Vladimir Shukhov

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Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov
Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov

Vladimir Grigorievich Shukhov (Russian: Владимир Григорьевич Шухов), (August 28 [O.S. August 16] 1853 - February 2, 1939) was a great Russian engineer and architect renowned for his pioneering works on new methods of analysis for civil engineering that led to breakthroughs in industrial design of hyperboloid structures, shell structures, tensile structures, oil reservoirs, pipelines, boilers, ships and barges. The world's first thermal cracking method, the Shukhov cracking process, was invented by Vladimir Shukhov (1891). Shukhov is particularly reputed for his original designs of hyperboloid towers such as the Shukhov Tower.

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[edit] Biography

Vladimir Shukhov was born in a town of Graivoron, Belgorod uezd, Kursk gubernia into a petty noble family. His father Grigory Ivanovich Shukhov was a minor government official, promoted for his efforts in the Crimean War. For a while Grigory served as Mayor of Graivoron and later as an administrator in Warsaw.

The world's first hyperboloid structure by Shukhov, Nizhny Novgorod, 1896
The world's first hyperboloid structure by Shukhov, Nizhny Novgorod, 1896

In 1864 Vladimir entered Saint Petersburg gymnasium from which he graduated with distinction in 1871. During his high school years he showed mathematical talents, once demonstrating to his classmates and teacher an original proof of the Pythagorean theorem. The teacher praised his skills but he failed the grade for violating the textbook's guidelines.

After graduating from the gymnasium, Shukhov entered the Imperial Moscow Technical School, in which his teachers included Pafnuty Chebyshev, Aleksey Letnikov, and Nikolay Zhukovsky. In 1876 Shukhov graduated from the school with distinction and a Gold Medal. Chebyshev proposed him a job as a lecturer in mathematics at the Imperial Moscow Technical School, but Shukhov decided to seek a job in the industry instead.

Thereupon Shukhov went to Philadelphia, to work on the Russian pavilion at the World's Fair and to study the inner workings of the American industry. During his stay in the US Shukhov came to know a Russian-American entrepreneur, Alexander Veniaminovich Bari (Александр Вениаминович Бари) who also worked on the organization of the Fair.

In 1877 Shukhov returned to Russia and joined the drafting office of the Warsaw-Vienna railroad. Within several months, Shukhov's frustration with standard and routine engineering made him abandon the office and join a military-medical academy.

Shukhov Tower in Moscow
Shukhov Tower in Moscow

On his coming to Russia in 1877, Bari persuaded Shukhov to give up his medical education and to assume the office of Chief Engineer in a new company specializing in innovative engineering. Shukhov worked with Bari at this company until the October Revolution. Their works revolutionized many areas of civil engineering, ship engineering, and oil industry.

Shukhov always found time for a passionate hobby - photography. The Photographic works of Shukhov opened new trends ahead of their flourishing of Fine art photography. He made photos in various genres: reporting, city landscape, portrait, constructivism. About two thousand photos and negatives made by Shukhov hav been kept till our time.

After the October Revolution Shukhov decided to stay in the Soviet Union despite having received alluring job offers from around the world. Many signal Soviet engineering projects of the 1920s were associated with his name. In 1919 he framed his slogan: We should work independently from politics. The buildings, boilers, beams would be needed and so would we. In the later 1930s during the Great Purge he retired from engineering work but was not arrested or persecuted.

Shukov died on February 2, 1939 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. His many honours included the Lenin Prize (1929) and the title of Hero of Labour (1928).

[edit] Works

Passage of Upper Trading Rows (GUM) in Moscow.
Passage of Upper Trading Rows (GUM) in Moscow.

Vladimir Shukhov is often referred as the Russian Edison for the sheer quantity and quality of his pioneering works. He was one of the first to develop practical calculations of stresses and deformations of beams, shells and membranes on elastic foundation. These theoretical results allowed him to design the first Russian oil tanker, new types of oil tanker barges, and a new type of oil reservoirs. The same principle of the shell on an elastic foundation allowed to theoretically calculate the optimal diameter, wall thickness and fluid speed for the fluid pipelines. Shukhov's projects were instrumental in constructing:

  • An oil pipeline, the first in the world, between Balkhany and Cherny Gorod near Baku (12 km, 1878 complete, used by the Branobel). By 1883 the total length of Shukhov-designed, Bari-built oil pipelines in Baku exceeded 94 km, transporting 30 thousands barrels of oil per day. In 1894 a similar pipeline network was built in Grozny. In 1904 they built the first Trans-Caucasian kerosene pipeline between Baku and Batum (800km long).
The world's first steel tensile structure by Shukhov (during construction), Nizhny Novgorod, 1896
The world's first steel tensile structure by Shukhov (during construction), Nizhny Novgorod, 1896
  • A superior design for water-mains. Shukhov designed (and Bari built) complete water-supply systems for the cities of Tambov, Kharkov, Voronezh and many others. In that age of infectious diseases his water-supply systems literally saved thousands of lives.
  • A superior design for oil-tanker barges (less than half of the metal previously required), 84 150-meters long barges were built (mostly for the Volga river) as well as the first Russian sea-worthy oil tanker ship. His approach to the ship strength analysis (using the model of a shell on an elastic foundation) was absolutely novel for that time.
  • Shukhov-designed inexpensive oil tanks with the bottom calculated as a membrane on elastic foundation. They became very popular among oil-producers of the Imperial Russia. By 1881, 130 such tanks were built in Baku alone.

Shukhov made important contributions to the chemical industry:

Factory of Shukhov cracking process, Baku, USSR, 1934
Factory of Shukhov cracking process, Baku, USSR, 1934
  • He designed an original oil pump. Shukhov's pumps revolutionized Baku's oil industry allowing to increase its oil output.
  • He designed one of the first furnaces that used the residual oil: before his works the residual oil was considered a waste and was discarded, due to his works it became recognized as an important technical product known as a fuel oil.

Shukhov also left a lasting legacy to the Constructivist architecture of early Soviet Russia. As a leading specialist of metallic structures (hyperboloid structures, thin-shell structures, tensile structures), he may be compared with Gustave Eiffel. Shukhov's innovative and exquisite constructions still grace many towns across the former Russian Empire:

  • Eight thin-shell structures exhibition pavilions for the Nizhny Novgorod Fair of 1896, covering the area of 27,000 m², and featuring an unorthodox water-tower that served as a model for more than 30 similar structures built in Imperial Russia, and thousands around the world now.
The world's first double curvature lattice steel Shell by Shukhov (during construction), Vyksa near Nizhny Novgorod, 1897
The world's first double curvature lattice steel Shell by Shukhov (during construction), Vyksa near Nizhny Novgorod, 1897

[edit] See also

Shukhov and his tower as they appear on a 1963 Soviet postage stamp commemorating the 110th anniversary of his birth
Shukhov and his tower as they appear on a 1963 Soviet postage stamp commemorating the 110th anniversary of his birth

[edit] Major works

[edit] References

Shukhov's steel-and-glass roof of Kievsky Railway Station, Moscow
Shukhov's steel-and-glass roof of Kievsky Railway Station, Moscow
Shukhov tower on the Oka River in the suburb of Nizhniy Novgorod, 2006
Shukhov tower on the Oka River in the suburb of Nizhniy Novgorod, 2006

(English)

(Russian)

(German)

[edit] Photos of Works

The world's first hyperboloid water tower, 1896

Rotunda and rectangular pavilion, Nizhny Novgorod, 1896

Shukhov Tower in Moscow, 2006

Upper Trading Rows (GUM) in Moscow

Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow

Shukhov towers on the Oka River in the suburb of Nizhniy Novgorod, 1989

Shukhov towers on the Oka River, 1989

Interior of the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, 1929, Moscow
Persondata
NAME Shukhov, Vladimir Grigorievich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Шухов, Владимир Григорьевич (Russian)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Russian engineer
DATE OF BIRTH August 28, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Graivoron, Kursk gubernia
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1939
PLACE OF DEATH Moscow
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