Pierre-Paul Riquet

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Portrait of Pierre-Paul Riquet

A statue of Pierre-Paul Riquet in Toulouse

Pierre-Paul Riquet (June 29, 1609 (some sources say 1604) - October 4, 1680) was the engineer and canal-builder responsible for the construction of the Canal du Midi.

[edit] Background

Paul Riquet was born in Béziers, Hérault, France. As a youth, Riquet was only interested in mathematics and science. He married Catherine de Milhau at age 19. As a ferme générale ("farmer-general") of Languedoc-Roussillon, he was a tax farmer responsible for the collection and administration of the gabelle (salt tax) in Languedoc. Riquet became wealthy and was given permission by the King to levy his own taxes. This gave him greater wealth, which allowed him to execute grand projects with technical expertise.

[edit] The Canal du Midi

Riquet is the man responsible building the 240 mile long artificial waterway that links the southern coast of France to the Bay of Biscay, one of the great engineering feats of the 17th century. The logistics were immense and complicated, so much so that other engineers and even the Romans had discussed the idea but not proceeded with it. Even so, Louis XIV was keen for the project to proceed, largely because of the increasing cost and danger of transporting cargo and trade around southern Spain where pirates were frequent.

Planning, financing, and construction of the Canal du Midi completely absorbed Riquet from 1665 forward. Numerous problems laid ahead, including navigating around the many hills, and providing a system that would feed the canal with water through the dry summer months. Advances in lock engineering and the creation of a 6 million cubic metre artificial lake - the Bassin de Saint-Ferreol - provided solutions.

The canal was completed in 1681, one year after Riquet's death.