Name
Decauville, Paul

Gender
Male

Birth
June 7, 1846 Évry

Death
June 29, 1922 Neuilly-sur-Seine

Descriptive Note

Paul Decauville was a French engineer, businessman, and public servant. In 1875, he founded a manufacturing company that bore his name and produced industrial railways, locomotives, and cars. He also invented a narrow gauge track railway system, the Decauville system. 

He founded a construction company in 1910, Comptoir d'outillage et de matériel à air comprimé (Commercial establishment for tools and compressed air equipment), and another company, Emidecau, that specialized in hydraulic presses.

In politics, Paul Decauville was mayor of Evry-Petit Bourg from 1881 to 1892. He was also Senator of Seine-et-Oise from 1890 to 1900, member of the Board of Customs, Secretary from 1897 to 1899. After leaving Paris, Paul Decauville served as mayor of the town of Saint-Léger (Manche).

At the exposition of Turin 1911, he presented the Cuirasse Decauville, a structure intended to protect river banks from erosion. The Cuirasse was built on both sides of the River Po under the footbridge of the pavilion of the United States and on the opposite bank in front of the pavilions of Siam and England.

Roles
Makers, Architects and Engineers

Related Built Environment Objects

• Cuirasse Decauville