[eng] Abstract : In the years from 1840 to 1939, French civil enginnering contractors stood as world leaders for innovation. To meet the demand, on the French market, of customers with exacting requirements - the Roads and bridges department (Administration des Ponts et chaussées), railway...

[eng] Abstract Immediately following the second world-wide clash, need is enormous. If, throughout western Europe, reconstruction is advancing apace, priorities present tremendous differences : rebuilding cities in Great Britain, reconstructing a capacity for production in France. The United...

[eng] A bstract. Currently fully committed as they are, to take on all comers in international competition. French civil engineering contractors are evincing, once more, the thrust they had sustained up to the end of the 1950s. Then as now, such innovation-driven thrust represents, as a whole,...

[eng] Abstract For the French civil engineering and public works industry, the war brought about a sharp downturn in activity. The only growth area was that of work on German projects : though this was to accrue mainly to German firms, the did lead, in France, to many instances of firm creation....