Isambard Kingdom Brunel

What would Isambard Kingdom Brunel think of the HS2 debate?

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Battle of Britain

As engineer at the Bristol Docks, Brunel carried out extensive improvements. In he was appointed chief engineer to the Great Western Railway.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline

In he introduced a system of pneumatic propulsion on the South Devon Railway, but the experiment was a failure. Brunel was responsible for building more than 1, miles 1, km of railway in the West Country, the Midlands, South Wales, and Ireland. He constructed two railway lines in Italy and was an adviser on the construction of the Victorian lines in Australia and the Eastern Bengal Railway in India. The Maidenhead Bridge had the flattest brick arch in the world. His use of a compressed-air caisson to sink the pier foundations for the bridge helped gain acceptance of compressed-air techniques in underwater and underground construction.

Brunel made outstanding contributions to marine engineering with his three ships, the Great Western , Great Britain , and Great Eastern originally called Leviathan ; , each the largest in the world at its date of launching. The Great Western , a wooden paddle vessel, was the first steamship to provide regular transatlantic service. The Great Britain , an iron-hull steamship, was the first large vessel driven by a screw propeller.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859)

The Great Eastern was propelled by both paddles and screw and was the first ship to utilize a double iron hull. Unsurpassed in size for 40 years, the Great Eastern was not a success as a passenger ship but achieved fame by laying the first successful transatlantic cable.

Brunel worked on the improvement of large guns and designed a floating armoured barge used for the attack on Kronshtadt in during the Crimean War. He also designed a complete prefabricated hospital building that was shipped in parts to Crimea in We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval.

Despite Marc inventing a tunnelling shield that protects workers as they progress, work is still extremely hazardous. Breaches and collapses often halt the project. And on one Saturday, on 12 January , the tunnel floods. Six men are swept to their deaths in a tidal wave of sewage, debris and water. The 22 year old Brunel should have joined them.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

He will build over a hundred bridges but this is the one that history will remember. It spans a ft 76m deep gorge with sheer rock either side. To transport materials across, a 1, ft m iron bar is suspended between the two ends and a man sized basket is pulled back and forth. The first man to test it is Brunel himself. But the rope snags, stranding Brunel. So, ft 61m up, he climbs out and frees the rope allowing his return.

The stunt brings Brunel huge publicity. But as with the Thames Tunnel, work is halted; this time because of riots.

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Some spectacularly injudicious comments by a judge opposed to increasing the number of voters spark three days of looting. During the disorder, Brunel is sworn in as a special constable.

But as the riots end, so does investor interest in the bridge. With this one, he hopes to reduce journey time down to four hours, a full 13 hours quicker than the even the mail coach can achieve. He will spend six.

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His design vision is total. No detail is too small. Everything from the lampposts, stations, locomotives, carriages and even the width of the track are re-designed.

Brunel wants to bring not just speed, but comfort to the travelling public. By doubling the width of the track, he can do that.

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And existing track owners are understandably resistant. And then there are countless landowners who oppose his plans to carve through the countryside.

A parliamentary committee calls Brunel to account. While working on the line from Swindon to Gloucester and South Wales he devised the combination of tubular, suspension and truss bridge to cross the Wye at Chepstow. This design was further improved in his famous bridge over the Tamar at Saltash near Plymouth.

As well as bridges, tunnels and railways, Brunel was responsible for the design of several famous ships. The 'Great Western', launched in , was the first steamship to engage in transatlantic service. The 'Great Britain', launched in , was the world's first iron-hulled, screw propeller-driven, steam-powered passenger liner. The 'Great Eastern', launched in , was designed in cooperation with John Scott Russell, and was by far the biggest ship ever built up to that time, but was not commercially successful.

Brunel was also responsible for the redesign and construction of many of Britain's major docks, including Bristol, Monkwearmouth, Cardiff and Milford Haven. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled.

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