Note from author : Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov, is not well known in the West (apart from the University of Stuttgart). Does not appear on the books of history of engineering. In Italy only Casabella, in November 1990, has made a worthy tribute. The photo above is recent. It’s garage for Bus Bakhmetievsky designed by Melnikov, with the cover (?) of VG Shukhov. In the middle a little dog watching us. If someone asked me why this research, perhaps the answer that I like to look at the top.

Photos On the cover: Pilon of high-voltage to Nigrés at the Oka River. View photos from the interior ( 1989 ) In back: view of the tower Shabolovskaya

23

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel Published March 2007- December 2008 This work is published under Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/deed.it

www.giovannardierontini.it

24

Vladimir G. Shukhov and the lightness of steel

Recommend Documents