Manuel González Flores was born in Tecajete, Hidalgo on 1908. He obtained his degree in Civil Engineering on the National School of Engineering of Mexico. Being still a student, he worked on the Sanitation Office of the Federal District Department. On 1929, he was a founding partner, and started to work as a contractor on de Company CONSTRUCTIONS CYR, S.A.
Manuel González was a consulting engineer for the foundation, and a contractor of concret slabs on the Secretariat of Hydraulic Resources building, in Mexico City. He acted as technical director in construction of the building of General Electric.
On 1945, he devised and developed the system "Descimbrar Cimbrando", with which more than 20 buildings were built since then. He verified that the system is very fast in its execution, with the additional advantage of demonstrating that it is a clean solution, which saves a high percentage of wood and building material. This system was patent in other countries and has been use in remote places like Egypt, which gave Engineer Manuel González Flores great prestige, as well as Mexican engineering. This innovation was widely publicized in technical journals from different countries, in several languages and through various published articles.
In addition, he invented the “Control Pile”, which serves to cement or re-establish buildings on terrains as heterogeneous and deformable as that of Mexico City. Buildings based on "pointed piles", supported by the hard layer, are excessively overloaded proportionally to certain limits, by the volume of clay that surrounds them, pushing them more than others, especially on the edges and corners of buildings. In addition, they force the buildings to stand out above the sidewalks and gardens.
He also devised a system called "Earthquake", or "earthquake-free system". This device consists of two circular plates of the greatest hardness, each with a mirror-finished surface, 19 mm thick. The lower plate is attached to the foundation on its smooth and hard face, perfectly horizontal and upwards. On that surface is a certain number of balls, spheres of hard steel, free to move, holding them together by a ring of steel that surrounds them. Thanks to the inertia of the building, the device effectively isolates its horizontal movements to the foundation of the superstructure.
His concern for the social was another of its characteristics. He devised an audio-visual and self-taught literacy booklet in more than 90%. With it, they had been literate in 60 one-hour classes, to more than 500,000 people between 1970 and 1973. This system has been widely used in Colombia.
His invention influenced modern life because thanks to it now exists a technique to keep buildings or monuments out of danger during an earthquake, as well as prevent damage to its structure and thus save hundreds of lives.
I chose him because his invention is one of the most practical that exist to renovate the buildings or houses, having the minimum risk of having a collapse. In addition, I was interested that he also invented the literacy booklet to literate hundreds of people, because in addition to thinking only in saving buildings and houses, he worried about the education of the people.
Great article. I am also going to write an essay about Manuela González Flores. Your article was very informative.
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