Skip to main content

Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Planex News Takes A Look At The Life Of The Extraordinary Victorian Engineer

By
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was a Victorian engineer who was one of the main architects of Britain’s industrial revolution. He was famous for his leading work on both Britain’s railways and ships; building railways and designing bridges, tunnels, viaducts and passenger ships.

He built lots of bridges not just in London, but all across Britain. These included The Clifton Suspension Bridge (412m), The Royal Albert Bridge (667m), Maidenhead Railway Bridge (128ft), Wharncliffe Viaduct (270m), Winsor Railway Bridge, Gatehampton Railway Bridge, Moulsford Railway Bridge, Avon Bridge and Bishop’s Bridge.

Here are some amazing facts about Isambard Kingdom Brunel:

  1. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9th April 1806, to a French father, Marc Brunel, and an English mother, Sophia Kingdom.
  2. He was educated in Normandy and England, with his parents giving him the best opportunities possible to learn the skills of an engineer. He completed an apprenticeship as a clockmaker.
  3. In 1822, Isambard took on his first job with his father, which was to oversee the construction of a tunnel underneath the River Thames in London. He was only 16 at the time! This tunnel was finally completed in 1843, despite work having to be stopped for eight years because of the tunnel constantly collapsing. Isambard himself sustained injuries as a result; however, the tunnel is still used by trains today.
  4. Eight years later, in 1830, Isambard won a design competition to build a bridge over the River Avon, and work began on the construction of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. However, due to financial difficulties and discord over the contract, he was unable to finish the structure before his death and the bridge was not fully completed until 1864.
  5. In 1833, Isambard was appointed chief engineer for the new Great Western Railway, tasked with building a railway between Bristol and London.
  6. His next project was the construction of Paddington Station in London, in 1854.
  7. On 31st January 1858, the Great Eastern steamship was launched, Isambard having won the rights to design the ship. At 211 metres in length and weighing 19,000 tonnes, it was the world’s biggest ship to date. The ship was built in London and capable of carrying either 4,000 passengers or 10,000 troops. However, it became damaged by an explosion on its maiden voyage and, after many years of difficulties, was eventually broken up for scrap in Liverpool in 1889.
  8. Isambard Kingdom Brunel died from a stroke, on 15th September 1859, aged only 53.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Magna Carta Translation

By
The Magna Carta is a royal charter of rights (a document that is signed by a king or queen) agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. Although it is written in an early form of Latin, there are a few full-english translations such as this one: JOHN, by the grace of God King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and Count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justices, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his officials and loyal subjects, Greeting. KNOW THAT BEFORE GOD, for the health of our soul and those of our ancestors and heirs, to the honour of God, the exaltation of the holy Church, and the better ordering of our kingdom, at the advice of our reverend fathers Stephen, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all England, and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, Henry archbishop of Dublin, William bishop of London, Peter bishop of Winchester, Jocelin bishop of Bath and Glastonbu...
1 comment
Read more

The Land Of Fire And Ice

By
In the Kamchatka Peninsula of far east Russia, there lies a coral reef formally known as the valley of death. Surrounded by seas that are very cold and are almost frozen all year round, there are dozens of mini volcanoes crammed into one space it has got the nickname ‘Land Of Fire And Ice’.  However, there is more to Kamchatka than its wild beauty - in the shadow of one of one of its fiery volcanoes, called Kihpinych, there is a small, narrow valley - that animals enter - but never leave. The Valley Of Death was first discovered in 1975 by volcanologist Vladimir Leonov. At first, Vladimir thought is was just a normal coral reef, but as he explored further, strange icy clouds and a number of dead animals drew him in. Nobody had properly explored them before, so it was a complete surprise to him. But, just as he feared, there were hundreds of dead animals with blood dripping down their head that had been perfectly preserved by the ice. What was even more strange is that they don’t se...
2 comments
Read more

Welcome To Planex News!

By
On this website, you can look up quality information about EVERYTHING. All the information comes from our magazine Toby News, which we are yet to publish. To view, go to http:mwr8.myportfolio.com here. Don't hesitate to look around, and have fun!
5 comments
Read more

Food Boundaries

By
We all know about donuts - rings of bread, usually covered with different icings, or mabye even sprinkles. The donut to a scientist is ‘the edge’ of human food, and no food could be more ansintoformosed - or weirder in the common tongue. New-to-science Bevel Astronu has explained to many universities and museums in England that there could be other foods out there - infinite combinations and flavours. And then, 3 years after telling the cleverest minds that a simple  donut was not the end of foods, he decided to start his experiments. He started 20 years ago and has finally finished his massive discovery. It is all written down on various sheets of paper and in complicated language, but our team at Toby News have manage to simmer it down to just three quarters of an article. “We live a new age - one of seven boundaries of the seven foodstuffs of  the seven planets revolving around eating. I call these limits the Phosferacational Layers, one that humanity has not ...
1 comment
Read more