Highlights:• A digital restitution of the 3D model of the Agustín de Betancourt's dredger, Port of Kronstadt, has been made, first of its type in the world.• Elements not detailed in the original planimetry were intuited, and dimensional/geometrical hypotheses were made respecting coherence.• For the characterization of different elements of the ensemble, the materials used at the time and the absence of normalization were handled.
Abstract:Agustín de Betancourt was one of the most distinguished engineers of the 18 th and 19 th centuries with numerous contributions to various fields of engineering, including civil engineering. This research shows the process followed in documenting the cultural heritage of this engineer from the Canary Islands (Spain), especially in the geometric documentation of the Kronstadt harbour-dredging machine presented in 1808. The initial information was taken from the Canary Orotava Foundation, History of Science, which has been compiling information on the Betancourt Digital Project for years. In particular, there are only 8 colour illustrations without scale, as well as a small report on the description of the parts and the operation of a dredging machine previously designed for the Port of Venice (but never put into operation). This was the basis for the construction of the dredging machine for the Port of Kronstadt (Russia) that did go into operation in 1812 for more than 10 years. From this information, 3D reconstruction was made by means of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) techniques thanks to the use of the Autodesk Inventor Professional parametric software, which made it possible to build the 3D model and complete its geometric documentation as well as different detailed plans and exploded views. The results show a reliable approach to its modelling, a process in which several dimensional and operational hypotheses have had to be assumed due to the lack of existing information.Key words: cultural heritage; geometric documentation; 3D reconstruction; Agustín de Betancourt; dredging machine; Autodesk Inventor Professional
Resumen:Agustín de Betancourt fue uno de los más ilustres ingenieros de los siglos XVIII y XIX, siendo muy numerosas sus aportaciones a diferentes ámbitos de la ingeniería, en particular a la ingeniería civil. La presente investigación muestra el proceso seguido en la documentación del patrimonio cultural del citado ingeniero español, en particular, en la documentación geométrica de la máquina dragadora del puerto de Krondstadt que presentó en 1808. La información de partida se ha podido rescatar de la Fundación Canaria Orotava de Historia de la Ciencia que lleva años recopilando información sobre el Proyecto Digital Betancourt; en concreto, se ha dispuesto únicamente de 8 ilustraciones sin escala y en color, así como de una pequeña memoria sobre su funcionamiento y descripción de las partes de un ingenio de máquina dragadora que diseñó previamente para el Puerto de Venecia (pero que nunca entró en funcionamiento), y sobre el que se apoyó para la construcción de la ...