BECHYNĚ, Stanislav

B. attended secondary non-classical school in Nové Město in Moravia and continued his studies of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. After finishing his studies in 1910, he was employed at the construction company Skorkovský, where he soon advanced to the position of technical director. Before starting his career, he dealt with studying the characteristics and use of concrete.
He maintained the connection with the company Skorkovský even after he went to Technical University in Prague. Among his first independent works are the arch bridge in Hořepník built in 1913 and the road bridge over the river Mrlina in Křinec built in 1918.
In the construction of hall for the steelworks in Hrádek near Rokycany he used reinforced concrete structure which was also the subject of his 1915 doctoral dissertation in technical sciences.
A year later he developed the ceiling in the form of mushroom, supported by cast iron pillars for the car factory in Prague. In 1919 he won the international competition for the construction of Lucerna Palace in Prague, for which he used the reinforced concrete structure. In the following years he planned a number of concrete constructions, among them a factory hall for the steelworks in Kladn, a cement works in Králův Dvůr, a storage room in Bratislava and Kostelc near Elbe and the airport buildings at the Prague-Letňany and Kalovy Vary airports.
In 1920 he was appointed full professor of static and dynamic of reinforced concrete buildings at the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Technical University in Prague. Until his retirement in 1958, he made an independent syllabus for concrete and stone bridges construction. In 1926/27 and 1934/35 he worked as the dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering.
The problem of bridging the valley in the district of Prague-Nusle occupied B’s mind till 1919 when he, in collaboration with architect Kozák, prepared the first draft of the bridge and in 1930 again participated in the tenders. The bridge over the river Chrudimka in Pardubice and an arch bridge for highway in the county Senohraby in the period between 1940 and 1944 were built according to his plans. After 1945 B., among other things, planned the hall at the factory Mier in Bratislava, bus garages in Nitra and Žilina and bridge structure over the river Waag in Komárno.
His work in the technical and scientific field became known well beyond the borders of his country. He also dealt with the protection of cultural heritage. He participated in the restoration of Charles Bridge and the roof reconstruction on the church in Prague Monastery of St. Agnese.
B. was a member of several scientific associations, namely the Masaryk Academy of Labour from 1920 and the Czech Academy of Sciences from 1946, while also being a member of the International Association of the Scientific Institute in Paris.