Luigi Negrelli was a railway engineer, bridge builder and the first planner of the Suez Canal
Luigi Negrelli, born in Fiera di Primiero on the 23rd of January 1799, was an engineer and railway pioneer. He planned and built roads, bridges and railway lines, mainly in the Austrian Empire, in Italy and Switzerland. He planned Switzerland’s first railway line between Zurich and Baden, as well as the railway viaduct of Prague, which still has his name today.
In 1850 Luigi Negrelli received an important award from Emperor Franz Joseph and was knighted for his merits.
He is considered one of the spiritual fathers of the Suez Canal project. After Negrelli’s death in 1858, Ferdinand de Lesseps continued and implemented the canal project.
