MALINOWSKI, Adam Ernest

M. studied in France, namely at École Polytechnique (1834–1836) and École des Ponts et Chaussées (1836–1838). In 1852, he received the title „conducteur embrigadé de 2e classe“ and began working as an engineer. During his stay in Peru, he lectured at „Central de Ingenieros Civiles“ and modernised the „Casa de Moneda“ mint in Lima. He published a study on currency issues, in which he dealt mostly with the issue of the gold talons („La moneda el el Peru“, 1856). He also laid the decorative paving in Arequip, one of the largest and most beautiful Peruvian towns, and functioned as an expert adviser during the construction of the Lima – Chorillos railway line. In 1859, together with Mario Alleon, he designed a project of a railway line to connect the coastal towns of Pisco and Ico, and was, together with Stephan Crosby and D. N. Paddison, responsible for the construction of the railway from the Chimbote harbour to the mountain town of Huaraz.
At the time of the Spanish-Peruvian conflict, in 1866, the Peruvian government authorised him to prepare a defence plan for the harbour in Callau. In recognition of his merits in the defence of Peru's independence, M. was given a medal and an honorary citizenship. Later on, he was once again engaged in planning railway lines, from Pacasmayo to Cajamarca, from Pacasmayo to Guadalupe, and from Chiclayo to Lambayeque, among others. In January 1859, he submitted a plan to the Peruvian government, namely „Ferrocarril Central Transandino“ across the Andes, which was later also realised. Connecting Lima with the Cerro de Pasco region, which is rich in minerals, and with the Juaja valley was thought to enable the future extension of the railway line over the Chanchamoyo river valley and to the Amazonia, situated behind the Andes, thus providing a link to the Atlantic Ocean. The building of this project began ten years later. Because of the difficult topography, M. had to develop new solutions. One of these is the rails winding across bends in the steepest segments of the narrow valley. In these relatively short segments, he tried to gain as high an altitude as possible. This railway line is considered one of the most remarkable lines of the railway construction of the time, and was reported by the English newspaper Engineering. He was one of the first to take into account the calculations of the impact of the dynamics of traffic burdens, the force of wind, the centrifugal force, which affects turns, and evaluated the impact of these factors on the durability of the material used. Already in 1868, M. predicted the calculation of the forces of the trusses, which was defined by Luigi Cremona as late as 1872. The line ran across the highest viaduct of the time, which was 76.8 m high, and through the highest tunnel at the highest point of the track, at the height of 4768 m, 1173 m long and 4.8 m wide. To this day, it is the only standard gauge railway at that height in the world. From 1886 onwards, M. was active in the society „Sociedad Geografica de Lima“. He arranged topographical plans and maps, which later served to determine the border between Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil. In 1889, he occupied the position „Directór Interino de la Escuela de Ingenieros Civiles y de Minas“. In recognition of his merits, he was elected president of „Instituto Técnico Industrial“ in Lima.