Underwater tunnel with tunnelling shield (Thames Tunnel)
Túnel bajo el agua con escudo (túnel del Támesis)
- Date
- 1825-1843 · confidence high
- Place
- London (Rotherhithe-Wapping), England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Marc Isambard Brunel and Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- People
- 👤 Isambard Kingdom Brunel1806–1859👤 Marc Isambard Brunel1769–1849
- Field
- Tools
What it is
The first tunnel dug beneath a navigable river, made possible by the tunnelling shield patented by Marc Brunel in 1818, inspired by the shipworm Teredo. It took 18 years and cost several lives, but proved the technique.
It opened as a pedestrian crossing in 1843; since 1869 it has formed part of the railway network (the East London Line).
What it led to
- Underground railways and urban tunnels beneath rivers
- Greathead's shield (1869) and London's 'tube'
- Geotechnical engineering
Built on
- Portland cement1824
- Steam bilge pumps
- Gallery mining
Made possible
- Underground urban railway (London Metropolitan Railway)1863
- London Underground (deep-level lines)
- Severn Tunnel
- Greathead shield