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Brunel Museum, London

The Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe, 1506 feet long, was inspired by the activity of a tiny woodworm known as teredo navalis. A French naval engineer named Marc Brunel, settling in Britain after fleeing the French Revolution, had observed woodworms through a magnifying glass at Chatham Dockyard. He watched them eating wood in front of them, while excretions created a smooth lining behind the worm as it advanced through a tunnel in the wood. Marc Brunel mimicked this activity in his own tunnel digging system. He created what he called a tunneling shield. This consisted of a compartmentalised frame with a man in each compartment hacking away at a rockface. Jacks would push the frame forward. Behind the frame's progress workers would line the newly formed tunnel with brick.

Marc Brunel used his tunneling shield to build the world's first tunnel beneath a navigable waterway. Work began in 1825 to dig a tunnel under the Thames at Rotherhithe, and continued through eighteen years of setback and effort to completion in 1843. Initially the tunnel was used as a pedestrian crossing, and then as part of the London Underground network. The Thames Tunnel is now commemorated at the Brunel Museum, housed in a pump house which once helped keep the tunnel workings dry. Wall displays tell the project's story. There is also a video describing the life of Marc's famous son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The Thames Tunnel was the first engineering project in which Isambard took part, after finishing his education in France.

Marc Brunel's tunneling system is still in use today, in a modernised form with mechanical drilling heads doing the digging, and mechanised lining of the tunnel. Observations of a tiny species of woodworm at Chatham Dockyard eventually led to the Channel Tunnel.

The Thames Tunnel served as a railway tunnel since 1869, and is now part of the East London Line. There is an exhibition in the Engine House, and tours are available of the 1825 Brunel Shaft, or Grand Entrance Hall as it is now known. For more information about tours go to the museum web site below.

 

 

 

 

Entrance shaft, decorated with a mural showing Marc Brunel's tunneling shield

Address: Brunel Museum, Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe, London SE16 4LF

Directions: The Brunel Museum is in Railway Avenue, Rotherhithe. The nearest Underground Station is at Rotherhithe. Alternatively if you are on the south bank visiting the National Theatre, Tate Modern or Globe, why not take the fifteen minute walk east along the Thames path to Rotherhithe. The Brunel Museum is close to the path. Click here for an interactive map centred on the Brunel Museum.

Opening Times: Open daily from 10am - 5pm.

Closed 24th - 26th December and from 29th December to 2nd January.

Access: Partial wheelchair access is available. There are adapted toilet facilities.

Contact:

telephone: 020 7231 3840

web site: http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk/

e-mail: info@brunel-museum.org.uk

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