During construction, the tunnel was flooded on six separate occasions the worst being the second flooding, on 12 January 1828, in which six workmen died.
"Near shift change. Isambard was in the shield, helping workers at the face itself. “Suddenly a torrent of water swept in, knocked them out of the frame and extinguished all the lights. A fallen timber trapped Isambard’s leg”".
Brunel was badly injured and from his diary "laid up quite useless for 14 weeks and upwards".
Sources: , .
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Thames Tunnel Flood - 1828
Near this spot in 1828 Isambard Kingdom Brunel was pulled half-drowned from t...
Contractor responsible for the construction of the Northern Outfall Sewer in 1862-3.
Civil engineer. Born in Leeds. Moved to London in 1850. He worked on canals and railways around the world, and was involved with the proposed channel tunnel of 1872. His best known construction is ...
Inventor and engineer. Designed and manufactured The Maxim Gun. Born Sangersville, Maine, USA, naturalised British. Died London.
Senior 3rd Engineer on the RMS Titanic. A full résumé of his life can be found on the Encyclopedia Titanica website. He is also commemorated on the Engineers Memorial, Andrews East Park, Above Bar...
Horologist. Born in Sunderland. During his lifetime, he was considered to be the best watchmaker in the world, and was one of the few who built complete watches by hand (including the case and dial...
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in to see them