Andre Coyne

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Andre Coyne (1891-1960) was a French dam engineer who designed 70 dams in 14 countries. Coyne's creations include the Daniel Johnson dam, on the Manicouagan River in Quebec, which is the world's largest multiple-arch dam at 214 meters height and a span of 162 meters.

Coyne's first major achievement, which brought him considerable fame, was the Malpasset Dam in Southern France. Unfortunately, nearly immediately after construction was completed on the dam, cracks were noticed at the base. A few years later, on December 2, 1959, the dam abruptly swung open and released a 50 meter high wall of water that reached the nearby town of Frejus, killing an estimated 421 people. It was said that Coyne was very deeply affected by the dam's failure and he died a year later.

Many years later, a study [1] found that the design of the dam was not likely to be the reason for its failure, but other factors relating to the location of the dam, the stability of the rock material, the fact that a geological fault was found on the site, and a combination of factors such as the heavy rain that raised the water level by 15 feet that year.

The company that Andre Coyne started is still operating under the name Coyne et Bellier.