Barbier, Benard, et Turenne (BBT) was a French company founded in 1862, specializing in the manufacture of spotlights,

Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...

es for

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

s, and lighting systems. It was the world's leading producer of lighthouse beacons from the end of the 19th century onwards. It dissolved in 1982.

History

The company was founded in 1862 by

Frederic Barbier Frederic may refer to: Places United States * Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County * Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County ** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community Other uses * Frederic (band), a Japanese r ...

and

Stanislas Fenestre Stanislav and variants may refer to: People * Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, a coastal village in Kherson, Ukraine * Stanislaus County, C ...

as Barbier and Fenestre. It was renamed Barbier et Cie in 1887 and Barbier and Bénard in 1889. It became Barbier, Benard, et Turenne early in the 20th century, and became a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...

in 1919.

École des Ponts ParisTech École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

, enpc.fr website,
/web-BBT.pdf "Barbier Benard Turenne (BBT), historical note"
Thobie, Jacques. '' Administration General beacons of the Ottoman Empire and the Collas and Michel society, 1860-1960 '' (L'Harmattan, 2004), p. 12.

Production

Lighthouses

Barbier, Benard, et Turenne began with a specialty in the production of equipment for lighthouse

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

s, such as

es. It later expanded into production of beacons themselves, as well as rotation mechanisms. Eventually, the company manufactured buoys, metal towers, and fog sirens. BBT was soon be able to build complete lighthouses, and became world renowned for it.Le Cunff, Louis. ''Sea Lights'' (Navy Anchor Press, 1992), p. 75 It was the world leader in the construction of lighthouses in the late 19th century. BBT used its expertise in optics, lighting, and construction to expand into other businesses, including stadium and airport floodlights and

streetlamp A street light, light pole, lamp pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. Similar lights may be found on a railway platform. When urban electric power distribution ...

s. It also

license A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

-produced

microscope A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

Locations

BBT's factories were located mainly near the

Ourcq Canal The Canal de l'Ourcq is a long canal in the Île-de-France region (greater Paris) with 10 locks. It was built at a width of but was enlarged to 3.7 m (12 ft), which permitted use by more pleasure boats. The canal begins at Port-au ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

was also in Paris. It had facilities in Nazelles (

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it ...

) and

White Misseron White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

(

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

). BBT had specialist plants for the production of gas for streetlamps, at

Sfax Sfax (; ar, صفاقس, Ṣafāqis ) is a city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Berber Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean ...

and

Marseilles Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

.Website of the Ministry of Cultur
headlights / phares_gaz.htm "Major coastal lighthouses of France, technical and scientific objects and materials: gas systems"
/ref>

Dissolution

From the 1960s onwards, the industry sectors BBT had invested in began to decline in France. The company was eventually dissolved in 1982.

Notes

{{Authority control Manufacturing companies based in Paris 1982 disestablishments in France Lighthouse builders French companies established in 1862