Freytag acquires the Monier patent
In 1884, during a business trip to Treves, Conrad Freytag visited an exhibition and saw water tanks and floor slabs built by Joseph Monier which were reinforced by a mesh wire. In September of the same year, together with his business partner Josseaux from Offenbach, he travelled to Monier in Paris and acquired the rights to the German Monier patent of 22.12.1880 for the south of Germany and the pre-emption right for the north of Germany. In 1885, he assigned this pre-emption right free of charge to the Frankfurt engineer and businessman Gustav Adolf Wayss.
Joseph Monier (1823 – 1906), a French gardener, found out in 1867 that the cement flower tubs which he produced lasted that much longer when reinforced by a wire mesh placed in the centre of the concrete sides and base of the tub. He registered his invention for a patent in the same year. When writing down the patent specification, especially for the additional patents, he must have had specialist support, since he himself was not aware of the revolutionary significance of his technique. Monier did not see himself as reinforced concrete worker, but as „Rocailleur en ciment“, as a creator of plastic forms in cement.
Further additional patents:
- 04. 07. 1868: For the production of reinforced cement pipes
- 02. 09. 1869: For the production of flat plates
- 13. 08. 1873: For the construction of bridges and crossings
- 27. 07. 1875: For stair construction
- 14. 08. 1878: For reinforced concrete beams
As a matter of form it should be mentioned that, prior to Monier, Coignet (1838: reinforcement of concrete ceilings), Wilkinson (1854: reinforced concrete composite slabs) and Lambot (1855: reinforced ship decks had already registered patents for reinforced concrete structures.