ABSTRACT
François Coignet, a French engineer, developed his work using the pisé de mâchefer technique [using clinker in formwork as per pisé]. He initially carried out unpretentious works in Saint-Denis (1853–55), Vincennes (1857), Suresne and Paris (1860), before forming a company devoted to construction (1862), in order to erect the church at Vésinet (1863–65), several collective dwellings located in Saint-Denis, rue Miromesnil (1867) and rue de la Terrasse (1870- ) in Paris. His work also includes the construction of 200 km of sewers in Paris, the Vanne aqueduct (1868–74), and finally the Port-Saïd lighthouse in Egypt (1869–70). At the time of these construction sites the methods used on them constitute the very first attempt to produce in France a new artificial material which was cheap, abundant and universal, entirely dedicated to large scale construction.
