Antoine de Chézy (September 1, 1718 – October 5, 1798), also called Antoine Chézy, was a French physicist and hydraulics engineer who contributed greatly to the study of

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasma (physics), plasmas) and the forces on them. Originally applied to water (hydromechanics), it found applications in a wide range of discipl ...

and designed a canal for the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

water supply. He is known for developing a similarity parameter for predicting the flow characteristics of one channel based on the measurements of another, known today as the

Chézy formula Chézy may refer to: ; People * Antoine de Chézy (1718–1798), French hydraulic engineer * Antoine-Léonard de Chézy Antoine-Léonard de Chézy (15 January 177331 August 1832) was a French orientalist and one of the first European scholars of ...

. The Chézy equation is a pioneering formula in the field of fluid mechanics, and was expanded and modified by Irish engineer Robert Manning in 1889 as the

Manning formula The Manning formula or Manning's equation is an empirical formula estimating the average velocity of a liquid in an open channel flow (flowing in a conduit that does not completely enclose the liquid). However, this equation is also used for calcu ...

. The Chézy formula concerns the velocity of water flowing through conduits and is widely celebrated for its use in open channel flow calculations. By the definition of open channel, the Chézy formula also applies to partially-full pipe flow. Chézy was born September 1, 1718, in

Châlons-en-Champagne Châlons-en-Champagne () is a city in the Grand Est region of France. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons ...

, France. Chézy graduated with honors from the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées and worked closely with

Jean-Rodolphe Perronet Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (27 October 1708 – 27 February 1794) was a French architect and structural engineer known for his many stone arch bridges. His best-known work is the Pont de la Concorde (Paris), Pont de la Concorde (1787). Early life P ...

, the first director of the school. He contributed to a wide range of projects that we would describe today as

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

, including the construction of bridges, canals, and streets in Paris. Chézy and Perronet were tasked to assess the magnitude of water flow that could be diverted from the Yvette River to improve the Paris water supply. They sought to predict the flow of water in open channels based on analytical methods. In this pursuit, Chézy built model channels on which he ran tests to determine the factors that influence flow in an open channel. The famed

continues to be used in open channel analyses today. In 1798, he became Director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Ponts-et-Chaussées after teaching there for many years. Antoine de Chézy died October 5, 1798, in

after serving as director of the

École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées École nationale des ponts et chaussées (; ; abbr. ENPC), also nicknamed Ponts (), formerly known as École des Ponts ParisTech (), is a grande école in the field of science, engineering and technology, of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris, a ...

for less than one year.115 experiments on the carrying capacity of large, riveted, metal conduits ... By Clemens Herschel. pg 118
/ref> His son was

Antoine-Léonard de Chézy Antoine-Léonard de Chézy (15 January 177331 August 1832) was a French orientalist and one of the first European scholars of Sanskrit. Biography He was born at Neuilly. His father, Antoine de Chézy (1718–1798), was an engineer who finall ...

(1773–1832), a famous orientalist.

References

External links

History of the Chézy Formula
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chezy, Antoine De French civil engineers École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Corps des ponts People from Châlons-en-Champagne 1718 births 1798 deaths Hydraulic engineers French hydrologists