IK Brunel

As suggested by English Rose to commemorate I.K. Brunel's 200th birthday on April 9th, 2006.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Portsmouth in 1806 and educated at Hove near Brighton. I.K. Brunel's father was Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, a noteworthy Engineer himself. After attending two years of College at Henri Quatre in Paris, Brunel returned to England in 1823 and apprenticed under his father, who at the time was commissioned to build the first tunnel under the river Thames. Brunel was an excellent engineer and soon after his work on the tunnel under the Thames, planned the Clifton Suspension Bridge over the river Avon.

In 1833, at the age of 27, I.K. Brunel was appointed Chief Engineer for the Great Western Railroad, and began work on a line that would connect London and Bristol. The railroad was to include stations at Bath, Chippenham, Swindon, Maidenhead, and Reading with branch lines to Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon. In this endeavor, he designed and built the Viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham. I.K. Brunel also designed the Maidenhead Bridge to cross the Thames. The double arch Brick Bridge was completed in 1838, and at the time had the longest, flattest semi-elliptical arches on a bridge. The rails on the bridge and the rest of the railroad utilized I.K. Brunel's broad gauge (7ft 0.25in) which were 50% larger than Standard Gauge. Brunel felt this would lead to a smoother ride at high speeds. During this project I.K. Brunel also created Box Tunnel, a 2 mile long railroad tunnel through Box hill between Bath and Chippenham. The tunnel took five years to build and at the time of it's opening in 1841, it was the longest tunnel in the world.

In addition to his railroad work, I. K. also built steam powered ships. In 1838 he built a paddle steamer called the Great Western, which was the first transatlantic passenger steamship in regular service. On its maiden voyage from Bristol to New York, it took just 15 days to cross the Atlantic. Next I.K. built the Great Britain, a large iron hulled, screw propeller-driven steamship, again designed for Atlantic crossings that launched in 1845, this time from Liverpool. In 1858 Brunel started to build the Great Eastern, which took 5 years to build and was completed after his death. The giant paddle steamer, with a displacement of 22,500 tons, was built to make the trip to Australia via the Cape of Good Hope without being re-coaled along the way. All of Brunel's ships were made with sails to save fuel. In addition to ships, I.K. Brunel also designed docks at Bristol, Monkwearmouth, Cardiff and Milford Haven.

In January, 1858, I.K. Brunel suffered a seizure and died a week later at the age of 52. Many of I.K. Brunel's bridges, tunnels, and rails are operational to this day.

References:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/brunel_kingdom_isambard.shtml

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