Gaston Leinekugel Le Cocq
Gaston Leinekugel Le Cocq was a French engineer. Born in Cambrai on 29 November 1867. Died in Perpezac-le-Blanc on 18 February 1965, aged 97).
He married the daughter of Ferdinand Arnodin in 1900, and resigned from the Navy to work in his father-in-law's bridge-building business, participating in the design of the various transporter bridges made by Arnodin's company. He developed methods for measuring the tension in cables using tensiometers during the construction of the Marseille and Brest transporter bridges.
In 1900, Albert Gisclard filed a patent for a rigid suspension bridge, and Ferdinand Arnodin obtained the exclusive licence for the Gisclard suspension bridges. Gaston Leinekugel Le Cocq supervised the construction of the first bridges of this type: four bridges in the Haut Ogoué, in the Congo, and the Marguerite footbridge over the Foa, in New Caledonia, in 1907.
During the First World War was mobilized as a naval engineer hydrographery. He proposed building suspension bridges for the army to replace destroyed bridges. The Pigeaud system was adopted for spans up to 32 m due to their ease of assembly, while for longer span bridges, the Gisclard system was adopted because of its higher strength and greater rigidity. For the construction of Gisclard-type bridges, he developed a unique type of deck made up of light elements. This type of bridge was made by Ateliers Arnodin. Fifteen bridges were built on his plans.
The above information is condensed from the first part of the extensive Wikipedia entry for Gaston Leinekugel Le Cocq. Original version here and an English translation here.