Jules Dupuit—Eminent Hydraulic Engineer

Jules Dupuit ~1804–1866! ~Fig. 1! was born 200 years ago. Besides scientific contributions in road design and political economy, the Frenchman is particularly well known to engineers for groundwater flow and in water supply research. Dupuit also presented general works in hydraulics. He was able to attract the interest of engineers with various books and remains one of the eminent hydraulic engineers of the 19th century. Among others, the Dupuit-Forchheimer equation is a lasting monument in groundwater hydraulics. The following introduces a self-confident individual whose character was not always simple and who received recognition only posthumously. However, he has greatly contributed to both engineering practice and science such that a commemoration seems to be only too appropriate. Jules Dupuit was an engineer in the true sense, working on a wide range of problems from road improvement to hydraulic and bridge engineering, and also in political economy. In the latter topic, he may be considered a founding father of the discipline. The year 2004 marks the bicentennial of Dupuit’s birth, definitely a reason to review his major impact on hydraulic engineering. This paper looks back to one of the great pioneers of the 19th century, whose name has been revered, especially in groundwater hydraulics. His contributions to road design and political economy ~Dupuit 1844a, 1849! among many papers in the Journal des Economistes are highlighted in Internet contributions and are not further considered here ~Boutet 1945; Coutard 1997!. His contributions in hydraulic engineering have rarely been reviewed and thus will be the objective of this forum.