Barbier, Benard, et Turenne (BBT) was a French company founded in 1862, specializing in the manufacture of spotlights, Fresnel lenses for lighthouses, and lighting systems. [1] It was the world's leading producer of lighthouse beacons from the end of the 19th century onwards. It dissolved in 1982. [2]
The company was founded in 1862 by Frederic Barbier and Stanislas Fenestre as Barbier and Fenestre. It was renamed Barbier et Cie in 1887 and Barbier and Bénard in 1889. It became Barbier, Benard, et Turenne early in the 20th century, and became a public limited company in 1919. [3] [4]
Barbier, Benard, et Turenne began with a specialty in the production of equipment for lighthouse beacons, such as Fresnel lenses. [3] It later expanded into production of beacons themselves, as well as rotation mechanisms. [3] Eventually, the company manufactured buoys, metal towers, and fog sirens. [3]
BBT was soon able to build complete lighthouses, and became world renowned for it. [5] It was the world leader in the construction of lighthouses in the late 19th century. [3]
BBT used its expertise in optics, lighting, and construction to expand into other businesses, including stadium and airport floodlights and streetlamps. [3] It also license-produced microscopes. [3]
BBT's factories were located mainly near the Ourcq Canal in Paris. [5] Its headquarters was also in Paris. It had facilities in Nazelles (Indre-et-Loire) and White Misseron (Nord). [3] BBT had specialist plants for the production of gas for streetlamps, at Sfax and Marseilles. [3] [6]
From the 1960s onwards, the industry sectors BBT had invested in began to decline in France. The company was eventually dissolved in 1982. [3]
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Hyper-radial or hyperradiant Fresnel lenses are Fresnel lenses used in lighthouses. They are larger than "first-order" lenses, having a focal length (radius) of 1330 mm. The idea was mentioned by Thomas Stevenson in 1869 and first proposed by John Richardson Wigham in 1872, and again proposed by Thomas Stevenson in 1885.
Split Rock Lighthouse is a lighthouse located southwest of Silver Bay, Minnesota, US on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The structure was designed by lighthouse engineer Ralph Russell Tinkham and was completed in 1910 by the United States Lighthouse Service for $75,000, including the buildings and the land. It is considered one of the most picturesque lighthouses in the United States.
BBT may refer to:
The Ponce de Leon Inlet Light is a lighthouse and museum located at Ponce de León Inlet in Central Florida. At 175 feet (53 m) in height, it is the tallest lighthouse in the state and one of the tallest in the United States. It is located between St. Augustine Light and Cape Canaveral Light. Restored by the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association, the lighthouse became a National Historic Landmark in 1998.
Point Vicente Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, United States, north of Los Angeles Harbor. It is 67 feet (20 m) tall and stands on a cliff with a height of 130 feet (40 m). It is between Point Loma Lighthouse to the south and Point Conception Lighthouse to the north. The lighthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The lighthouse is owned by the United States federal government and is managed by the United States Coast Guard. It is not usually open to the public, but the Coast Guard Auxiliary run tours once per month and it is used annually for the city's "Whale of a Day" festival.
The Highland Light is an active lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore in North Truro, Massachusetts. The current tower was erected in 1857, replacing two earlier towers that had been built in 1797 and 1831. It is the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod.
Sambro Island Lighthouse is a landfall lighthouse located at the entrance to Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia, on an island near the community of Sambro in the Halifax Regional Municipality. It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in North America and its construction is a National Historic Event.
The White Shoal Light is a lighthouse located 20 miles (32 km) west of the Mackinac Bridge in Lake Michigan. It is an active aid to navigation. It is also the tallest lighthouse on the Great Lakes.
The Gull Rock Light Station is an active lighthouse located on Gull Rock, just west of Manitou Island, off the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, even as its condition deteriorated, resulting in its placement on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List.
The Passage Island Light Station is a lighthouse located 3.25 mi (5.23 km) NE of Isle Royale, in NW Lake Superior, Michigan on Passage Island. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
The Point of Ayre Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse, sited at the Point of Ayre at the north-eastern end of the Isle of Man. It was designed and built by Robert Stevenson, grandfather of prolific writer and novelist Robert Louis Stevenson, and was first lit in 1818, making it the oldest operational lighthouse on the island.
Capo Caccia Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse situated at the extremity of Capo Caccia, 3.7 kilometres (2.3 mi) from Tramariglio a frazione of Alghero on the western coast of Sardinia.
La Isleta Lighthouse is an active 19th century lighthouse on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria in the Canary islands. The lighthouse has been constructed on the rocky peninsula of La Isleta, which overlooks the Port of Las Palmas to the north of the city of Las Palmas, the capital of Gran Canaria. Situated at the north-eastern tip of the island, the La Isleta light marks the approaches to the port and lies midway between the Sardina lighthouse to the east and the Punta de Melenara lighthouse of Telde to the south.
Les Mamelles Lighthouse is a strategically important lighthouse situated near Cap Vert, the westernmost point of Africa, on the outskirts of Dakar the capital of Senegal. Completed in 1864, it has been described as "one of the world's great lighthouses, guiding ships around the western tip of Africa".
Ilha da Moela Lighthouse is an active lighthouse on the namesake island 1.84 kilometres (1.14 mi) from Ponta do Munduba at the entrance of Santos Bay, Brazil. Ilha da Moela Lighthouse is the oldest lighthouse on the State of São Paulo coast and the entire island is a Brazilian Navy base.
Cape Espichel Lighthouse is situated on the western coast of the civil parish of Castelo, municipality of Sesimbra, in the Setúbal district of Portugal. The lighthouse was built in 1790.
Berlenga lighthouse, also known as the Duke of Bragança Lighthouse, is a functioning lighthouse situated on the highest point of the granite island of Berlenga Grande, which is a nature reserve in the Atlantic Ocean, 10 kilometres west of the town of Peniche in the Leiria District of Portugal. Although planned for construction in the 18th century, work did not start until 1837 and it was completed in 1842.
The Cap d'Antifer Lighthouse is an active aid to navigation on the headland of the same name which forms part of the French Côte d'Albâtre of the English Channel, in Seine-Maritime, Normandy. Located on the edge of the cliffs within the commune of La Poterie-Cap-d'Antifer, it was built to guide shipping into the Port of Le Havre.
Mew Island Lighthouse is an active lighthouse within the Copeland Islands of County Down in Northern Ireland. The current 19th-century tower is the most recent in a series of lighthouses that have been built in the islands, which have helped to guide shipping around the archipelago and into Belfast Lough.
The Montedor Lighthouse is located on the Atlantic Ocean on a promontory in the parish of Carreço in the municipality of Viana do Castelo in Portugal. It is the northernmost lighthouse in Portugal, situated 4 nautical miles north of the mouth of the Lima River and 7 nautical miles south of the mouth of the Minho River. It was opened on 20 March 1910.
