POLLACK

AUSTRIA (see also List of Individuals)

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5.9.1847 Lemberg/PL - 9.6.1927 Wien/A

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Vincenz Pollack originated from Galicia, a part of Poland from 1919 and today's L'viv in Byelorussia. He graduated in 1875 as a civil engineer from Graz University to join the Austrian railway construction service. Pollack was from 1894 there an inspector and retired in 1904. He was from 1902 to 1918 an Honorary Lecturer for engineering sciences at Vienna Technical University. Pollack was an expert in the application of photography to surveying.

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The reason to include Pollack here is his role in the reduction of avalanches in settlements and in the transportation infrastructure. Based on his service with the Austrian railways, he eventually became acquainted with the locations where these disasters threatened railways; he presented means to reduce the impact of avalanches on the safety and the availability of trains. He later applied this knowledge to villages which were constantly in danger during winters given their exposed location towards avalanches. Austria was the country that had the best developed techniques in avalanche mitigation, and Pollack was one of the engineers who contributed with his pioneering works to its fame. A general account on these developments are reviewed in Polack's 1906 book which was previously published in an Austrian engineering journal. Pollack also wrote on problems in hydrometry, such as his 1894 paper on rain gauges, or his 1899 paper on the discharge determination in rivers. Shortly before passing away, he also contributed to hydropower engineering and its relation to geology.

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_{Blumesberger, S. (2002). Pollack, Vincenz. Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren}

_{jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert: 1053. Saur: München.}

_{Pollack, V. (1889). Über Seeufer-Senkungen und Rutschungen. Zeitschrift Österreichischer Ingenieurund Architekten-Verein 41(1): 5-21.}

_{Pollack, V. (1894). Regenmesser mit directer Ablesung von Niederschlagshöhen. Zeitschrift desÖsterreichischen Ingenieurund Architekten-Vereines 46(3): 39-40.}

_{Pollack, V. (1899). Über Sante Pini's Apparate für Geschwindigkeitsmessungen im fliessenden Wasser. Zeitschrift Österreichischer Ingenieurund Architekten-Vereines 51(46): 633-643; 51(47): 653-655. Lebensdaten (1847-1927).}

_{Pollack, V. (1906). Erfahrungen im Lawinenverbau. Deutike: Leipzig und Wien.}

_{Pollack, V. (1926). Technisch-geologische Bemerkungen für Anlage und Bau der Wasser-Kraftwerke. Zeitschrift des Österreichischen Ingenieurund Architekten-Vereines 78(15/16): 160-163; 78(17/18): 180-183; 78(19/20): 200-202.}

_{Singer, X. (1927). Prof. Ing. Vincent Pollack. ZÖIV 79(29/30): 280-281.}