Isambard Kingdom Brunel
British mechanical and civil engineer (1806–1859) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Isambard Kingdom Brunel FRS MInstCE (/ˈɪzəmbɑːrd bruːˈnɛl/; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859)[1] was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer[2] who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history",[3] "one of the 19th-century engineering giants",[4] 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".[5] Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first purpose-built transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel | |
---|---|
Born | (1806-04-09)9 April 1806 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England |
Died | 15 September 1859(1859-09-15) (aged 53) Westminster, London |
Education | |
Occupation | Engineer |
Spouse |
Mary Elizabeth Horsley
(m. 1836) |
Children | 3, including Henry Marc |
Parents | |
Engineering career | |
Discipline |
|
Institutions | |
Projects | |
Significant design | Royal Albert Bridge |
Signature | |
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.[6][7]
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 and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering: the SS Great Western (1838), the SS Great Britain (1843), and the SS Great Eastern (1859).
In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a BBC public poll to determine the "100 Greatest Britons". In 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work under the name Brunel 200.[8]