| Date | Text | |
|---|---|---|
25 Apr 1769
Sir Marc Isambard Brunel |
birth Sir Marc Isambard Brunel Born 25 Apr 1769; died 12 Dec 1849 at age 80. French-English engineer and inventor who solved the historic problem of underwater tunneling. A prolific inventor, Brunel designed machines for sawing and bending timber, boot making, stocking knitting, and printing. As a civil engineer, his designs included the Île de Bourbon suspension bridge and the first floating landing piers at Liverpool. In 1818, however, Brunel patented the tunneling shield, a device that made possible tunneling safely through waterbearing strata. On 2 Mar 1825 operations began for building a tunnel under the Thames River between Rotherhithe and Wapping. The Thames Tunnel was eventually opened on 25 Mar 1843. It has a twin horseshoe cross-section with height of 23-ft (7m), width of 37-ft (11m), and total length 1,506-ft (406m). |
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25 Apr 1769
Marc Isambard Brunel |
birth Marc Isambard Brunel Marc Isambard Brunel, engineer (died 1849) |
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