Isambard Kingdom Brunel was one of the most important engineers of the 19th century. Although his life was cut short by a stroke at age 53, his impressive body of work included numerous innovative design projects for bridges, tunnels, viaducts, docks, and super ships that greatly facilitated the rapid growth of Great Britain’s ground and sea transportation system at the height of the Industrial Revolution.
Brunel’s French father was a distinguished engineer in his own right who had fled to England to escape the horrors of the French Revolution. He married an English woman, and in 1820 the couple sent their son Isambard to France to study mathematics and science. Two years later the younger Brunel returned to England to join his father who was supervising the construction of a tunnel under the Thames River from Rotherhithe to Wapping, a project not completed until 1843. Isambard was injured in a cave-in during the construction and went to Bristol to recuperate. While in Bristol, he entered into a design competition for the construction of a suspension bridge over the gorge through which the Avon River flowed. His several submissions won over the judges because they not only addressed the essential practicality and stability in their design of the bridge but, as he observed afterwards, also demonstrated vision, grace, and taste. These traits made his work noteworthy and set him apart from most contemporary engineers.
The Avon gorge project resulted in the erection of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Brunel’s span measured 700 feet, a distance never before attempted. The bridge’s height was a breathtaking 245 feet Above the river level. Work on the span began in 1831 and reached fruition in 1864. Unfortunately, only the end piers of the bridge had been completed before Brunel’s death in 1859. His engineering associates took it upon themselves to see the project to its completion in his honor. As a testimony to his achievement, the Clifton Suspension Bridge remains in use to this day.
Brunel’s Avon project progressed slowly and gave him the opportunity to become involved in another venture. Civic officials desired to establish a railway connection between Bristol and London, a distance of just over 100 miles. This project initially raised concern amongst the local landed gentry and landlords who were fearful of the impact of this new technology with respect to noise and the disruption of the countryside. Indeed, even the famous Duke of Wellington expressed his trepidation claiming that expansion of the railway system would result in an indiscriminate migration of the lower classes. In 1835 Parliament settled the matter by passing an act creating the Great Western Railway.
Brunel became the main engineer for the project. This endeavor required substantial planning and skill to overcome a number of engineering obstacles presented by the terrain between Bristol and London. In 1836 construction began simultaneously at two sites at each end of the railway’s course. Brunel’s effort resulted in the construction of a number of innovative and impressive tubular, suspension, and truss bridges as well as tunnels and viaducts along the route in order to ensure the railway had the most direct route possible. The first section of the railway opened for business in May 1838. Once completed in 1841 the entire line had been labeled, “Brunel’s Billiard Table,’’ and had cost 6.5 million pounds, more than twice the original estimate. It even featured the first public refreshment rooms, facilities that allowed passengers to debark for ten minutes to attend to personal affairs. Interestingly, the Great Western Railway officials soon came to frown upon these conveniences as they slowed the pace of the trains. To compensate, in 1845 the company instituted express service along the line.
Despite Brunel’s remarkable success, the project also had several glitches. First, he advocated the adoption of an atmospheric railway rather than a locomotive, arguing that it provided more reliability on steep gradients. However, the technology to use the atmospheric railway was very sophisticated and the materials available were not substantial enough to offset the costs. Brunel abandoned this proposal after a year’s effort, assumed full responsibility for its failure, and took no funds for his effort to employ the atmospheric railway. Second, Bru-nel advocated a railway with a broad gauge of just over seven feet. The standard gauge on existing lines was four feet, eight and one half inches. His broad gauge did offer the advantage of a more smooth and stable ride. However, he faced stiff opposition from his good friend and rival, Robert Stephenson, son of the famous George Stephenson, whose substantial railroad network employed the standard gauge. In 1846 Parliament resolved the controversy by denying the use of the broad gauge on any new lines. However, the politicians did compromise and allowed any broad gauge lines already in existence to add a third rail, a modification that permitted rail transportation to pass unimpeded across the railway. However, the ultimate adoption of the standard gauge resulted in the removal of the last Brunel broad gauges in 1892.
In addition to his contribution on the Great Western Railway, Brunel designed several important sea-going vessels. Brunel convinced his investors that a transatlantic shipping network would work well in conjunction with railway services at the ports. He organized the Great Western Steamship Company in Bristol. In the late 1830s he had designed and supervised construction of the Great Western, the first steamship to make transatlantic service. The Great Western was constructed of wood, measured 236 feet in length, and was powered by sail and paddlewheels. Its first voyage to New York took fifteen days and the return two weeks. Formerly, a one-way journey by sail alone took a month. The Great Western ultimately made 74 trips to New York. In the early 1840s he designed the Great Britain, a 3,270 ton iron-clad vessel powered by steam and a screw propeller. It consisted of state rooms and cabins for 360 passengers and boasted an exquisite dining room. It was later modernized to transport 630 passengers and traveled between London and Australia for nearly two decades. The Great Britain ended up as a relic in the Falkland Islands until it was rescued in the 1970s and returned to Bristol for restoration.
In the 1850s Brunel, assisted by John Scott Russell, a noted engineer and naval architect of the day, designed and constructed the Great Eastern, the largest ship ever built at that time. It was 693 feet in length, 120 feet wide, and weighed 18,900 tons. The vessel housed
4,000 passengers, although on its maiden voyage only 38 ticket bearing passengers made the journey. The ship also had enough fuel storage capacity to make the entire trip from London to Australia without a refueling stop. Unfortunately, the Great Eastern seemed to be jinxed. Scott Russell had underestimated the cost to build the ship, and its construction came to a halt in 1856. Brunel, true to his nature, persevered and won new financing. In spite of construction delays, technical problems, and his own illness, which prevented his participation in the initial launch, the Great Eastern sailed. However, within a few hours the ship experienced an explosion that might have destroyed a lesser vessel. Furthermore, Brunel himself died within a week of the accident. The combination of the explosion and Brunel’s death was too
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Much to overcome. The Great Eastern’s passenger business did not fare well, even though the ship represented a scale and technical capability never before seen in passenger vessels. Smaller and swifter ships run by competing companies retained the major share of the transocean passenger service. The Great Eastern never made a profit and was finally broken up in 1888. It retained the title as the world’s largest passenger ship until the launch of the super ships in the early 20th century: the Lusitania in 1907, the Titanic in 1912, and the Imperator in 1913. However, prior to its demise, the Great Eastern found an even more significant purpose for its mammoth size and powerful engines. In 1866 Cyrus Field, the American entrepreneur who had teamed up with Samuel Morse on the initial concept of a transatlantic cable, employed the ship to lay 5,000 tons of telegraphic cable under water between Newfoundland and Ireland. The ship continued in its new role for a number of years and laid telegraphic cable on the ocean floor across the globe.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is one of the heroes of the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. He was an heir to the many developments in invention, technology, business organization, and political support that had evolved since the 18th century. Brunel’s genius is that he brought together the complex aspects of technical skill, engineering principles, and entrepreneurship in new and effective ways. In so doing he created sophisticated infrastructure and vessels that propelled persons and goods across imposing landscapes and the vast oceans and became a model for enterprising individuals that followed him. He had a distinct and creative approach, becoming personally and professionally involved in every aspect of his projects. Brunel had the ability to attract financial support, maintain the loyalty and productivity of his work force, and sustain high standards in a very competitive environment. It is true that he took many risks, but in no case did he endanger the persons for whom his projects were intended—the railway and ship passengers of the general public and the labor whose sweat and toil constructed his sophisticated projects. Rather, Brunel and his shareholders assumed the risks themselves. Despite periodic disappointments and failures, Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s achievements reflected the best spirit of technical innovation and vision for the future in the rapidly changing 19th century.
World History
