ABSTRACT

The relatively fixed character of French constructional techniques seemed therefore to leave little room for innovation. Furthermore, was not the design and execution of construction projects the preserve of the engineers of the Ponts et Chaussees, members of an often hidebound organisation [8]? But the situation was not as simple as it might appear. The seeds of renewal in fact already existed, even before the desire to imitate England served to precipitate the events of the early years of the Restoration.