I. K.

Brunel
Eva Kramoliov, rka Motanov

Contents

LIFE

WORK

Introducing I. K. Brunel

Thames tunnel

The story of his name

Great Western Railway

Youth and studies

Bridges

Personal life

Ships

 *9 April 180615 September 1859

TheGreat Western Railway

Isambard
Kingdom
Brunel

Dockyards, steamships, bridges and tunnels

Revolution in public transport and modern
engineering
Innovative engineering solutions
First tunnel under a navigable river
SS Great Britain
First propeller-driven ocean-going iron ship

Isambard
Kingdom
Brunel
By Robert Howlett en.wikipedia, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=937183

 Uniting of his parents' names

The story of
his name

Family name of his father

Middle name is his mother's surname
First nameIsambard is his father's middle name
His father's preferred given name
Norman name of Germanic origin "iron-bright"

 French civil engineer Sir Marc Isambard Brunel +

Sophia Kingdom
Happy childhood despite money worries

Youth and
studies

Early years
His father was his teacher
From 4yrs: drawing and observational techniques
By 8yrs: Euclidean Geometry
+ Fluent French, principles of engineering
Drew interesting buildings and identified faults in their
structure

At 8yrs boarding school inHove

 University in Paris
Father wanted fine French education for Isambard

Father was sent to debtors prison

Youth and
studies

Proclaimed he was considering offer from Russian tsar

Government afraid of losing a prominent engineer
paid his debt

1822 completed Lyce Henri-IV

Applied to cole Polytechnique
Renowned engineering school
Foreigner ineligible for entry

Studied under Abraham-Luis Breguet

master clockmaker and horologist

Sir Marc
Isambard
Brunel
James Northcote - National
Portrait Gallery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Marc_Isambard_Brunel#/med
ia/File:Sir_Marc_Isambard_Br
unel_by_James_Northcote.jpg

 1836 married Mary Elizabeth Horsley (b. 1813)

Accomplished musical and artistic family

Home at Duke Street, Westminster, London

Personal life

1843 magician trick for his children

Inhaled acoin lodged in his windpipe

Forceps failed to remove it
Machine devised by him failed
Brunel strapped to a board, turned upside-down
The coin was jerked free

 Recuperated at Teignmouth

Personal life

Enjoyed the area

Purchased an estate at Watcombe, Torqay, Devon
Designed Brunel Manorand its gardens
His country home

Never saw it finished

Died before it was completed

 Heavy smoker,suffered a stroke in 1859

Just before Great Easterns first voyage to NY

Personal life

Died 10 days later

At the age of 53
Buried inKensal Green Cemetry in London
Like his father

Brunel Manor
http://mapio.net/o/882910/

Brunel Manor
s Gardens
By BbeGx at English
Wikipedia - Transferred
fromen.wikipediato
CommonsbyOxymanusing
CommonsHelper., Public
Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=7749709

 From Wapping to Rotherhithe

First tunnel under a river anywhere in the world

Thames
tunnel

Designed by Marc Brunel (Isambard's father)

Revolutionary tunnel shield
36 cells each workman working independently

1825 Operation started

Halted many times
The river burst in flooded the workings
Once halted for 7 yrs the tunnel bricked up
The stoppages meant financial problems

 I. K. Brunel later in charge of operations

Nearly lost his life in a flood
Opened in 1843

Thames
tunnel

First 4 months attraction

More than a million people passed through

Originally a foot tunnel eventually sold to the

railways
1865 part of the London Underground system
Until today (151 years later)

Thames
tunnel
Chris Geatch
https://www.flickr.com/photos
/geatchy/14267480024/in/ph
otostream/

 Bristol to London railway needed

Brunel was the engineer

Great
Western
Railway

He probably named it
Brunel's vision: one ticket at London Paddington
Travel from London to New York
Using Great Western Railway + Great Western
steamship

31 August 1835 Parliament Bill authorising the

construction

 Gauge of the railway not specified in the plans

Deliberately, negotiated by Brunel

Great
Western
Railway

Standard gauge then: 4ft 8in

Brunel calculated a wider gauge would allow

Locomotives with larger wheels

Lower centre of gravity
More safety, higher speeds, smoother, faster ride
Room aboard for more passengers
Earn back the construction cost

 Controversial decisions
Broad gauge 7 ft 14

Great
Western
Railway

Superior running at high speeds

Most British railways to date used standard gauge

Route north of the Marlborough Downs

Area with no significant towns
Potential connections to Oxford and Gloucester

Designed London Paddington station

Opened in 1854
Same until today

Great
Western
Railway
By Charles F. Cheffins Cheffins's Map of English &
Scotch Railways, 1850
(preserved at University of
Chicago Digital Preservation
Collection), Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=31265064

Bridges
Clifton Suspension Bridge
Other bridges

 In Bristol
249 ft (76 m) above the River Avon

Clifton
Suspension
Bridge

Span over 702 ft (214 m)

Longest span in the world back then

Brunel submitted 4 designs

Committee rejected all entries
Proposed their own design

Opposition from the public > new competition >

Brunel won
1831 work started

 Suspended due to the Bristol riots

No investors no money
Construction ceased

Clifton
Suspension
Bridge

Brunel never saw it finished

1862 work recommenced as a memorial
Completed in 1864
5 years after Brunel's death

2011 suggestions that Brunel didnt design the bridge

Later changes of design were substantial
Re-engineering of suspension chains

Clifton
Suspension
Bridge
https://www.flickr.com/photos
/sagesolar/7858490506/in/ph
otostream/

Other
bridges

Many bridges for his railway projects

Royal Albert Bridge

Somerset Bridge
Windsor Railway Bridge
Maidenhead Railway Bridge over the Thames

The Royal
Albert Bridge
By Geof Sheppard - Own
work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=6554012

Ships
SS Great Western
SS Great Britain
SS Great Eastern

Specifications:

SS Great
Western

Length:
Beam:
Tonnage:
Engines:
Service
speed:
Passengers:

212 feet(64.8 m)
35.3 feet(10.8)
1,340 gross tons
Steam engine turning two paddle
wheels.
9 knots
148 people

 1837 Great Western Railway Co. Meeting

Brunel head engineer

Great
Western

Suggests extending the line to NY

Across the North Atlantic
New large passenger steamship

Radical idea
Discussions and economic calculations
Approved permission to build it

 Wooden paddle steamer

Constructed in the shipyards of William Patterson,
Bristol

Great
Western

First purpose built transatlantic steamer

Largest ship ever so far
July 19th1837 launched
christenedGreat Western

Towed to London had her engines installed

 Rival of SS Great Western Royal Victoria

Great
Western

British & American Steam Navigation Co.

Delays in construction
Not completed in time

Still wanted to win

Chartered the SSSirius

Sirius 700-ton coastal steamer

Ordinaryroute Cork-London
Now to sail across the Atlantic

 April 4th Siriusdeparted from Queenstown

Great
Western

Loaded with coal

Head start of theGreat Western
Ran out of coal still eager to win
Scavenged the ship for auxiliary fuel
Furniture, doors, emergency mast fuel

April 8th Great Western departed

Only 7 passengers on board
Reached NY 4hours after Sirius
Her crossing time 4 days faster
14 days and 12 hours

 Continued regular service across the North Atlantic

1846 Laid up after 64 crossings

Great
Western

1847 Sold to the Royal Mail Steam Packet Co.

1855 Military use by the British government
Return to commercial service
18 year old unwanted

1856 Sold for scrap

Last trip to Vauxhall, London was cut up

SS Great
Western
By Joseph Walter (1783
1856) - Royal Museums
Greenwich, Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=26954529

SS Sirius
By George Atkinson Jnr - [1],
Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=3776767

Specifications:

SS Great
Britain

Length:
Beam:
Tonnage:
Engines:
Service
speed:
Passengers:

322 feet(98.4 m)
50.6 feet(15.5 m)
3,270 gross tons
Four cylinder steam engine turning a single
propeller.
9 knots
Originally 350 people

 Success of Great Western motivation

Great Western wooden

Great
Britain

Iron stronger material larger ships

Great Western Railway Co. wants a mail contract
Few sister ships to Great Western
Brunel proposes one large ship instead

Revolutionary idea not appealing

Brunel convinced the company

 July 1839 construction starts

Pattersons shipbuilding yards, Bristol

Great
Britain

Intended name Mammoth

Propeller instead of paddle wheels
It seemed more efficient
Brunel changed the plans for his new ship
New name Great Britain.

 July 19th1843 launched

Great
Britain

Mrs. Miles wife of one of the company directors

Swung bottle of champagne missed
His Royal Highness Prince Albert was present
Succesfully threw a spare bottle

The most luxurious accommodations ever

Largest ship so far
Plenty of space for passenger areas
Cabins for 350 passengers

 July 26th1845maiden voyage

From Liverpool to New York

1852 purchased by GIBBS, BRIGHT & CO

Great
Britain

For carrying emigrants to Australia

New engine more efficient
Added second funnel
Replaced the rudder and propellers
Relied more on sail power
Engine and propeller mostly a back-up
Upper deck up to 700 passengers

 18821886 carried exports (coal, wheat)

Great
Britain

England west coast of America

Extraordinary distance
Wildest sea conditions in the world
1886 badly damaged by storms off Cape Horn
Shelter in the Falkland Islands
Cost of repairs was too high
Insurers sold it to Falkand Islands Company

 1933 working life ended

Rescue attempt failed
Abandoned and left to rust away

Ewan Corlett naval architect

Great
Britain

Knew the importance of the ship

Second rescue operation

Return the ship to the U.K.

13th April 1970 Salvage team refloated it
Crossed the Atlantic on a floating pontoon
Pulled by tugs
8,000 mile to birth place in Bristol

SS Great
Britain
By mattbuck (category) Photo by mattbuck., CC BYSA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=7335238

Specifications:

SS Great
Eastern

Length:

689 feet(211 m)

Beam:

117.9 feet(36 m)

Deep draught:
Tonnage:

30.1 feet(9.2 m)
18,915 gross tons

Service speed:

14 knots

 Massive 22,500-ton steamship

Ahead of her time

Great
Eastern

Length and tonnage unmatched for 40yrs

By far the largest ship ever

Intended for the passenger and cargo trade

England Ceylon

Christened Leviathan
November 1857 Initial launching Great Eastern

 September 1859 First voyage

Cut short boiler explosion

Great
Eastern

Expense of repairs company collapsed

New owner

June 1860 Reached NY

Exhibited + voyages along the U.S. Coast
Sold at auction
Made bankrupt more than 3 companies

 Chartered for laying a trans-Atlantic telegraph cable

1866 Brought a cable to North America
Communication Old WorldNew World

Great
Eastern

1867 Effort to put her back passenger service

Unsuccesful

Returned to cable work

18691874 strung 6 more cables

From Europe to America
Repaired 2 earlier ones
Laid one across the Indian ocean

SS Great
Eastern
By National Library of Ireland
on The Commons - Ladies
should visit the..., No
restrictions,
https://commons.wikimedia.o
rg/w/index.php?
curid=24251924

 https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isambard_Kingdom_Brunel
http://www.ikbrunel.org.uk/thames-tunnel

Sources

http://
www.thegreatoceanliners.com/greatwestern.html
http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/story/timeline
http://www.ikbrunel.org.uk/ss-great-eastern

Thank you for your

attention!
Any questions?