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longest. The rail line brought prosperity to Dijon, and the Paris-
Dijon TGV uses the tunnel to this day.
LATER YEARS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF
DARCY’S LAW
The March 1848 revolution ended the government that had
employed Darcy for 18 years. Darcy was popular in Dijon; he had
provided water and the railroad, he was a city councilman and,
mindful of human misery, he promoted projects to help the poor.
The new regime feared his popularity and, despite protests by the
Corps and the city, banished Darcy to a rural area where, during
a short stay, he proposed major agricultural improvements.
A new government in June 1848 assigned Darcy to Paris as
Chief of Water and Streets. The move gave Darcy a chance to do
experiments that had interested him for years. Darcy and other
engineers had observed that official formulas did not accurately
predict water flow through pipes. So, between 1849 and 1851,
Darcy conducted experiments at the Chaillot water plant to study
the topic. The results were published in 1857.
In 1850, after promotion to divisional inspector, Darcy studied
macadam roads in London and submitted a report on street paving
later that year. In 1851–1852, Brussels invited him to consult on its Henry Darcy, circa 1845 (G. Bazin). Courtesy:
water-supply system and awarded him the Order of King Leopold. Collection of Jean Darcy, Paris.
In 1855, after years of poor health and a few months of medical Darcy V and the family for fact-checking the article and for their friendship over
leave, Darcy retired on disability. Even so, he wanted to under- the years. I also thank Bob Kent who many years ago suggested I translate Darcy’s
stand the mechanics of water filtration. In 1854–1855, he set up Public Fountains.
equipment in the Dijon hospital courtyard and did experiments on
water flow through sand. These experiments led to Darcy’s Law, REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING
which he presented in Appendix D of Les Fontaines publiques Bazin, G., 2005, Henry Bazin, L’homme, Hydraulicien, Inspecteur général des
de la ville de Dijon (Darcy, 1856). His words, in translation, are Ponts et Chaussees, Dijon: Editions Clea, 320 p.
“Thus it appears that for an identical sand, it can be assumed that Bobeck, P., trans. 2004, The Public Fountains of the City of Dijon by Henry
Darcy (1856): Dubuque, Iowa, Kendall Hunt Publishing Co., 506 pages plus
the volume discharged is (directly) proportional to the head and 28 plates. Available at www.pbobeck.com.
inversely proportional to the thickness of the sand layer that the Brown, G.O., 2002, Henry Darcy and the making of a law: Water Resources
water passes through” (Bobeck, 2004). Research, v. 38, no. 7, p. 11-1–11-12, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001WR000727.
Darcy’s last project was a Burgundy Canal water-flow study with Brown, G.O., Garbrecht, J.D., Hager, W.H., eds, 2003, Henry P.G. Darcy and
Henry Bazin (G. Bazin, 2005). During this research, Darcy contin- Other Pioneers in Hydraulics: Reston, Virginia, American Society of Civil
Engineers, 310 p.
ued to perfect the Pitot tube, a device used to measure fluid velocity. Darcy, H., 1856, Les Fontaines publiques de la ville de Dijon: Paris, Victor
Darcy died in Paris on 2 January 1858, at age 54. His body went Dalmont, 647 p. plus 28 plates.
home to Dijon on the rail line he had proposed, through the tunnel Darcy, P., 1957, Henry Darcy: Inspecteur général des Ponts et Chaussées 1803–
he had built. His admirers carried his coffin to the nearby cemetery. 1858: Dijon, Imprimerie Darantière, 63 p.
The next day, “Reservoir Square” was renamed “Place Darcy.” EP website, Ecole polytechnique website: https://www.polytechnique.edu/en/
revolutionnapoleonicperiod (accessed 17 June 2021).
Lochot, E., ed., 2003, Henry Darcy Le Bicentenaire 1803–2003, Dijon: Temps
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS reel, 116 p.
I am indebted to Mme Lochot of the Archives Municipales de Dijon for her Sharp, J., and Simmons, C.T., 2004, The Compleat Darcy: New lessons learned
contribution to Dijon’s bicentennial tribute to Henry Darcy, to R.A. Freeze for from the first English translation of Les Fontaines Publiques de la Ville de
sending a copy of Paul Darcy’s biography of his great-uncle Henry, and to Ga- Dijon: Groundwater, v. 43, no. 3, p. 457–460, https://doi.org/10.1111/ j.1745-
briel Bazin for the biography of his great-grandfather, Henry. I thank Henry 6584.2005.0076.x

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