Jean Muller (May 25, 1925 – March 17, 2005) was a French bridge engineer who focused on design and construction of concrete bridges.

Early career

Born in Levallois-Perret, France, Muller attended the

École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures 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 ...

in Paris, France before he started his career as a bridge engineer.Tassin, Daniel M. P.E. “Jean M. Muller: Bridge Engineer with Flair for the Art Form.” ''PCI Journal''. March–April 2006. After school he began working closely with

Eugene Freyssinet Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, and was able to learn the technique of concrete bridge building and develop more efficient ways to join bridge segments together. While working under Freyssinet, Muller was able to learn many techniques which would guide him in his career as a successful Bridge Engineer.

Experience

In 1951 he became the chief engineer of the Freyssinet Company and moved to the United States where he began constructing single and multiple span bridges. During this period Muller invented the technique of match-casting. His match-casting innovation was first used with dry joints on the single span Shelton Bridge in upstate New York. The technique was further developed using epoxy on the joints along with pre-cast concrete segmental box-girder technology, which was applied in 1962 on the

Choisy-le-Roi Choisy-le-Roi () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department, in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. Geography Choisy-le-Roi is located southeast from the center of Paris, on both banks of the river Seine. The neighbouring commu ...

Bridge extending over the

Seine River ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributaries ...

in Paris, France In 1955 he began working for Campenon Bernard in Paris, France, where he worked with large pre-stressed concrete projects. When he returned to Florida, he joined

Eugene Figg Eugene C. Figg (August 4, 1936 – March 20, 2002) was an American structural engineer who made numerous contributions to the field of structural engineering, especially in the design of the cable-stayed bridge and the use of the segmental concret ...

and formed Figg and Muller Engineers in 1978. He also designed in 1997, one of the greatest engineering project in Canada, known as the Confederation Bridge connecting over the Gulf of St-Lawrence on a distance of 12.9 km the Province of New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Muller ended his career in 2000 after working as technical director for 11 years at J. Muller International.

Invention

After retiring from J. Muller International his colleagues remembered him as an engineer that could take a very complicated problem and reduce it to a few pages of calculations. A prime example of this was his match-casting and segmental bridge section techniques. His match-casting invention consisted of pre-cast segmental sections being cast together and then separated. This made it possible for the sections to fit perfectly together when constructed at the job site, and reduced construction time significantly. Before match-casting, pre-cast concrete bridge segments were connected using cast-in-place mortar joints. Cast-in-place joints meant that the sections were mortared together at the bridge construction site while cranes or structural supports held up the pre-cast segments. However, if match-cast sections were used, mortared joints were not necessary. Instead, an

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also coll ...

was applied to both surfaces of the sections to be joined. The sections fit perfectly together and no fillers were required to patch voids on the joint surfaces. Since there were no voids on the joint surfaces the entire cross-sectional area of the joint was in contact providing enough area to produce an extremely strong connection.

Recognition and awards

* The

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

awarded Muller the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1995 for "developing a method of match-casting of pre-cast concrete elements." * During its 125th anniversary in 1999,

Engineering News Record ''Engineering News-Record'' (widely known as ''ENR'') is an American weekly magazine that provides news, analysis, data and opinion for the construction industry worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the construction industry's most authorita ...

recognized Muller as one of the top 125 people to contribute to engineering and construction.

Religion

Jean Muller was a

fundamentalist Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguishing ...

Christian believer and a lifelong adherent of the

Plymouth Brethren The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from Anglicanism. The group emphasizes ...

. He regularly visited Brethren assemblies around the world, not only in the course of his work, but also for specific occasions. He taught at the annual Plumstead Bible Conferences. A range of his sermons in French and English are given o
Bibliquest
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He normally attended the long established (pre 1870s) Assemblée des Freres at 32 Villa Wagram, 233 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.Church information
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Early career

Experience

Invention

Recognition and awards

Religion

References

Further reading