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24-514: The north–south was the initiative of Jean-Baptiste Berlier , an engineer from Lyon trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Saint-Étienne , who had previously attempted to build an underground tubular tramway in 1897. In 1901 he proposed, with the financial support of Xavier Janicot, to construct a line between Montparnasse and Montmartre passing through the Gare d'Orsay and Gare Saint-Lazare through two parallel tunnels, consisting of

48-558: A deep underground railway as in London quickly proved impossible because of the different nature of the ground in Paris. Beneath the water table , soil is actually very diverse in nature and waterlogged, making it impossible to build a metal tunnel. Establishing the line at an even greater depth would have been more expensive. The lines were built well above the water table, like those of the CMP, just below

72-530: A false sense of security because the Seine's water level had risen and fallen again in December. Consequently, they largely ignored reports of mudslides and flooding occurring upriver. They were also slow to notice warnings signs within the city as the Seine's water level rose eight meters (26.2467) higher than normal; its water began to flow much faster than normal, and large amounts of debris appeared. By late January,

96-463: A series of metal hoops, at a similar depth to the London "tube" . This method of construction was intended to allow more direct routes to be taken, unconstrained by the street pattern. The City of Paris wanted to try this experiment and he obtained the concession on 28 December 1901. The charter provided that the costs of construction and rolling stock would be borne entirely by the concessionaire, although in

120-549: Is a Parisian street named after him in the 13th arrondissement , the Rue Jean-Baptiste-Berlier . This article related to the Paris Métro is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This French engineer or inventor biographical article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 1910 Great Flood of Paris The 1910 Great Flood of Paris ( French : Crue de la Seine de 1910 )

144-782: The " tube railways " of London . Though these were never realised, Berlier was heavily involved with the Paris Metro from its opening in 1900 and indeed was one of the key instigators of the Société du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris which went on to build two privately funded lines that were later absorbed by the Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris , and are still in use today as (parts of) Paris Métro Line 12 and Paris Métro Line 13 . Berlier died in Deauville . There

168-403: The 2.067 kilometres (1.284 mi) extension from Jules Joffrin to Porte de la Chapelle was approved and finally the 2.749 kilometres (1.708 mi) line C from Montparnasse to Porte de Vanves was approved on 19 July 1912. This brought the total length of the network approved under the concession to 19.789 kilometres (12.296 mi). During early studies, it appears that construction of

192-551: The Seine River flooded Paris when water pushed upwards from overflowing sewers and subway tunnels , then seeped into basements through fully saturated soil and from the sewer system that got backed up, which led to the basements of several buildings sustaining damage. The waters did not overflow the river's banks within the city, but flooded Paris through tunnels, sewers, and drains. These larger sewer tunnels were engineered by Baron Haussmann and Eugene Belgrand in 1878 which magnified

216-600: The Seine. Over the course of the following week, thousands of Parisians evacuated their homes as water infiltrated buildings and streets throughout the city, shutting down much basic infrastructure. The infrastructure was more vulnerable to flooding because most of it was built within the sewage system in order to avoid cluttering the streets. Police, firemen, and soldiers moved through waterlogged streets in boats to rescue stranded residents from second-story windows and to distribute aid. Refugees gathered in makeshift shelters in churches, schools, and government buildings. Although

240-503: The absence of an existing line on this route. This was a real threat to the tram companies and to the CMP, which objected to the potential competition. Despite the delay caused by the CMP's opposition the 6.216 kilometres (3.862 mi) line between Montmartre ( Place des Abbesses ) and Montparnasse was declared of "public utility" (a key step in the French legal process for authorising construction) on 3 April 1905. A law of 19 July 1905 completed

264-564: The case of the CMP's lines, the City of Paris had fully funded the network infrastructure. The concession covered three proposed lines: The Société du chemin de fer électrique souterrain Nord-Sud de Paris (French for "Paris North-South underground electrical railway company", abbreviated to the Nord-Sud company) was created in July 1902 and replaced Berlier and Janicot as the concessionaire. The substitution

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288-505: The concession by declaring of public utility the complementary sections from Montparnasse to Porte de Versailles and the branch to Saint-Lazare and the Porte de Saint-Ouen . The extension of 1.317 kilometres (0.818 mi) from Abbesses to Jules Joffrin was declared of public utility on 10 April 1908. The 1.427 kilometres (0.887 mi) stretch from La Fourche to Porte de Clichy was declared of public utility on 11 June 1909. On 24 January 1912

312-416: The destruction caused by the floods in 1910. In neighboring towns both east and west of the capital, the river rose above its banks and flooded the surrounding terrain directly. Winter floods were a normal occurrence in Paris but, on 21 January, the river began to rise more rapidly than normal. This was seen as a sort of spectacle where people were actually standing in the streets watching the water rise in

336-428: The difficulties, Line A opened on 5 November 1910 from Porte de Versailles to Notre-Dame-de-Lorette , despite being postponed because of the 1910 flood . Line B opened on 26 February 1911 from Saint-Lazare to Porte de Saint-Ouen . The new network was technically very similar to that of its direct competitor, but the stations and rolling stock were more elaborate. The station names were written in porcelain instead of

360-405: The enamel plates used by CMP, and directions to the trains were set out in tiles in the roofs of the tunnels. The section of line A from Notre Dame de Lorette to Pigalle opened on 9 April 1911; the section of line B from La Fourche to Porte de Clichy opened on 20 January 20, 1912; and finally the section of line A from Pigalle to Jules Joffrin opened on 30 October 1912. The completion of

384-436: The fee increased to two centimes per 2nd class ticket and 2.5 centimes for a 1st class ticket. The ticket price was set at 15 centimes in 2nd class and 25 centimes for 1st class. A return fare was fixed at 20 centimes, with a period of validity of only eight hours. In fact, fares were identical on the Nord-Sud and CMP networks, with transfers between networks to be provided free by the concession. After fast construction despite

408-571: The map 22 years later when it opened in 1998. Jean-Baptiste Berlier Jean-Baptiste Berlier (1841–1911) was a French engineer and inventor who was responsible for the Pneumatic tube postal system of Paris , which operated until as late as 1984. Berlier, who was born in Rive-de-Gier , Loire , was also the promoter of various ideas for a subterranean tramway which would have been built using similar tunneling technology as

432-441: The northern end of line A from Jules Joffrin to Porte de la Chapelle was then delayed by the outbreak of World War I . The Nord-Sud company completed this extension during the war: it was opened on 23 August 1916. During the 1920s the company took the necessary steps for building line C, Porte de Vanves to Montparnasse . But the construction costs of Nord-Sud lines made it impossible for it to survive and on 1 January 1931, it

456-533: The road, which meant that the line had a particularly tortuous alignment contrary to the original plans. The characteristics of the railway provided the specifications are similar to those of the CMP lines in relation to loading gauge , maximum grades and the minimum radius of curvature . Although the cost of construction was fully funded by the company, the City of Paris placed a levy on each ticket sold. It represented one centime per ticket for traffic of less than thirty millions passengers; for higher traffic levels

480-509: The water reached its maximum height at 8.62 meters (28.28 feet) above its normal level. In March, the Seine finally returned to normal levels. Estimates of the flood damage reached some four hundred million francs , or $ 1.5 billion in today's money. The flooding lasted nearly a week, according to one report. Remarkably, despite the damage and duration of the flood, no deaths were reported. There were fears that an outbreak of disease would occur after debris from flooded homes piled into

504-436: The water threatened to overflow the tops of the quay walls lining the river, workmen were able to keep the Seine back with hastily built levees . Once water invaded the Gare d'Orsay rail terminal, its tracks soon sat under more than a meter (3.28 feet) of water. To continue moving throughout the city, residents traveled by boat or across a series of wooden walkways built by government engineers and civilians. On 28 January

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528-515: Was a catastrophe in which the Seine River , carrying winter rains from its tributaries, flooded the conurbation of Paris , France . The Seine water level rose eight meters (more than 26 feet) above the ordinary level. In the winter of 1909–1910, Paris and the surrounding area experienced higher than normal rainfall which saturated the ground and filled rivers to overflowing. In January 1910, Parisians were preoccupied with daily life and lulled into

552-592: Was approved by a decree on 26 March 1907. The company was affiliated with the Omnium Lyonnais and formed with a capital of two million francs, the capital required increased gradually to seventy-five million francs in 1910, after the raising of thirty-five million francs of capital in 1909. The Nord-Sud aimed to distinguish itself from its rival by the high-quality decoration of its stations and trains as well as by certain technical differences. Line A between Montmartre and Montparnasse would provide substantial traffic in

576-412: Was taken over by mutual agreement by its rival, the CMP. The former lines of the Nord-Sud company were then gradually integrated into the CMP network: old line A became line 12 and line B became line 13 . Line C was built soon after by the CMP during the 1930s and became old line 14 , until it was absorbed by line 13 in 1976 following the construction of an intermediate section. Line 14 reappeared on

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