Public works - Expo Paris 1937

This pavilion was to become, thanks to the happy initiative of Mr. Bedouce, Minister of Public Works, the permanent museum of this department.

The exhibition comprised three main sections: Seaports and Waterways; Roads; Mines, Petroleum and Electricity.

The first section included a large participation of the French seaports already represented in the Water Transport class.

Dunkirk and Calais sent large, highly detailed models; Rouen showed a relief plan showing the extent of its ports along the Seine; Nantes showed the deepening of the Loire River; La Rochelle and Bordeaux highlighted the techniques used to build their outports.

The Inland Navigation exhibition, organised by the Office National de la Navigation, consisted of models and information panels on a number of maritime structures.

A wall panel explained how the floods of the Seine are forecast.

The road section showed the difference in construction between ancient and modern roads.

On the second floor of the pavilion, the liquid fuel rooms were presented first. Oil was taken from its origin. The search for, and exploitation of, the deposits, the transport and distillation of the products from which an incredible range of derivatives are extracted, were shown by means of dioramas and models.

A stand on the first floor had already introduced you to national fuels such as synthetic petrol by hydrogenation of coal, and to colonial fuels.

The mining room, which followed, gave you an idea of the French subsoil.

To the left of the entrance, animated models were dedicated to the drilling and equipment of the mines.

In the centre, arranged in a star shape, five models, also animated, reproduced the most characteristic aspects of the "fond".

Potash, salt mines and the mineral wealth of overseas France also had their place in this room, which preceded the geological map of France (oil, coal, cement, lime and plaster stone, iron, copper, lead, zinc, aluminium, gold, silver, etc.).

The main stages of mineral life were commented on by means of a map.

The next room was a control room for a power station.

A free brochure was distributed to show how the development of consumption and consumer discipline were the main factors in energy prices.

The Public Works Pavilion also had a library with the most modern automatic equipment, a conference room and a cinema.

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