Gustave Magnel

Who is Gustave Magnel?

Gustaaf Paul Robert Magnel was a Belgian engineer and professor at Ghent University, known for his expertise regarding reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete.

Magnel was born in Essen in 1889. In 1912, he graduated as an engineer from Ghent University. At the start of the First World War, Magnel emigrated to England where he worked as an engineer at D.G. Somerville & Co. Contractor Company. After the war he returned to Ghent where he worked in the University and where in 1922 he was given the opportunity to teach a course on the calculations needed for reinforced concrete. In 1926 he founded the Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research.

As an engineer Magnel designed Walnut Lane Memorial Bridge and was involved in the calculations for the building of the Boekentoren.

Magnel died in Ghent in 1955.