Frolov, Kozma Dmitrievich

Born June 29 (July 10), 1726, at Polevskii Zavod in the Urals; died Mar. 9 (21), 1800, in Barnaul. Russian hydraulic engineer and inventor in mining.

After graduating from the mining and metallurgical school in Ekaterinburg in 1744, Frolov worked at the Berezovo mines. In 1758 he was promoted to mining engineer. In the same year, he was sent to metallurgical plants in Olonets Province and in Finland. Upon his return to the Urals in 1759, Frolov became the director of all the plants at the Berezovo mines. In 1763 he was transferred to the Altai region, where he worked mainly at the Zmeinogorsk mine. During the summer of 1766, Frolov helped put into operation the steam engine invented by I. I. Polzunov. By the late 1780’s, under Frolov’s direction, a complex of structures and waterpower installations (a waterpower cascade) was built at the Zmeinogorsk mine. The installations made it possible to mechanize most production processes, for example, the pumping of water from mines and the hoisting and hauling of ore. An earth dam 18 m high and certain other installations constructed on the Zmeevka River have survived to the present time.