Draft:Giovanni Battista Sard

Giovanni Battista Sard, born in Turin, was an engineer and entrepreneur[1] specialised in the constructions of complex railway routes through the Alps including bridges, culverts and tunnels in areas prone to avalanches and watery terrains. [2] [3]

In 1903 he founded Sard, Lenassi & Co in Gorizia, at the time part of Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca in Austria-Hungary, together with Oddone Lenassi, his entrepreneur and business partner from Solkan, and Luigi Marsaglia, his banker from Turin. [4] The company was active in the railway construction sector until 1914, when World War I broke following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. [5]

In the spring of 1903 Austria-Hungary sub-contracted the construction works of part of the Bohinj railway to private companies. The section between Podbrdo and Šempeter was divided into nine parts; construction of the first five sections from Podbrdo to Ajba was taken over by the Viennese company Reidlich & Berger, and the remaining four sections to Šempeter were taken over by Sard, Lenassi & Co. The construction of the section between Podbrdo and Grahovo was the most demanding: eight bridges, thirty-three culverts, and six tunnels had to be built due to avalanche slopes and watery terrain. The most important and still most admired structures along the entire Bohinj Railway are the Bohinj Tunnel[6], the Idrijca Viaduct at Bača pri Modreju, the Ajba Viaduct[7] and the Solkan Bridge.[8]

The Solkan Bridge was inaugurated on July 19, 1906, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria travelled for the first time across the bridge[9] [10] [11]

Alongside Sard, Lenassi & Co in Austria-Hungary, Giovanni Battista Sard founded Impresa G. B. Sard in Italy [12] for the construction between 1904 and 1908 of some key stretches of the Cuneo-Ventimiglia Railway (Tenda Line) [13] which is also known as the 'Railway of Wonders', including the Col de Tende railway tunnel and the Branch V from Cagnolina to Ventimiglia. [14] [15] [16]

In 1911 during the Turin International World Fair[17] Giovanni Battista Sard was knighted by Victor Emmanuel III to the Knightly Order of Agricultural, Industrial and Commercial Merit (Ordine al Merito del Lavoro), awarded for having been "singularly meritorious" in foreign commerce and industry.[18]

After the completion of the Tenda line, Giovanni Battista Sard's foreign enterprise in Gorizia, Sard, Lenassi & Co, embarked with a wider consortium in the construction of the Pan-European Railway Corridor, route V, Branch B between 1908 and 1914 – interrupted by the outbreak of World War I[19] – connecting Rijeka - Zagreb - Budapest and the Lika Railway to Split, part of the M604 railway (Croatia). [20] [21]

References

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  1. ^ Annuario del Ministero delle Finanze del Regno d'Italia, Anno II, Stamperia Reale, Torino, 1863, Page 76
  2. ^ Petronio Paolo, TRANSALPINA, Published by Trieste, Edizioni Italo Svevo, 1997
  3. ^ Stefano Garzaro, Nico Molino, LA FERROVIA DI TENDA Da Cuneo a Nizza, l'ultima grande traversata alpina, Colleferro (RM), E.S.T. - Editrice di Storia dei Trasporti, luglio 1982, ISBN non esistente
  4. ^ Company Registration and Shareholders list as per the official register Zentralblatt 1903 Eintr, Handelsregister Österreich, Österreich-Ungarn, Page 300
  5. ^ Documented in the official Industry registers from 1903 until 1914: Compass 1903-1914, Band III, Finanzielles JB Österreich, Österreich-Ungarn, Informationen zu rd. 50.000 Industrie, Handels und Exportunternehmen Österreich-Ungarns nach Branchen unterteilt sowie orts und namensalphabetisch geordnet.
  6. ^ https://www.tol-muzej.si/bohinjska-proga/en/05
  7. ^ https://www.tol-muzej.si/bohinjska-proga/en/12
  8. ^ Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer, Volume 60, 1909, McGraw Publishing Company, Page 602 and Tolminski Muzej, Online Archive https://www.tol-muzej.si/bohinjska-proga/en/13
  9. ^ "Solkan Bridge – Isonzo Battlefields Travel".
  10. ^ https://novice.najdi.si/novica/10fd71e9cdd2c788ce1d4acf608086a9/slovenec-org/nad-soco-najvecji-kamniti-viadukt-na-svetu
  11. ^ https://www.tol-muzej.si/bohinjska-proga/en/04
  12. ^ Rivista tecnica delle ferrovie italiane, Anno I, Volume II, Luglio 1912 N.1, Page 377
  13. ^ Franco Collidà, Max Gallo; Aldo A. Mola, CUNEO-NIZZA Storia di una ferrovia, Cuneo (CN), Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, luglio 1982, ISBN non esistente.
  14. ^ Gianfranco Schiavazzi, FERROVIA CUNEO-VENTIMIGLIA. Una storia di prodezze tecniche, battaglie politiche, fatti di guerra, tenacia Pinerolo, Alzani, 1979
  15. ^ L'Ingegneria Ferroviaria, Rivista delle Ferrovie e dei Trasporti, Collegio Nazionale degli Ingegneri Ferroviari Italiani, Bollettino Anno VI, Volume VI, 1909, Page 336
  16. ^ Relazione dell'Amministrazione delle ferrovie esercitate dallo Stato, G. Bertero & C., 1911, Page 218
  17. ^ https://www.museotorino.it/resources/pdf/books/348/files/assets/common/downloads/page0153.pdf
  18. ^ Elenco Ufficiale Delle Premiazioni, Gruppo XXV, Colonizzazione, Emigrazione, Colonie, Classe 164 (Lavoro degli Italiani all'Estero), Medaglie del Ministero dell'Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio, Page 129 http://italyworldsfairs.org/archival-materials/official-documents/official-reports/le-mostre-coloniali-all'esposizione-internazionale-di-torino-del-1911-relazione-generale
  19. ^ Grandes voûtes: ptie. t. 5. Ce que l'expérience enseigne de commun à toutes les voûtes. t. 6. Appendice: Pratique des voûtes. Annexes 1913, Impr. Vve Tardy-Pigelet et fils, Paul Séjourné, Page 187
  20. ^ Geschichte der Eigenbahnen der Oesterrungarischen Monarchie, Volume 6, 1908, K. Prochaske, Page 53 and 83
  21. ^ Österreichischer Ingenieur- und Architekten-Verein, Zeitschrift 61, 1909, Springer, Page 703