The Thames by Marc Isambard : the World's first sub-aqueous tunnel

Autor(en): Haan, David de

Objekttyp: Article

Zeitschrift: Ferrum : Nachrichten aus der Eisenbibliothek, Stiftung der Georg Fischer AG

Band (Jahr): 80 (2008)

PDF erstellt am: 03.10.2021

Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-378448

Nutzungsbedingungen Die ETH-Bibliothek ist Anbieterin der digitalisierten Zeitschriften. Sie besitzt keine Urheberrechte an den Inhalten der Zeitschriften. Die Rechte liegen in der Regel bei den Herausgebern. Die auf der Plattform e-periodica veröffentlichten Dokumente stehen für nicht-kommerzielle Zwecke in Lehre und Forschung sowie für die private Nutzung frei zur Verfügung. Einzelne Dateien oder Ausdrucke aus diesem Angebot können zusammen mit diesen Nutzungsbedingungen und den korrekten Herkunftsbezeichnungen weitergegeben werden. Das Veröffentlichen von Bildern in Print- und Online-Publikationen ist nur mit vorheriger Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber erlaubt. Die systematische Speicherung von Teilen des elektronischen Angebots auf anderen Servern bedarf ebenfalls des schriftlichen Einverständnisses der Rechteinhaber.

Haftungsausschluss Alle Angaben erfolgen ohne Gewähr für Vollständigkeit oder Richtigkeit. Es wird keine Haftung übernommen für Schäden durch die Verwendung von Informationen aus diesem Online-Angebot oder durch das Fehlen von Informationen. Dies gilt auch für Inhalte Dritter, die über dieses Angebot zugänglich sind.

Ein Dienst der ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Schweiz, www.library.ethz.ch

http://www.e-periodica.ch The Thames Tunnel by Marc Isambard Brunei ¦fc;,:~* The world's first sub-aqueous tunnel

Prof. David de Haan W :_-' --- Born in London, he has a BA in Art & Design from Corsham, Bath, an MA in the History of Technology from London, Imperial College, and a museum tw m career spanning 37 years, which began at the Science Museum in London in 1970 and continued from 1978 at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum, where he is -V ri H H now Director of Learning and n Programme Director of the jirJ Ironbridge Institute, University of -LK Birmingham. His research specialisms include the 1779 Iron Bridge, the 1851 , and the art of the Industrial Plate 1: Detail from the Patent fora circular tunnel. UK Patent number 4204, January 1818. Revolution. He is a Fellow of the (Foto: Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust) ' Museums Association in the UK.

French-born civil engineer Marc Isambard Brunei built Marc Isambard Brunei [1769-1849] invented the tunnelling the world's first underwater tunnel in London and invented shield in 1818. He was born and educated in France as a the , providing a protected workspace naval officer and mechanical engineer, but in the age of the for the labourers. The Thames Tunnel was constructed polymath he was also an accomplished inventor, artist and only a few metres below the bed of the river, so there were musician. He escaped the Revolution in 1793 and sailed endless problems when the river broke in. Work began in to America where he worked as Chief Engineer to the port 1825 with private funding, but after three years they ran of New York, but six years later in 1799 he settled in England out of money. An underwater fundraising banquet held where he lived until his death.2 Much of his career was in 1827 was not enough and work soon came to a complete involved with inventions used at the naval dockyards at stop. Six years later they started again, this time with a Chatham east of London, especially the machinery that government loan and the tunnel finally opened in 1843. It is mass-produced ship's blocks in 1801 - the first production still in daily use today as part of London's Underground line of 4-5 machines that made standard parts and produced system. the 100 000 blocks needed each year at a fraction of the price.3 He also invented the pendulum saw in 1805, the circular saw in 1808, and mass-produced boots and shoes Der in Frankreich geborene Ingenieur Marc Isambard for Wellington's army in 1810.4 Brunei baute in London den ersten Unterwasser-Tunnel der Welt und entwickelte dabei den Schildvortrieb, welcher den Arbeitern einen gesicherten Arbeitsbereich The Tunnelling Shield bot. Da der Thames Tunnel nur wenige Meter unter In 1818 Marc patented the world's first tunnelling shield5 dem Flussbett gelegen war, kam es immer wieder zu (Plate 1 He proposed two versions, a circular one which is Problemen mit eindringendem Flusswasser. Die Arbeiten the precursor of modern shields, providing a safe working am Tunnel wurden 1825 mit privaten Mitteln begonnen, area and a method of lining the tunnel with cast iron welche jedoch nach drei Jahren erschöpft waren. Auch ein segments. However, it was the other one that was to be part 1827 unter Wasser abgehaltenes Fundraising-Bankett of his life from 1825 until old age. It was to be for a 365m konnte nicht genügend Mittel zur weiteren Finanzierung two-carriageway road tunnel under the aufbringen und so kam das Projekt zu einem kompletten downstream of London Bridge in the busiest part of the port. Stillstand. Erst sechs Jahre später konnten die Bauarbeiten A tunnel in the middle of the port made a lot of sense and wieder aufgenommen werden, diesmal finanziert the idea was easy to sell to potential shareholders. durch eine Staatsanleihe. 1843 wurde der Tunnel eröffnet und wird heute, als Teil des Londoner U-Bahn-Systems, tagtäglich genutzt. Ferrum (80) 200 113 ¦

'.FF

l/r,i/„ •<¦' folA* : Ëîe - t' Sft*.±Vì rrpr ?,¦ Plate 2: The rectangular fra me of the tunnelling shield 't ^rrî ¦'-y4- for 36 miners used underthe Thames. I Foto: Elton Collection)"

-., Af.

Plate 4: The brick shaft and its timber framing built on the south bank of the Thames, 1825. IFoto: Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust)

The conditions for tunnelling below the river bed were far from ideal, with layers of mud and gravel above a thin band of clay, and quicksand below it. Here a circular tunnel was out of the question because the intention had always been to allow horse-drawn carriages through the tunnel. The band of clay was too thin for a circle that would be big enough. Instead Marc Brunei designed a rectangular shield to provide a safe working area for 36 miners who could all excavate spoil at the same time"1 (Plate 2). Twelve cast iron frames provided a working platform, each allowing space for three miners standing one above the other (Plate 3). The working face was protected by a series of wooden boards about 11cm high, each of which could be moved out of the "< way so the earth could be excavated a short way before being replaced. In this way the working face was continuously supported until the whole frame could be jacked forwards by about 23cm. Behind the tunnelling frame a team of bricklayers constructed the two parallel using 16 750 bricks per meter, 71 million bricks in the whole project.

Working Shafts The intention was to sink a shaft on each shore and link them with a twin-bore road tunnel. On completion they would y then add much wider 75 m diameter spiral descents in two more shafts so that horse-drawn vehicles could use the tunnel. Publicity began in 1824. with the printing of small illustrated booklets", which were used to persuade investors to buy shares because the tunnel was to be privately funded. They continued to be updated and reprinted almost Plate 3: One of the cast iron frames of the tunnelling every Site work in March 1825 to build the world's first shield. With 12 frames side by side the working face year. began The shaft at was 12,5 m x 6,8 m, the others not shown. There were sub-aqueous tunnel. circular access Rother- two 8-hour shifts a day with 36 miners working at a hithe on the southern bank was initially built above ground. time.' It had an iron ring with a cutting edge on the bottom and a

1U Ferrum (80) 2008 shelf above it on which to build a circular brick wall (Plate 4). When the bricks had been built to a height of 13m and nearly 1m thick labourers began to excavate out the spoil in the centre and to the amazement of spectators the shaft began to sink of its own accord until it reached its final depth of 20 m below ground level (Plate 5). This phase took 6 months. Then the 12 frames of the cast iron shield were erected side by side and tunnelling out from the bottom of the shaft began in November 1825, but progress was slow due to the large amount of water that came in through the working face. Due to illness Marc was assisted by his 20-year old son Isambard who was appointed as resident engineer from late December 1826.

Plate 5: The shaft sank under its own weight as the earth was excavated out of the centre. (Foto: Elton Collection)13

..¦-

;:: «^

J« '¦F:: —i

-*r< IJ h -.J* I k

Plate 6: The shaft and tunnel under construction, 1827. (Foto: Elton Collection)

Ferrum [80)2008 115 ,:—y

% L*i*' L *>4

»^v eia

'¦toi "ä»w~„ "^ ¦ s^P^ :¦¦',. ¦ff f ;

7710,. :

Plate 8: A peepshow souvenir of 1843. (Foto: Ironbridge Gorge Plate 7: Gas-lit banquet in the tunnel, 1827. (Foto: Elton Collection)" Museum Trust) 6

Sightseers and Underwater Banquets Isambard was working on other projects of his own, notably Running out of money by March 1827, the owners charged the . The remaining half of the tunnel sightseers to see the work in progress, much to the concern took another eight years to complete, during which time the of the engineer. The tunnel reached 170 m by May 1827 Thames broke in on three further occasions." It reached its (Plate 6] - almost half way - when the river broke in and full length in June 1840 on the far side of the river before the flooded the works. Fortunately all the sightseers escaped second shaft was sunk. The shareholders had never allowed unharmed, but it took four months to block the hole in the tunnelling to be done from both sides at the same time, river bed and clear the mud out of the tunnel before work despite Brunei repeatedly requesting it. As a result stagnant could continue. To gather publicity and more funds the young air due to lack of ventilation had been a major problem and Brunei organised a gas-lit banquet for 50 guests inside the the noxious gases that seeped through from the open sewer tunnel on 10,h November 1827, recorded in a famous painting of the river above their heads made working conditions for (Plate 7). The breach had been repaired and work had begun the miners almost impossible. again just two weeks before the banquet, but two months later the Thames flooded in once more, this time killing six men, and in August 1828 tunnelling was stopped and the site Open at last closed down. The Thames Tunnel finally opened in March 1843, and even Six years passed before work started again in March with 99 steps down and up again on the other side 1800C00 1835, but this time the cost was helped by a government pedestrians walked through in the first nine months. But loan. Marc was back as resident engineer because his son only pedestrians, because the carriage approaches had not

116 Ferrum [80) 2008 Unless otherwise stated, From Sketches and been built for lack of Commemorative money. pamphlets, all illustrations and Memoranda of the souvenirs, gin in moulded stoneware bottles, and medallions publications are from the Works for the Tunnel were produced and sold in the underwater arcades (Plate 8). collections of the Ironbridge under the Thames, 1827, Museum Trust, and sold at The tunnel had cost £ 486250 (SFr one million) but by 1843 Gorge published Coalbrookdale, England, the Tunnel works. Elton London's docks had been further greatly enlarged and in particular from the Collection AE185.2549. downstream, taking away much of the original need for the tunnel. Elton Collection. Twelve men had died during its construction, or one for every 1 Patent drawing of 1818, 1DOp cit, Bagust, H. 2006. 30,5m. Without the higher tolls from carriages the tunnel reproduced from Bagust, could to the and in 1865 the 11 never hope repay shareholders, H. 2006. The Greater Op cit. Clements, P 2006. tunnel was bought by the East London Railway Company Genius. Hersham: lan for less than half its original cost.'8 By December 1869 they Allen. ,2The earliest booklet dated 1824, the built tunnels at each end and their is approach were ¦> running Clements, P. 2006. latest 1845. There are river. It in steam trains under the is still use today as part Marc isambard Brunei. examples in the Elton of London's Underground railway system between Rother- Chichester: Phillimore. Collection in English hithe and , though much of the brickwork was Revised 2nd edition, and Danish, with other first published in 1970. publications in French covered in concrete in 1995-8. Of international significance and German. in tunnelling history, it has been recognised as an International 3 UK Patent 2478, Landmark Site by the American Society of Civil 10 February 1801: "From a Explanation Engineers. Ships' Blocks. of the Works of the Tun- net under the Thames,

At 365 m this tunnel is dwarfed by later < only long ones, UK Patents 2844, 1837. Elton Collection but it was the world's first sub-aqueous tunnel, precursor 7 May 1805 [Saws for AE185.2552. of the Eurotunnel and the starting point for the tunnelling machinery and timber sawing), 3116, 14 March shield with its protected space for the workforce. Tunnel "Lithograph published 1808 [Circular saws) in Berlin by Trautmann labourers around the world owe a debt of to Marc gratitude and 3369, 2 August 1810 after Bonisch, 1827. Isambard Brunei. [Boots and Shoes). Elton Collection, AE185.610. 5 UK Patent 4204, 20 January 1818: ,5The banguet was held Forming Drifts and on 10'" November 1827 Tunnels Underground. illuminated by acetylene gas, with music played ' Fundraising pamphlet, by the Coldstream 1825 showing a plan Guards. Oil on panel of the location. Elton attributed to George Collection, AE185.2549. Jones, Elton Collection, AE185.157. "' Detail from an 1835 broadsheet which "Op cit, Clements, announces the (incomplete) P. 2006. Tunnel is open again to sightseers from "Folding paper peepshow, 9 in the morning till 1843. There is a view dusk. The River flooded through each of the two the works twice more in parallel tunnels and also 1837 which put a stop a view at river level. Iron- to this form of fundraising. bridge Gorge Museum Elton Collection, Trust, IGMT.1979.1065. AE185.620 '"Jones, R. 2006. Isambard 8 Engraving of one frame Kingdon Brunei. of the tunnelling shield, Horncastle: Mortons from An Explanation of the Works of the Tunnel Under the Thames January 1836. Elton Collection AE185.2551.

Ferrum (80) 2008 117