Brunel, Isambard Kingdom

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BRUNEL, ISAMBARD KINGDOM

BRUNEL, ISAMBARD KINGDOM (1806–1859), English engineer.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel has come to be regarded as one of the heroic engineers of the British Industrial Revolution, a reputation that stems from his visionary roles in building the Great Western Railway (GWR) and constructing large steamships. He was the only son of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769–1849), a civil engineer. From an early age, Isambard Kingdom shared his father's professional interests, and these were fostered by parental guidance in draftsmanship and the proper application of tools. He received a formal education in first England and then France, when his French-born father enabled him to spend a period with Louis Breguet (1747–1823), one of the foremost clockmakers. Isambard Kingdom completed his introduction to engineering through assisting his father's project for a tunnel under the River Thames. Despite an innovative tunneling process involving a shield, the scheme was ill-fated, and Isambard Kingdom nearly lost his life when the workings were flooded on 12 January 1828. The tunnel finally opened to pedestrians in March 1843, and in 1869 a railway was laid within it—to ultimately form a north–south link in London's underground system.

Following the Thames tunnel's collapse in 1828, Isambard Kingdom convalesced at Bristol, circumstances that led to his design for the Clifton suspension bridge. His second essay was accepted but Isambard Kingdom never saw his bridge. The erection of its two towers exhausted construction funds, and the elegant bridge was only completed in 1864, undertaken by the Institution of Civil Engineers as a memorial to him. The connections that Isambard Kingdom developed within Bristol business circles also resulted in his acting as a consultant for improvement of the city's docks and being appointed in March 1833 the engineer to the GWR. Over the next fifteen years, he designed a complete railway, including locomotives, for a line initially between London and Bristol (fully opened in 1841), but which was ultimately extended to Penzance in the southwest, to Milford Haven in southwest Wales, to Birmingham in the midlands, and to Birkenhead in the northwest.

Isambard Kingdom took a unique approach to railway building, eschewing methods that stemmed from early northeastern colliery lines and were pursued by his rivals George Stephenson (1781–1848) and Robert Stephenson (1803–1859). He introduced broad gauge—seven feet between the rails—and laid the track on longitudinal sleepers to provide a stable permanent way on which trains could be run safely at speed. This objective was also obtained by detailed surveying that resulted in a very carefully graded routeway. Care with establishing the line went along with fine designs for its bridges, tunnels, and viaducts. However, not all of his innovations were successful, as with the South Devon

"atmospheric" (pneumatic) railway, and broad gauge soon lost its competitive advantage, forcing the GWR to abandon it, first for its extensions to the midlands and the northwest and, ultimately, for its initial lines in southern England and Wales. Furthermore, although he was an outstanding civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom's locomotives performed poorly and GWR's timetable performance only came about following the introduction of haulage designed by Daniel Gooch (1816–1889).

As the GWR was being conceived, Bristol was being rapidly overtaken in the Atlantic trades by Liverpool and Glasgow. This may have led to Isambard Kingdom suggesting in spring 1833 that the projected railway should go to New York, under-taken by an associated shipping company. As its engineer he designed the Great Western, a very large wooden paddle steamer of 2,300 tons, which gave it the capacity to carry its fuel. Although the Cunard line operating from Liverpool won the North Atlantic mail contract, Isambard Kingdom designed a further vessel, Great Britain, which was even larger, over 3000 tons. The Great Britain, which was constructed of iron, was screw-propelled. Too big to use Bristol as a homeport, the Great Britain sailed principally from Liverpool until its stranding in 1846 forced the liquidation of the GWR's associated steamship enterprise.

Isambard Kingdom undertook his design work from a London office, and it included docks at Sunderland and an Italian railway. The growth of trade with the Orient led him to design and financially sponsor an enormous iron steamship, Great Eastern, of 32,000 tons, propelled by paddles and a screw. For its construction he formed a partnership with John Scott Russell (1808–1882), who had a yard on the Thames at the Isle of Dogs. The project was marked by quarrels between its engineer and its shipbuilder as well as technical difficulties. Isambard Kingdom was dying when the Great Eastern made its maiden voyage in September 1859, surviving just long enough to learn that it had suffered an explosion in the boiler room when in the English Channel. However, the strength of the ship's structure enabled the Great Eastern to continue to sail until 1888, although never at a profit. Its construction almost financially ruined Brunel, who died on 15 September 1859.

bibliography

Primary Sources

Brunel, Isambard. The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer. 1870. Introduction by L. T. C. Rolt. Newton Abbot, U.K., 1971.

Gibbs, George Henry. The Birth of the Great Western Railway: Extracts from the Diary and Correspondence of George Henry Gibbs. Edited by Jack Simmons. Bath, U.K., 1971.