Josef Melan

< p > Josef Melan (18 November 1853, Vídeň - 6 February 1941, Praha) was an Austrian engineer who was considered to be one of the most important pioneers of iron concrete bridges at the end of the 19th century. He is the author of the construction of the iron concrete bridges known as "Patent - Melan." He also served as a university professor in Vienna, Brno and Prague. < / p > < p > Melan, according to his patent from 1892, used rigid steel beams instead of concrete reinforcement. Originally, the patent was designed for the design of ceiling structures. Thanks to the "Erste Österreichische Gewölbeausschuß" he carried out several experiments at the site of the construction company Pittel + Brausewitter in Bratislava and in particular in Brno, where he processed the theoretical base of his system. < / p > < p > Melan became known in 1898 when he built a 42.4 m long arc bridge with a very low rise in the Austrian city of Steyr. It was the biggest concrete bridge in the world at the time. Melan is also the author of the Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the bridges in the Czech Republic (Dr. Edvard Beneš's Bridge in Ústí nad Labem, the Road Bridge U Ján in Jihlava), Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain, the USA and Japan. < / p > < p > In 1958, in Vienna, in the Donaustadt district (22nd district), Melangasse Street was named after him. < / p >