Isambard Kingdom Brunel is arguably the most recognisable name in civil engineering in the world today. Quite an achievement for a man who was born two hundred years ago this month! He is also one of the very few, if only, engineers who’s fame has transgressed the divide between the profession and the general public.
In a recent BBC national poll, to discover the top 10 greatest ever Britons, the voting public elected him second only to Winston Churchill. All over the UK this month, celebrations are underway to mark the bicentenary of the man who played such a pivotal role in the industrialisation of Great Britain.
At just 19, he began work on the first tunnel to cross the River Thames, originally under the guidance of his father, the eminent engineer Marc Brunel. In 1825 the fresh-faced IK Brunel laid the tunnel’s second brick – Marc himself had placed the first. Unfortunately, tough conditions and severe water inflows put the tunnel’s future in jeopardy and work ground to a halt three years later in 1828 as financial backers got cold feet and funds dried up.
Work though, was to re-start in 1835, and the tunnel was finally opened seven years later in 1842. IK Brunel had no hand in this second stage, but by now he had gained fame elsewhere for some equally impressive achievements!
It is well beyond the scope of this comment to list all of his landmark projects, but just noting the variation in them is impressive in itself, including the fore-mentioned Thames Tunnel, the Great Western Railway, the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and the mighty Great Ship he both designed and built.
But it should not be forgotten that IK Brunel was not just a man of enormous technical ability, but also a man of great vision, and by all accounts a great showman, capable of persuading financiers to back his ‘somewhat wild’ schemes as they were often considered at the time. He had the charisma to persuade decision makers to take up solutions to problems they often didn’t even know they had.
Although technology now allows us to achieve engineering feats far superior to the great man, I’d say emulating his charismatic style of persuasion and showmanship would be of as much benefit to us as an industry today, as the study of the incredible structures that he has left behind.
What is certain, the past, present and future of civil engineering has benefited greatly from this flamboyant entrepreneur, and T&TI joins the rest of the industry in taking its hat off to the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the bicentenary of his birth!
Tris Thomas
