TARBÉ

FRANCE (see also List of Individuals)

\

23.2.1767 Sens/F - 17.9.1842 Paris/F

\

Jean-Bernard Tarbé de Vauxclairs graduated from Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées to start an engineering career just when the French Revolution initiated. In 1800 he was involved in the design of Dieppe port. Being appointed chief engineer in 1802 he added to the port of Brest, which was of importance for the Napoleonic army. It was then decided that the port of Anvers should be the prime spot of the French navy. Tarbé accompanied Napoleon to Flanders and Holland in 1810 for inspecting suitable sites. He organized the service of bridges and roads in the cities prior dominated by the Hanse organization, including those of Hamburg and Bremen. Tarbé was appointed in 1811 director of the canal project between the Seine River and the Baltic region. One year later he was attached to the Council of maritime works, now as an Inspecteur Général. The 1815 Peace of Vienna caused a reconsideration of all these developments. Tarbé thus became for the following almost thirty years a Member of the general council of the Ponts et Chaussées Corps in Paris, and its president in 1835. He was elected a peer in 1837 and was the successor of Gaspard de Prony (1755-1839) as director of the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées. His portrait is kept there as a reward for the services rendered to France.

\

Tarbé was a leading engineer in the French restoration era under King Louis Philippe. His interests included the design of the Ourcq Canal for drinking water supply to the capital. He was in the center of all decisions relating to the French canal scheme and also developed the French code of engineering. For example, the Canal of Burgundy completed in 1832 was largely approved by his office. Also, he was responsible for the ports of Boulogne and Dunkerque in the French Channel. He was elected state councilor in 1828. In 1835 he published the dictionary of public works.

\

_{Coronio, G. (1997). Jean-Bernard Tarbé de Vauxclairs. 250 ans de l'Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées en cent portraits: 71-73. Presses de l'Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées: Paris. P}

_{Robin, M. (1842). M. Tarbé de Vauxclairs. Annales des Ponts et Chaussées 12(2): 145-152. Tarbé, J.B. de Vauxclairs (1832). La construction des barrages à établir en Seine. Didot: Paris. Tarbé, J.B. de Vauxclairs (1835). Dictionnaire des travaux publics, civils, militaires et maritimes,}

_{considérés dans leurs rapports avec la législation, l'administration et la jurisprudence - A l'usage des ingénieurs de tous services publics, des architectes, concessionnaires et entrepreneurs. Carilian-Goeury: Paris.}