Isambard kingdom brunel bridges

Boats, bridges, railways - all things we use every day.

But have you ever wondered how these structures are built?

The people who design and build them are called engineers, and one of the most famous is called Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

He lived a long time ago, but we still use many of his designs today.

Brunel's first job was helping his dad design a tunnel to go under the River Thames in London.

Although he didn't finish the tunnel, he was asked to solve other important problems.

People wanted to travel faster between places such as from the capital, London, to the city of Bristol.

His Great Western Railway made this possible.

People wanted to go to America to trade, to buy and sell things. They needed to get there quickly before other traders so that they could earn more money.

Often hills, rivers and even oceans made travel hard, but Brunel used his engineering genius to overcome these.

He came up with clever ways to make his designs bigger and faster than anything before!

His ship, SS Great Eastern, was the largest ship in the world at the time. It was so enormous it had to be launched sideways!

People didn't think it would work, but Brunel’s designs meant the ship didn't sink, even when it struck a rock and was badly damaged!

Brunel's ideas and designs helped people to travel further and quicker than ever before!

Businesses became richer because they could buy and sell things more easily.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's work truly changed the way people lived during his lifetime and continue to make our lives better today!

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a prominent 19th century British engineer, known for his innovative designs and outstanding contributions in the areas of railway engineering, bridge building and naval architecture. His lifetime’s work included the construction of twenty-five railway lines and over one hundred bridges. In a 2002 BBC poll for The Greatest Briton, Brunel came in second only to Winston Churchill.

Background

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Portsmouth in 1806. Influenced by his father, a renowned civil engineer, he developed a keen interest in engineering and innovation from an early age. When he was 16, he joined his father’s engineering firm, where he gained significant experience while developing his methods and ideas.

As his reputation and talent as an engineer grew, so did his desire for larger projects. One of his great achievements was the design and construction of the Great Western Railway, connecting London to Bristol via a series of bridges and tunnels.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

As a young engineer in 1829, Brunel submitted a bridge design to a competition organised by a Bristol based wine merchant; he proposed a suspension bridge across the Avon Gorge. He won the contract, which became his first major commission, and construction of the Clifton Suspension Bridge (pictured) started in 1836. Due to financial constraints however, the project was postponed and much of the ironwork was sold off. It wasn’t until after Brunel’s death that the work was continued by his engineering colleagues, and it now stands as an iconic structure in Bristol.

Maidenhead Railway Bridge

In 1830, Brunel built the Maidenhead Railway Bridge, a crucial brick arch bridge that carried the Great Western Railway across the River Thames between Maidenhead and Taplow. This project presented several challenges; the location of construction had a variable water level and the soft riverbed made it difficult to build secure foundatio

Brunel’s Bridges: Clifton Suspension Bridge 150th Anniversary by John Christopher

Leaping across the Avon Gorge, the Clifton Suspension Bridge is a statement of Victorian bravado, ingenuity and engineering prowess. It was Brunel’s first major commission, his ‘first love’ as he put it, and the bridge has become the city’s most famous and iconic landmark. But its construction was far from straightforward and marred by a shortage of funds it was abandoned by the time of his death, only to be completed by his engineering colleagues as a memorial to their friend. Brunel expert John Christopher tells the story of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and of his other most notable bridges including the Hungerford Bridge in London, the wide brick-built bridges that carried the GWR over the Thames, the iron bowstring bridge at Windsor, the wooden and masonry railway bridges at Bath and Bristol, plus the numerous timber viaducts and bridges, and culminating with the magnificent tubular iron bridges at Chepstow and Saltash.

John Christopher has written and edited a number of books on Engineering, Military History and Railway and Road Transport, specializing in the life and works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and being the series editor for Amberley’s Bradshaw’s Guides series. He has also appeared in Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys television series. In between writing books, he is a balloon pilot and Land Rover fan. He lives in Gloucestershire.

British mechanical and civil engineer (1806–1859)

"Brunel" redirects here. For other uses, see Brunel (disambiguation).

Isambard Kingdom Brunel (IZZ-əm-bard KING-dəm broo-NELL; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engineering giants", and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions". Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first purpose-built transatlanticsteamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting his father in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river (the River Thames) and the development of the SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, which, when launched in 1843, was the largest ship ever built.

On the GWR, Brunel set standards for a well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimise gradients and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques, new bridges, new viaducts, and the two-mile-long (3.2 km) Box Tunnel. One controversial feature was the "broad gauge" of 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm), instead of what was later to be known as "standard gauge" of 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm). He astonished Britain by proposing to extend the GWR westward to North America by building steam-powered, iron-hulled ships. He designed an