Dr. Michel Virlogeux FREng CorrFRSE (born 1946,

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

Allier Allier ( , , ; oc, Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named afte ...

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) is a French

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

specialist.

Career

Virlogeux graduated from the ''

École Polytechnique 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 1967 and from the '' École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées'' in 1970. From 1970 to 1973 he served in

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on road projects and at the same time gained his Engineering Doctorate from the ''Pierre et Marie Curie University'' (also known as "Paris 6"). In January 1974 he joined the Bridge Department of SETRA, the technical service of the French Highway Administration. In 1980 he became Head of the Large Concrete Bridge Division, and in 1987 of the large Bridge Division, Steel and Concrete. During twenty years he designed more than 100 bridges, including the Normandy Bridge which held the world record for longest cable-stayed bridge for four years. In 1995 he left the French Administration and set up as independent consulting engineer; his major achievements include his participation in the construction of the 'Second Tagus Crossing', the

Vasco da Gama Bridge The Vasco da Gama Bridge ( pt, Ponte Vasco da Gama; ) is a cable-stayed bridge flanked by viaducts that spans the Tagus River in Parque das Nações in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. It is the second longest bridge in Europe, after the Cri ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, and the design of the Millau Viaduct in France. Several of his bridges have received architectural awards. Since 1977 Dr Virlogeux has been a part-time professor of structural analysis at the prestigious ''École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées'' and at the "''Centre des Hautes Études de la Construction''" in Paris. He also has been very active in technical associations such as the French Association of Civil Engineering (AFGC), 1974–1995; the ''Fédération Internationale de Précontrainte'' (FIP) (President 1996); the '' Fédération Internationale du Béton'' (FIB); first President in 1998 after the merger with the ''Comité Européen du Béton'' (CEB).

Awards

A member of the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) since 1974, Dr. Virlogeux received the inaugural IABSE Prize in Venice in 1983. He has received many other international awards, which include the 'Award of Excellence of the Engineering News Record' (1995), the 'Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers' (1979), the Gold Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers (2005) the 'Gustave Magnel Medal' (1999) and the ' Fritz Leonhardt Prize' (also the first year that it was awarded). He is a member of the French Academy of Technology. He received the 2003 IABSE Award of Merit in Structural Engineering in recognition of "his major contributions leading to very significant progress in the field of civil engineering, in particular through the development of external prestressing, landmark cable-stayed bridges and composite structures". The Award Presentation took place during the Opening of the IABSE Symposium 'Structures for High-Speed Railway Transportation',

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 27 August 2003. The presentation was presented by Dr. Manabu Ito, President of IABSE. In 2010 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject "The Design of Long Span Bridges". He was appointed an International

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

in 2012 and Corresponding Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 2013.

References

External links

Dr Michel Virlogeux, France

IABSE The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profess ...

biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Virlogeux, Michel 1946 births Living people IStructE Gold Medal winners French bridge engineers French civil engineers Structural engineers École Polytechnique alumni École des Ponts ParisTech alumni Corps des ponts Viaduct engineers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur