Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth. His father Mark was a French engineer who had moved to England. Brunel was educated both in England and in France.

Brunel was one of the most brilliant engineers of the 19th century, responsible for the design of tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships. He returned to England after his education and went to work for his father. His father was building a tunnel under the river Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping, and Brunel worked with huge enthusiasm, not only in the planning but also in the tunnel with the workers. He noticed water seeping into the tunnel from the river at one point and he got in a boat and started sounding the river bed. He found he could sink a tube from his boat right through the soft material of the seabed and actually talk to the workers in the tunnel. There was a cave-in at one time and Brunel with other workers were swept away in the tidal wave. He was rescued but eight of his fellow workers were killed.

In 1831, Brunel's brilliance won him the competition for the design of a suspension bridge across the River Avon., at Bristol. Construction began the same year but it was not completed until 1864. The bridge still stands today.

Brunel is probably best remembered for his construction of a network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts for the Great Western Railway. He was appointed their chief engineer in 1833 and he surveyed, designed and built the line that linked London to Bristol. Tremendous achievements during its construction included viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham, the bridge at Maidenhead, the Box Tunnel and Bristol Temple Meads Station. He also devised the combination of tubular, suspension and truss bridge to cross the Wye at Chepstow and in his bridge over the River Tamar at Saltash near Plymouth.

Brunel's dream was to have a passenger route from London to America. He accomplished this by building the railway from London to West Wales, the passengers then embarking on his ships to sail to America.

As well as bridges, tunnels and railways, Brunel was responsible for the design of several famous ships. The 'Great Western', launched in 1837, was the first steamship to engage in transatlantic service. The 'Great Britain', launched in 1843, was the world's first iron-hulled, screw propeller-driven, steam-powered passenger liner. She was later removed from the Falkland Islands where she had been scrapped and brought back to Bristol to be restored. She now sits proudly in the dry dock where she was originally built. The 'Great Eastern', launched in 1859, was designed in cooperation with John Scott Russell, and was by far the biggest ship ever built up to that time.

Brunel was also responsible for the redesign and construction of many of Britain's major docks, including Bristol, Cardiff and Milford Haven. He died of a stroke on 15 September 1859.