View source for Isambard Kingdom Brunel

{{short description|British mechanical and civil engineer (1806–1859)}}
{{redirect|Brunel}}
{{pp-pc1}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox engineer
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}}
|image                = Robert Howlett (Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern), The Metropolitan Museum of Art - restoration1.jpg
|alt                  = A 19th-century man wearing a jacket, trousers, and waistcoat, with his hands in his pockets and a cigar in mouth, wearing a tall stovepipe top hat, standing in front of giant iron chains on a drum.
|caption              = [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern|Brunel by the launching chains of the SS ''Great&nbsp;Eastern'']], by [[Robert Howlett]], 1857
|name                 = Isambard Kingdom Brunel
|birth_date           = {{Birth date|1806|4|9|df=y}}
|birth_place          = [[Portsmouth]], Hampshire, England
|death_date           = {{Death date and age|1859|9|15|1806|4|9|df=y}}
|death_place          = [[Westminster]], London
|education            = {{unbulleted list|[[Lycée Henri-IV]]|[[University of Caen]]}}
|spouse               = {{marriage|Mary Elizabeth Horsley|5 July 1836}}
|parents              = {{unbulleted list|[[Marc Isambard Brunel]]|[[Sophia Kingdom]]}}
|children             = 3, including [[Henry Marc Brunel|Henry Marc]]
|discipline           = {{unbulleted list|Civil engineer|[[Structural engineer]]|[[Marine engineering|Marine engineer]]}}
|institutions         = {{unbulleted list|[[Royal Society]]|[[Institution of Civil Engineers]]}}
|practice_name        =
|significant_buildings=
|significant_projects = {{unbulleted list|[[Great Western Railway]]|[[Clifton Suspension Bridge]]|{{SS|Great Britain}}}}
|significant_design   = [[Royal Albert Bridge]]
|awards               =
|signature            = Isambard Kingdom Brunel signature.svg
}}
'''Isambard Kingdom Brunel''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|z|ə|m|b|ɑːr|d|_|ˈ|k|ɪ|ŋ|d|ə|m|_|b|r|uː|ˈ|n|ɛ|l}} {{respell|IZZ|əm|bard|_|KING|dəm|_|broo|NELL}}; 9 April 1806&nbsp;– 15 September 1859{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer<ref name="Britanica">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel |author= |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]] |date=20 January 2023 |access-date=16 February 2023 |url= https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isambard-Kingdom-Brunel}}</ref> who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history",<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://designmuseum.org/designers/isambard-kingdom-brunel |title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel |journal=Nature |volume=181 |issue=4626 |pages=1754–55 |access-date=11 June 2015 |bibcode=1958Natur.181.1754S |last1=Spratt |first1=H.P. |year=1958 |doi=10.1038/1811754a0 |s2cid=4255226 |doi-access=free |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919131309/https://designmuseum.org/designers/isambard-kingdom-brunel |url-status=live }}</ref> "one of the 19th-century engineering giants",<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/story/isambard-kingdom-brunel |title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel |journal=Nature |volume=181 |issue=4626 |pages=1754–55 |access-date=11 June 2015 |bibcode=1958Natur.181.1754S |last1=Spratt |first1=H.P. |year=1958 |doi=10.1038/1811754a0 |s2cid=4255226 |doi-access=free |archive-date=15 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190515142603/https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/story/isambard-kingdom-brunel |url-status=live }}</ref> and "one of the greatest figures of the [[Industrial Revolution]], [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rolt|first1=Lionel Thomas Caswall|title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel|date=1957|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|location=London|page=245|edition=first|author-link=L. T. C. Rolt }}</ref> Brunel built dockyards, the [[Great Western Railway]] (GWR), a series of steamships including the first purpose-built [[Transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] [[steamship]], and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.

Though Brunel's projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting his father in the building of the [[Thames Tunnel|first tunnel]] under a [[Navigability|navigable river]] (the [[River Thames]]) and the development of the {{SS|Great Britain}}, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going iron ship, which, when launched in 1843, was the largest ship ever built.{{sfn|Wilson|1994|pp=202–03}}<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/Brunel.aspx | title = Isambard Kingdom Brunel | publisher = SS Great Britain | date = 29 March 2006 | access-date = 30 July 2009 | archive-date = 24 March 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100324130927/http://www.ssgreatbritain.org/Brunel.aspx | url-status = dead }}</ref>

On the GWR, Brunel set standards for a well-built railway, using careful surveys to minimise gradients and curves. This necessitated expensive construction techniques, new bridges, new viaducts, and the {{convert|2|mi|km|spell=in|adj=mid|-long}} [[Box Tunnel]]. One controversial feature was the "[[broad-gauge railway|broad gauge]]" of {{TrackGauge|7ft0.25in}}, instead of what was later to be known as "[[standard gauge]]" of {{TrackGauge|4ft8.5in}}. He astonished Britain by proposing to extend the GWR westward to North America by building steam-powered, iron-hulled ships. He designed and built three ships that revolutionised naval engineering: the {{SS|Great Western}} (1838), the {{SS|Great Britain}} (1843), and the {{SS|Great Eastern}} (1859).

In 2002, Brunel was placed second in a [[BBC]] public poll to determine the "[[100 Greatest Britons]]". In 2006, the bicentenary of his birth, a major programme of events celebrated his life and work under the name ''Brunel 200''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brunel200.com/|title=Home|publisher=Brunel 200|access-date=22 July 2009|archive-date=1 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801033733/http://brunel200.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Britain Street, [[Portsea Island|Portsea]], [[Portsmouth]], [[Hampshire]], where his father was working on [[Portsmouth Block Mills|block-making machinery]].{{sfn|Brunel|1870|p=2}}<ref>{{cite book
 | last= Timbs
 | first= John
 | year= 1860
 | title= Stories of inventors and discoverers in science and the useful arts
 | url= https://archive.org/details/storiesinventor02timbgoog
 | pages= [https://archive.org/details/storiesinventor02timbgoog/page/n119 102], 285–86
 | place= London
 | publisher= Kent and Co
 | oclc= 1349834
}}</ref> He was named [[Isambard]] after his father, the French civil engineer Sir [[Marc Isambard Brunel]], and Kingdom after his English mother, [[Sophia Kingdom]].<ref name="Brindle, birth">{{Cite book
 |last=Brindle |first=Steven
 |title=Brunel: The Man Who Built the World
 |year=2005
 |isbn=978-0-297-84408-2
 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson
 |page=28
}}</ref>
His mother's sister, Elizabeth Kingdom, was married to Thomas Mudge Jr, son of [[Thomas Mudge (horologist)|Thomas Mudge]] the [[horologist]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stephens |first1=Richard |title=Thomas Mudge |url=https://artandthecountryhouse.com/catalogues/catalogues-index/thomas-mudge-1022 |website=artandthecountryhouse.com |access-date=1 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref>
He had two elder sisters, Sophia, the eldest child,<ref>{{cite web
 | title= Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Family History
 | work= tracingancestors-uk.com
 | date= 3 February 2012
| url= http://tracingancestors-uk.com/genealogies-of-the-famous/isambard-kingdom-brunel-family-history
 | access-date= 9 September 2013
| archive-date= 30 July 2019
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190730222744/http://tracingancestors-uk.com/genealogies-of-the-famous/isambard-kingdom-brunel-family-history
 | url-status= live
 }}</ref> and Emma. The whole family moved to [[London]] in 1808 for his father's work. Brunel had a happy childhood, despite the family's constant money worries, with his father acting as his teacher during his early years. His father taught him drawing and observational techniques from the age of four, and Brunel had learned [[Euclidean geometry]] by eight. During this time, he learned to speak French fluently and the basic principles of engineering. He was encouraged to draw interesting buildings and identify any faults in their structure, and like his father he demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics and mechanics.<ref name="Buchanan18">Buchanan (2006), p. 18</ref>{{sfn|Gillings|2006|pp=1, 11}}

When Brunel was eight, he was sent to Dr Morrell's boarding school in [[Hove]], where he learned [[classics]]. His father, a Frenchman by birth, was determined that Brunel should have access to the high-quality education he had enjoyed in his youth in France. Accordingly, at the age of 14, the younger Brunel was enrolled first at the [[University of Caen Normandy|University of Caen]], then at [[Lycée Henri-IV]] in Paris.<ref name="Buchanan18"/><ref name="1870p5">Brunel, Isambard (1870), p. 5.</ref>

When Brunel was 15, his father, who had accumulated debts of over £5,000 ({{inflation|UK|5000|1821|fmt=eq|r=-3|cursign=£}}), was sent to a [[debtors' prison]]. After three months went by with no prospect of release, Marc Brunel let it be known that he was considering an offer from the [[Alexander I of Russia|Tsar of Russia]]. In August 1821, facing the prospect of losing a prominent engineer, the government relented and issued Marc £5,000 to clear his debts in exchange for his promise to remain in Britain.{{sfn|Gillings|2006|pp= 11–12}}<ref>{{cite book
 | last= Worth
 | first= Martin
 | year= 1999
 | title= Sweat and Inspiration: Pioneers of the Industrial Age
 | page= 87
 | publisher= Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd.
 | isbn= 978-0-7509-1660-8
}}</ref>

When Brunel completed his studies at Henri-IV in 1822, his father had him presented as a candidate at the renowned engineering school [[École Polytechnique]], but as a foreigner, he was deemed ineligible for entry. Brunel subsequently studied under the prominent master clockmaker and [[horologist]] [[Abraham-Louis Breguet]], who praised Brunel's potential in letters to his father.<ref name="Buchanan18"/> In late 1822, having completed his apprenticeship, Brunel returned to England.<ref name="1870p5"/>

==Thames Tunnel==
{{Main|Thames Tunnel}}
[[File:ThamesTunnelFromWapping.jpg|thumb|alt=A narrow railway tunnel with a single railway track, lit by a bright white light|The [[Thames Tunnel]] in September 2005]]

Brunel worked for several years as an assistant engineer on the project to create a tunnel under London's [[River Thames]] between [[Rotherhithe]] and [[Wapping]], with tunnellers driving a horizontal shaft from one side of the river to the other under the most difficult and dangerous conditions. The project was funded by the Thames Tunnel Company and Brunel's father, Marc, was the chief engineer.{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pp=14–15}} The ''American Naturalist'' said, "It is stated also that the operations of the [[Teredo navalis|Teredo]] [Shipworm] suggested to Mr. Brunel his method of tunnelling the Thames."<ref>Stearnes, R.E.C. "Toredo, or [[Teredo navalis|Shipworm]]." ''The American Naturalist'', Vol. 20, No. 2 (Feb. 1886), p. 136.</ref>

The composition of the riverbed at Rotherhithe was often little more than waterlogged sediment and loose gravel. An ingenious [[tunnelling shield]] designed by Marc Brunel helped protect workers from cave-ins,<ref>{{cite book|last=Aaseng|first=Nathan|year=1999|title=Construction: Building The Impossible|series=Innovators Series|publisher=The Oliver Press, Inc|pages=[https://archive.org/details/constructionbuil00aase/page/36 36–45]|isbn=978-1-881508-59-5|url=https://archive.org/details/constructionbuil00aase/page/36}}</ref> but two incidents of severe flooding halted work for long periods, killing several workers and badly injuring the younger Brunel.<ref name="smith">{{cite book |last=Smith |first=Denis |title=Civil Engineering Heritage: London and the Thames Valley |publisher=Thomas Telford Ltd, for The [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] |year=2001 |pages=17–19 |isbn=978-0-7277-2876-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4TA262F55asC&q=thames%20tunnel%20rotherhithe&pg=PA17|access-date=16 August 2009}}</ref> The latter incident, in 1828, killed the two most senior miners, and Brunel himself narrowly escaped death. He was seriously injured and spent six months recuperating,<ref>Sources disagree about where Brunel convalesced; Buchanan (p. 30) says [[Brighton]], while Dumpleton and Miller (p. 16) say [[Bristol]] and connect this to his subsequent work on the [[Clifton Suspension Bridge]] there.</ref> during which time he began a design for a bridge in Bristol, which would later be completed as the [[Clifton Suspension Bridge]].<ref name="Britanica"/> The event stopped work on the tunnel for several years.{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|p=15}}

Though the Thames Tunnel was eventually completed during Marc Brunel's lifetime, his son had no further involvement with the tunnel proper, only using the abandoned works at Rotherhithe to further his abortive ''Gaz'' experiments. This was based on an idea of his father's and was intended to develop into an engine that ran on power generated from alternately heating and cooling carbon dioxide made from ammonium carbonate and sulphuric acid. Despite interest from several parties, the Admiralty included, the experiments were judged by Brunel to be a failure on the grounds of fuel economy alone, and were discontinued after 1834.{{sfn|Rolt|1989|pp=41–42}}

In 1865, the East London Railway Company purchased the Thames Tunnel for £200,000, and four years later the first trains passed through it. Subsequently, the tunnel became part of the London Underground system, and it remains in use today, originally as part of the [[East London Line]], now incorporated into the [[London Overground]].<ref name=bagust8>Bagust, Harold, ''The Greater Genius?'', 2006, Ian Allan Publishing, {{ISBN|0-7110-3175-4}}, pp. 97–100.</ref>

==Bridges and viaducts==
Brunel is perhaps best remembered for designs for the [[Clifton Suspension Bridge]] in [[Bristol]], begun in 1831. The bridge was built to designs based on Brunel's, but with significant changes. Spanning over {{convert|214|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, and nominally {{convert|76|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} above the [[River Avon, Bristol|River Avon]], it had the longest span of any bridge in the world at the time of construction.{{sfn|Rolt|1989|p=53}} Brunel submitted four designs to a committee headed by [[Thomas Telford]], but Telford rejected all entries, proposing his own design instead. Vociferous opposition from the public forced the organising committee to hold a new competition, which was won by Brunel.<ref name="brunel200-susbridge">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.brunel200.com/suspension_bridge.htm
 |title=The Clifton Suspension Bridge
 |publisher=Brunel 200
 |access-date=16 August 2009
|archive-date=20 May 2013
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520131700/http://www.brunel200.com/suspension_bridge.htm
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

Afterwards, Brunel wrote to his brother-in-law, the politician [[Benjamin Hawes]]: "Of all the wonderful feats I have performed, since I have been in this part of the world, I think yesterday I performed the most wonderful. I produced unanimity among 15 men who were all quarrelling about that most ticklish subject—taste".<ref name="Ross">{{cite web
 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/brunel_isambard_01.shtml
 |title=Brunel: 'The Practical Prophet'
 |work=BBC History
 |access-date=27 August 2009
|last=Peters
 |first=Professor G Ross
 |archive-date=24 April 2009
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424065357/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/brunel_isambard_01.shtml
 |url-status=live
 }}</ref>

Work on the Clifton bridge started in 1831, but was suspended due to the [[Bristol Riots#Queen Square riots, 1831|Queen Square riots]] caused by the arrival of Sir [[Charles Wetherell]] in Clifton. The riots drove away investors, leaving no money for the project, and construction ceased.<ref name="bryan">{{cite book
 |last=Bryan
 |first=Tim
 |title=Brunel: The Great Engineer
 |publisher=Ian Allan
 |location=Shepperton
 |year=1999
 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/brunelgreatengin0000brya/page/35 35–41]
 |isbn=978-0-7110-2686-5
 |url=https://archive.org/details/brunelgreatengin0000brya/page/35
  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2006/apr/18/highereducation.uk1
|title=Higher diary|work=The Guardian
|date=18 April 2006
|access-date=27 August 2009
|last=MacLeod
|first=Donald
}}</ref>

Brunel did not live to see the bridge finished, although his colleagues and admirers at the [[Institution of Civil Engineers]] felt it would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds and to amend the design. Work recommenced in 1862, three years after Brunel's death, and was completed in 1864.<ref name="Ross"/> In 2011, it was suggested, by historian and biographer Adrian Vaughan, that Brunel did not design the bridge, as eventually built, as the later changes to its design were substantial.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8261682/Isambard-Kingdom-Brunel-did-not-design-Clifton-Suspension-Bridge-says-historian.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8261682/Isambard-Kingdom-Brunel-did-not-design-Clifton-Suspension-Bridge-says-historian.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel did not design Clifton Suspension Bridge, says historian |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|access-date=22 December 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> His views reflected a sentiment stated fifty-two years earlier by [[Tom Rolt]] in his 1959 book ''Brunel.'' Re-engineering of suspension chains recovered from an earlier suspension bridge was one of many reasons given why Brunel's design could not be followed exactly.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

[[Hungerford Bridge]], a [[suspension bridge|suspension footbridge]] across the Thames near [[Charing Cross Station]] in London, was opened in May 1845. Its central span was {{Convert|676.5|ft|}}, and its cost was £106,000.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Hungerford Suspension Bridge|journal=The Practical Mechanic and Engineer's Magazine|date=May 1845|page=223}}</ref> It was replaced by a new railway bridge in 1859, and the suspension chains were used to complete the Clifton Suspension Bridge.<ref name="brunel200-susbridge"/>

The Clifton Suspension Bridge still stands, and over 4&nbsp;million vehicles traverse it every year.<ref>{{cite news|title=Get set to pay more on suspension bridge|work=Bristol Evening Post|date=6 January 2007|page=12}}</ref>

Brunel designed many bridges for his railway projects, including the [[Royal Albert Bridge]] spanning the [[River Tamar]] at [[Saltash]] near [[Plymouth]], [[Bridgwater railway station#Somerset Bridge|Somerset Bridge]] (an unusual laminated timber-framed bridge near [[Bridgwater]]<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18640
|title=Bridgwater
|work=A History of the County of Somerset: Volume 6
|publisher=British History Online
|access-date=16 August 2009
|last=Dunning
|first=RW
|year=1992
|editor1=CR Elrington, CR
|editor2=Baggs, AP
|editor3=Siraut, MC
|archive-date=3 March 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100303083620/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=18640
|url-status=live
}}</ref>), the [[Windsor Railway Bridge]], and the [[Maidenhead Railway Bridge]] over the Thames in [[Berkshire]]. This last was the flattest, widest brick arch bridge in the world and is still carrying main line trains to the west, even though today's trains are about ten times heavier than in Brunel's time.<ref name="Gordon">{{cite book
 |last=Gordon |first=JE |author-link = J.E. Gordon
 |year=1978
 | title=Structures: or why things don't fall down
 |publisher=Penguin |location=London
 |page=200
 |isbn=978-0-14-013628-9
 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xrlRAAAAMAAJ&q=brunel+
}}</ref>

Throughout his railway building career, but particularly on the [[South Devon Railway Company|South Devon]] and [[Cornwall Railway]]s where economy was needed and there were many valleys to cross, Brunel made extensive use of wood for the construction of substantial viaducts;<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis|first=Brian|year= 2007|title=Brunel's timber bridges and viaducts|place=Hersham|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|isbn=978-0-7110-3218-7}}</ref> these have had to be replaced over the years as their primary material, [[John Howard Kyan|Kyanised]] Baltic Pine, became uneconomical to obtain.{{sfn |Binding |1993 |p=30 }}

Brunel designed the [[Royal Albert Bridge]] in 1855 for the Cornwall Railway, after [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] rejected his original plan for a train ferry across the [[Hamoaze]]—the estuary of the tidal [[River Tamar|Tamar]], [[River Tavy|Tavy]] and [[River Lynher|Lynher]]. The bridge (of ''bowstring girder'' or ''tied arch'' construction) consists of two main spans of {{convert|455|ft|abbr=on}}, {{convert|100|ft|abbr=on}} above mean high [[spring tide]], plus 17 much shorter approach spans. Opened by [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha|Prince Albert]] on 2 May 1859, it was completed in the year of Brunel's death.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalalbertbridge.co.uk/html/history.html |title=History |publisher=Royal Albert Bridge |access-date=16 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061109214743/http://www.royalalbertbridge.co.uk/html/history.html |archive-date=9 November 2006}}</ref>

Several of Brunel's bridges over the Great Western Railway might be demolished because the line is to be electrified, and there is inadequate clearance for overhead wires. [[Buckinghamshire]] County Council is negotiating to have further options pursued, in order that all nine of the remaining historic bridges on the line can be saved.<ref>{{cite web  |url=http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/Data/Buckinghamshire%20Historic%20Environment%20Forum/20060920/Agenda/Item06.pdf |title=Crossrail and the Great Western World Heritage site |work=Buckinghamshire Historic Environment Forum |publisher=Buckinghamshire County Council |date=20 September 2006 |access-date=16 August 2009 |last=Senior Archaeological Officer |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629185536/http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/moderngov/Data/Buckinghamshire%20Historic%20Environment%20Forum/20060920/Agenda/Item06.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/WorldHeritageSites1999.pdf |title=World Heritage Sites: The Tentative List of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |work=Buildings, Monuments and Sites Division |publisher=Department for Culture, Media and Sport |year=1999 |access-date=16 August 2009 |archive-date=2 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902234530/http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/WorldHeritageSites1999.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

When the [[Cornwall Railway]] company constructed a railway line between [[Plymouth]] and [[Truro]], opening in 1859, and extended it to [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] in 1863, on the advice of Brunel, they constructed [[Cornwall Railway viaducts|the river crossings in the form of wooden viaducts, 42 in total]], consisting of timber deck spans supported by fans of timber bracing built on [[masonry]] piers. This unusual method of construction substantially reduced the first cost of construction compared to an all-masonry structure, but at the cost of more expensive maintenance. In 1934 the last of Brunel's timber viaducts was dismantled and replaced by a masonry structure.<ref>[https://www.railwaywondersoftheworld.com/timber_viaducts.html Brunel’s Timber Viaducts]</ref>

Brunel's last major undertaking was the unique [[Three Bridges, London]]. Work began in 1856, and was completed in 1859.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/features/windmill_lane_bridge/index.shtml|title=Disused Stations: Station|work=disused-stations.org.uk}}</ref> The three bridges in question are arranged to allow the routes of the [[Grand Junction Canal]], [[Great Western and Brentford Railway]], and Windmill Lane to cross each other.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.grandunioncanalwalk.co.uk/|title=Grand Union Canal Walk}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="145">
File:Clifton.bridge.arp.750pix.jpg|alt=A suspension bridge spanning a river gorge with woodland in the background|The [[Clifton Suspension Bridge]] spans [[Avon Gorge]], linking [[Clifton, Bristol|Clifton]] in Bristol to [[Leigh Woods]] in North [[Somerset]]
File:Maidenhead Railway Bridge and Guards Club Island (Nancy).JPG|alt=a red brick built bridge with shallow arches spanning a river, viewed from the front of a small boat|The [[Maidenhead Railway Bridge]], at the time the largest span for a brick arch bridge
File:Royal Albert Bridge 2009.jpg|alt=a bridge spanning a river at high level, the bridge deck supported in the centre by curved tubular metal girders|The [[Royal Albert Bridge]] spanning the [[river Tamar]] at [[Saltash]]
File:Moorswater Viaduct.jpg|Moorswater Viaduct at [[Liskeard]], Cornwall as built
</gallery>

==Great Western Railway==
{{see also|Great Western Railway}}
[[File:Paddington Station.jpg|thumb|alt=The interior of a large railway station with a curved roof supported by iron girders, supported by iron columns, four diesel trains standing at platforms, passengers on the platforms, in the distance daylight can be seen and the scene is illuminated by natural light through the centre section of the roof |[[London Paddington station|Paddington station]], still a mainline station, was the London [[terminal station|terminus]] of the [[Great Western Railway]].]]

In the early part of Brunel's life, the use of railways began to take off as a major means of transport for goods. This influenced Brunel's involvement in railway engineering, including railway bridge engineering.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

In 1833, before the Thames Tunnel was complete, Brunel was appointed chief engineer of the [[Great Western Railway]], one of the wonders of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] Britain, running from London to [[Bristol]] and later [[Exeter]].<ref name="BHO-Railways">{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=102817 |title=Railways |work=A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 4 |publisher=British History Online |year=1959 |access-date=16 August 2009 |last=Crittal |first=Elizabeth |archive-date=29 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829063458/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=102817 |url-status=live }}</ref> The company was founded at a public meeting in Bristol in 1833, and was incorporated by [[Act of Parliament]] in 1835.
It was Brunel's vision that passengers would be able to purchase one ticket at London Paddington and travel from London to New York, changing from the Great Western Railway to the ''[[SS Great Western|Great Western]]'' steamship at the terminus in [[Neyland]], West Wales.<ref name="BHO-Railways"/>

He surveyed the entire length of the route between London and Bristol himself, with the help of many including his solicitor Jeremiah Osborne of Bristol Law Firm [[Osborne Clarke]] who on one occasion rowed Brunel down the River Avon to survey the bank of the river for the route.<ref name="Clifton RFC">{{cite web |url=http://www.cliftonrfchistory.co.uk/captains/press/press.htm |title=Clifton Rugby Football Club History |access-date=22 March 2012 |archive-date=23 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723122827/http://www.cliftonrfchistory.co.uk/captains/press/press.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Brunel 200 - Working With Visionaries">{{cite web |url=http://www.brunel200.com/downloads/osborne_clarke_leaflet.pdf |title=Brunel 200&nbsp;– Working With Visionaries |access-date=22 March 2012 |archive-date=20 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520183659/http://www.brunel200.com/downloads/osborne_clarke_leaflet.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Brunel even designed the Royal Hotel in Bath which opened in 1846 opposite the railway station.<ref name="Royal Hotel Bath">{{cite web |url=https://www.royalhotelbath.co.uk/reasons-to-choose-the-royal |title=Initially the Station Hotel, it was given the royal prefix as a reminder of Queen Victoria's visit to Bath |access-date=7 March 2021 |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819012415/https://www.royalhotelbath.co.uk/reasons-to-choose-the-royal |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Baulk road point with side step.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A rail track recedes into the distance where a steam train stands; the track has three rails, the middle of which is offset to the right in the foreground but switches to the left in the middle at some complex pointwork where three other rails join from the left|A [[broad-gauge]] train on [[Dual gauge|mixed-gauge]] track]]

Brunel made two controversial decisions: to use a [[Broad-gauge railway|broad gauge]] of {{Track gauge|7ft0.25in|lk=on}} for the track, which he believed would offer superior running at high speeds; and to take a route that passed north of the [[Marlborough Downs]]—an area with no significant towns, though it offered potential connections to [[Oxford]] and [[Gloucester]]—and then to follow the Thames Valley into London. His decision to use broad gauge for the line was controversial in that almost all British railways to date had used [[standard gauge]]. Brunel said that this was nothing more than a carry-over from the mine railways that [[George Stephenson]] had worked on prior to making the world's first passenger railway. Brunel proved through both calculation and a series of trials that his broader gauge was the optimum size for providing both higher speeds<ref name="ReferenceA">Pudney, John (1974). ''Brunel and His World''. Thames and Hudson. {{ISBN|978-0-500-13047-6}}.</ref> and a stable and comfortable ride to passengers. In addition the wider gauge allowed for larger [[goods wagon]]s and thus greater freight capacity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ollivier|first=John|date=1846|title=The Broad Gauge: The Bane of the Great Western Railway Company}}</ref>

Drawing on Brunel's experience with the Thames Tunnel, the Great Western contained a series of technical achievements—[[viaduct]]s such as the one in [[Ivybridge]], specially designed stations, and tunnels including the [[Box Tunnel]], which was the longest railway tunnel in the world at that time.{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|p=20}} With the opening of the Box Tunnel, the line from London to Bristol was complete and ready for trains on 30 June 1841.<ref name=MacD1>{{cite book| last = MacDermot| first = E T| title = History of the Great Western Railway, volume I 1833–1863| publisher = [[Great Western Railway]]| year = 1927| location = London}}</ref>

The initial group of locomotives ordered by Brunel to his own specifications proved unsatisfactory, apart from the [[GWR Star Class|North Star locomotive]], and 20-year-old [[Daniel Gooch]] (later Sir Daniel) was appointed as [[Chief mechanical engineer|Superintendent of Locomotive Engines]]. Brunel and Gooch chose to locate their [[Swindon Works|locomotive works]] at the village of [[Swindon]], at the point where the gradual ascent from London turned into the steeper descent to the Avon valley at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

[[File:Weston Junction Station - drawing by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.jpg|thumb|upright|Drawings for [[Weston Junction railway station|Weston Junction Station]], by Brunel ]]

After Brunel's death, the decision was taken that standard gauge should be used for all railways in the country. At the original Welsh terminus of the Great Western railway at [[Neyland]], sections of the broad gauge rails are used as handrails at the quayside, and information boards there depict various aspects of Brunel's life. There is also a larger-than-life bronze statue of him holding a steamship in one hand and a locomotive in the other. The statue has been replaced after an earlier theft.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.westerntelegraph.co.uk/li/townguides/739515.Neyland___Brunel_s_railway_town/|title=Neyland&nbsp;– Brunel's railway town|work=Western Telegraph|date=22 April 2006|access-date=16 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Stolen statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Neyland is replaced|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-22126592|publisher=BBC|access-date=26 December 2015|work=BBC News|date=13 April 2013}}</ref>

The present [[London Paddington station]] was designed by Brunel and opened in 1854. Examples of his designs for smaller stations on the Great Western and associated lines which survive in good condition include [[Mortimer railway station|Mortimer]], [[Charlbury railway station|Charlbury]] and [[Bridgend railway station|Bridgend]] (all [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]]) and [[Culham railway station|Culham]] ([[Tudorbethan architecture|Tudorbethan]]). Surviving examples of wooden [[train shed]]s in his style are at [[Frome railway station|Frome]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=626|title=Frome Station roof|publisher=Engineering Timelines|access-date=27 August 2009|archive-date=10 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710193829/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=626|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Kingswear railway station|Kingswear]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southhams.gov.uk/AnitePublicDocs/00170783.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5jMLQVVvC?url=http://www.southhams.gov.uk/AnitePublicDocs/00170783.pdf |archive-date=28 August 2009|title=Kingswear Station |publisher=South Hams District Council |access-date=27 August 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The [[Swindon Steam Railway Museum]] has many artefacts from Brunel's time on the Great Western Railway.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.steam-museum.org.uk/steam/steamv4-3.htm
|title=Steam: Museum of the Great Western Railway|publisher=Swindon Borough Council|access-date=28 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914161015/http://www.steam-museum.org.uk/steam/steamv4-3.htm|archive-date=14 September 2008}}</ref> The [[Didcot Railway Centre]] has a reconstructed segment of {{RailGauge|7ft0.25in}} track as designed by Brunel and working steam locomotives in the same gauge.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Parts of society viewed the railways more negatively. Some landowners felt the railways were a threat to amenities or property values and others requested tunnels on their land so the railway could not be seen.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

==Brunel's "atmospheric caper"==
[[File:Brunel's Atmospheric Railway.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Exterior in woodland. a short section of railway line on wooden sleepers with a cast iron pipe of approximately one foot diameter, running inline with the rails|A reconstruction of Brunel's [[atmospheric railway]], using a segment of the original piping at [[Didcot Railway Centre]]]]
Though unsuccessful, another of Brunel's uses of technical innovations was the [[atmospheric railway]], the extension of the Great Western Railway (GWR) southward from Exeter towards [[Plymouth, England|Plymouth]], technically the [[South Devon Railway Company|South Devon Railway]] (SDR), though supported by the GWR. Instead of using [[locomotive]]s, the trains were moved by Clegg and Samuda's patented system of atmospheric ([[vacuum]]) traction, whereby stationary pumps sucked the air from a pipe placed in the centre of the track.<ref name="buchanan-atmosrwy">{{cite journal|last=Buchanan|first=R A|date=May 1992|title=The Atmospheric Railway of I.K. Brunel|journal=Social Studies of Science|volume=22|issue=2|pages=231–43|jstor=285614|doi=10.1177/030631292022002003 |s2cid=146426568}}</ref>

The section from Exeter to Newton (now [[Newton Abbot]]) was completed on this principle, and trains ran at approximately {{convert|68|mph}}.<ref name="DandM_p22">Dumpleton and Miller (2002), p. 22</ref> Pumping stations with distinctive square chimneys were sited at {{convert|2|mi|km|adj=on}} intervals.<ref name="DandM_p22"/> {{cvt|15|in|mm|}} pipes were used on the level portions, and {{convert|22|in|mm|adj=on|sigfig=3}} pipes were intended for the steeper gradients.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=R.H. |title=The South Devon Railway |date=1982 |publisher=The Oakwood Press |isbn=0-85361-286-2 |page=22}}</ref>

The technology required the use of leather flaps to seal the vacuum pipes. The natural oils were drawn out of the leather by the vacuum, making the leather vulnerable to water, rotting it and breaking the fibres when it froze during the winter of 1847. It had to be kept supple with [[tallow]], which is attractive to [[rat]]s. The flaps were eaten, and vacuum operation lasted less than a year, from 1847 (experimental service began in September; operations from February 1848) to 10 September 1848.<ref>{{cite book |last=Parkin|first=Jim|year=2000|title=Engineering Judgement and Risk|publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers|isbn=978-0-7277-2873-9}}</ref> Deterioration of the valve due to the reaction of [[tannin]] and [[iron oxide]] has been cited as the last straw that sank the project, as the continuous valve began to tear from its rivets over most of its length, and the estimated replacement cost of £25,000 was considered prohibitive.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Woolmar|first1=Christian|title=The Iron Road: The Illustrated History of Railways|date=2014|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|isbn=978-0241181867|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_htpAwAAQBAJ&q=Brunel+atmospheric+%28vacuum%29+traction+expensive&pg=PT33}}</ref>

The system never managed to prove itself. The accounts of the SDR for 1848 suggest that atmospheric traction cost 3{{abbr|s|shilling}} 1{{abbr|d|penny}} per mile compared to 1s 4d/mile for conventional steam power (because of many operating issues associated with the atmospheric, few of which were solved during its working life, the actual cost efficiency is impossible to calculate). Several [[South Devon Railway engine houses]] still stand, including that at {{stnlnk|Totnes}} (scheduled as a grade II [[Listed building|listed monument]] in 2007) and at {{stnlnk|Starcross}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teignmuseum.org.uk/pages/museum/railway/|title=Devon Railways|publisher=Teignmouth & Shaldon Museum|access-date=16 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Kenton/BrunelandTheAtmosphericCaper.htm|title=Brunel and The Atmospheric Caper|publisher=Devon Heritage|access-date=16 August 2009}}</ref>

A section of the pipe, without the leather covers, is preserved at the [[Didcot Railway Centre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/guide/broadgauge.html|title=Broad Gauge Railway|work=Centre Guide|publisher=Didcot Railway Centre|access-date=16 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151205170134/http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/guide/broadgauge.html|archive-date=5 December 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Inventor Max Schlienger unveiled a working model of an updated atmospheric railroad at his vineyard in the Northern California town of Ukiah in 2017.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/story/flight-rail-vectorr-atmospheric-railway-train/|title=Meet the 89-Year-Old Reinventing the Train in His Backyard|last=Davies|first=Alex|date=14 June 2017|magazine=Wired|access-date=7 April 2019|issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

==Transatlantic shipping==
Brunel had proposed extending its transport network by boat from Bristol across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City before the Great Western Railway opened in 1835. The [[Great Western Steamship Company]] was formed by Thomas Guppy for that purpose. It was widely disputed whether it would be commercially viable for a ship powered purely by steam to make such long journeys. Technological developments in the early 1830s—including the invention of the [[surface condenser]], which allowed boilers to run on salt water without stopping to be cleaned—made longer journeys more possible, but it was generally thought that a ship would not be able to carry enough fuel for the trip and have room for commercial cargo.{{sfn|Buchanan|2006|pp=57–59}}<ref name="Beckett 2006, pp. 171–173">Beckett (2006), pp. 171–73</ref>{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pp=34–46}}

Brunel applied the experimental evidence of [[Mark Beaufoy|Beaufoy]]{{sfn|Beaufoy|1834}} and further developed the theory that the amount a ship could carry increased as the cube of its dimensions, whereas the amount of resistance a ship experienced from the water as it travelled increased by only a square of its dimensions.{{sfn|Garrison|1998|p=188}} This would mean that moving a larger ship would take proportionately less fuel than a smaller ship. To test this theory, Brunel offered his services for free to the Great Western Steamship Company, which appointed him to its building committee and entrusted him with designing its first ship, the {{SS|Great Western||2}}.{{sfn|Buchanan|2006|pp=57–59}}<ref name="Beckett 2006, pp. 171–173"/>{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pp=34–46}}

When it was built, the ''Great Western'' was the longest ship in the world at {{convert|236|ft|abbr=on}} with a {{convert|250|ft|adj=on}} [[keel]]. The ship was constructed mainly from wood, but Brunel added bolts and iron diagonal reinforcements to maintain the keel's strength. In addition to its steam-powered [[paddle wheel]]s, the ship carried four masts for sails. The ''Great Western'' embarked on her maiden voyage from [[Avonmouth]], Bristol, to New York on 8 April 1838 with {{convert|600|LT|kg|abbr=on}} of coal, cargo and seven passengers on board. Brunel himself missed this initial crossing, having been injured during a fire aboard the ship as she was returning from fitting out in London. As the fire delayed the launch several days, the ''Great Western'' missed its opportunity to claim the title as the first ship to cross the Atlantic under steam power alone.<ref name="Beckett 2006, pp. 171–173"/>{{sfn|Buchanan|2006|pp=58–59}}{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pp=26–32}}

Even with a four-day [[Head start (positioning)|head start]], the competing {{SS|Sirius|1837|2}} arrived only one day earlier, having virtually exhausted its coal supply. In contrast, the ''Great Western'' crossing of the Atlantic took 15 days and five hours, and the ship arrived at her destination with a third of its coal still remaining, demonstrating that Brunel's calculations were correct. The ''Great Western'' had proved the viability of commercial transatlantic steamship service, which led the Great Western Steamboat Company to use her in regular service between Bristol and New York from 1838 to 1846. She made 64&nbsp;crossings, and was the first ship to hold the [[Blue Riband]] with a crossing time of 13&nbsp;days westbound and 12&nbsp;days 6 hours eastbound. The service was commercially successful enough for a sister ship to be required, which Brunel was asked to design.<ref name="Beckett 2006, pp. 171–173"/>{{sfn|Buchanan|2006|pp=58–59}}{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pp=26–32}}

Brunel had become convinced of the superiority of [[propeller#Screw propellers|propeller]]-driven ships over paddle wheels. After tests conducted aboard the propeller-driven steamship {{SS|Archimedes||2}}, he incorporated a large six-bladed propeller into his design for the {{convert|322|ft|m|adj=on}} {{SS|Great Britain||2}}, which was launched in 1843.<ref name="Nasmyth">{{cite book|last=Nasmyth|first=James|year=1897|title=James Nasmyth: Engineer, An Autobiography|editor=Smiles, Samuel|publisher=Archived at Project Gutenberg|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/476|access-date=14 December 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103546/http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/476|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Great Britain'' is considered the first modern ship, being built of metal rather than wood, powered by an engine rather than wind or oars, and driven by propeller rather than paddle wheel. She was the first iron-hulled, propeller-driven ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lienhard|first=John H|year=2003|title=The Engines of Our Ingenuity|publisher=Oxford University Press (US)|isbn=978-0-19-516731-3}}</ref> Her maiden voyage was made in August and September 1845, from Liverpool to New York. In 1846, she was run aground at [[Dundrum, County Down]]. She was salvaged and employed in the [[SS Great Britain#Australian service|Australian service]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} She is currently fully preserved and open to the public in Bristol, UK.<ref>{{cite web |title=Visit Bristol's No.1 Attraction {{!}} Brunel's SS Great Britain {{!}} |url=https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/ |website=www.ssgreatbritain.org |publisher=The SS Great Britain Trust |ref=brunels-ss-great-britain |access-date=30 November 2020 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201114253/https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1852 Brunel turned to a third ship, larger than her predecessors, intended for voyages to India and Australia. The {{SS|Great Eastern||2}} (originally dubbed ''Leviathan'') was cutting-edge technology for her time: almost {{convert|700|ft|abbr=on}} long, fitted out with the most luxurious appointments, and capable of carrying over 4,000 passengers. ''Great Eastern'' was designed to cruise non-stop from London to Sydney and back (since engineers of the time mistakenly believed that Australia had no coal reserves), and she remained the largest ship built until the start of the 20th century. Like many of Brunel's ambitious projects, the ship soon ran over budget and behind schedule in the face of a series of technical problems.{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pages=94–113}}

The ship has been portrayed as a [[white elephant]], but it has been argued by David P. Billington that in this case, Brunel's failure was principally one of economics—his ships were simply years ahead of their time.{{sfn|Billington|1985|pp=50–59}} His vision and engineering innovations made the building of large-scale, propeller-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality, but the prevailing economic and industrial conditions meant that it would be several decades before transoceanic steamship travel emerged as a viable industry.{{sfn|Billington|1985|pp=50–59}}

''Great Eastern'' was built at [[John Scott Russell]]'s [[Napier Yard, Millwall|Napier Yard]] in London, and after two trial trips in 1859, set forth on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York on 17 June 1860.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mortimer|first=John|year=2005|title=Zerah Colburn: The Spirit of Darkness|publisher=Arima Publishing|isbn=978-1-84549-196-3}}</ref> Though a failure at her original purpose of passenger travel, she eventually found a role as an oceanic [[telegraph]] [[cable layer|cable-layer]].<!--retaining this sentence for later placement... and the ''Great Eastern'' remains one of the most important vessels in the history of shipbuilding.--> Under Captain [[James Anderson (sea captain)|Sir James Anderson]],<!--note: [[Robert Halpin]] indicates that ''he'' was the captain during cable-laying --> the ''Great Eastern'' played a significant role in laying the first lasting [[transatlantic telegraph cable]], which enabled telecommunication between Europe and North America.{{sfn|Dumpleton|Miller|2002|pages=130–148}}<ref>{{cite news|work=The New York Times|date=30 July 1866|title=The Atlantic Cable|id={{ProQuest|392481871}}}}</ref>

<!-- Inferior image quality [[File:Great-Eastern-At-Sea-.jpg|right|thumb|Great Eastern'' at Sea'': Brunel's great ship as imagined by the artist at her launch in 1858]] -->
<gallery widths="200" heights="180">
File:Great Western maiden voyage.jpg|The maiden voyage of the {{SS|Great Western||2}} in April 1838
File:Launch-of-the-SS-GB.jpg|The launch of the {{SS|Great Britain||2}} in 1843|alt=A crowd of people watch a large black and red ship with one funnel and six masts adorned with flags
File:Great eastern launch attempt.jpg|alt=An old photograph showing a large iron paddlewheel ship being launched sideways, with workmen thrusting large baulks of timber under a large drum of iron chains|{{SS|Great Eastern||2}} shortly before launch in 1858
File:Isambard Kingdom Brunel preparing the launch of 'The Great Eastern by Robert Howlett crop.jpg|alt=A group of ten men in nineteenth-century dark suits, wearing top hats, observing something behind the camera|Brunel at the launch of the ''Great Eastern'' with [[John Scott Russell]] and [[14th Earl of Derby|Lord Derby]], 1858
</gallery>

==Renkioi Hospital==
{{Main|Renkioi Hospital}}

Britain entered into the [[Crimean War]] during 1854 and an old Turkish barracks became the British Army Hospital in [[Selimiye Barracks|Scutari]]. Injured men contracted a variety of illnesses—including [[cholera]], [[dysentery]], [[typhoid]] and [[malaria]]—due to poor conditions there,<ref>{{cite web|title=Report on Medical Care|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/battles/crimea/popup/medical.htm|publisher=British National Archives|id=WO 33/1 ff.119, 124, 146–7|date=23 February 1855|access-date=30 November 2006|archive-date=2 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202150422/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/battles/crimea/popup/medical.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Florence Nightingale]] sent a plea to ''[[The Times]]'' for the government to produce a solution.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

Brunel was working on the ''Great Eastern'' amongst other projects but accepted the task in February 1855 of designing and building the [[War Office]] requirement of a temporary, [[Prefabrication|pre-fabricated]] hospital that could be shipped to [[Crimea]] and erected there. In five months the team he had assembled designed, built, and shipped pre-fabricated wood and canvas buildings,<!-- links to image at another website<ref>Renkioi Hospital Buildings image (see [http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/cms/images/stories/exhibitions/renkioi_hospital.jpg] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327121838/http://www.florence-nightingale.co.uk/cms/images/stories/exhibitions/renkioi_hospital.jpg |date=27 March 2009 }}) The Florence Nightingale Museum. Retrieved 12 January 2009.</ref>--> providing them complete with advice on transportation and positioning of the facilities.<ref>{{cite web|title=Prefabricated wooden hospitals|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/battles/crimea/popup/prefab.htm|publisher=British National Archives|id=WO 43/991 ff.76–7|date=7 September 1855|access-date=30 November 2006|archive-date=9 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109231201/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/battles/crimea/popup/prefab.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Brunel had been working with [[Gloucester Docks]]–based [[William Eassie]] on the launching stage for the ''Great Eastern''. Eassie had designed and built wooden prefabricated huts used in both the Australian gold rush, as well as by the British and French Armies in the Crimea. Using wood supplied by timber importers Price & Co., Eassie fabricated 18 of the 50-patient wards designed by Brunel, shipped directly via 16 ships from Gloucester Docks to the [[Dardanelles]]. The [[Renkioi Hospital]] was subsequently erected near Scutari Hospital, where Nightingale was based, in the malaria-free area of [[Renkioi]].<ref name="renkioi">{{cite web|url=http://www.hdmagazine.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=2032207 |title=Lessons from Renkioi |access-date=30 November 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929000446/http://www.hdmagazine.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=2032207 |archive-date=29 September 2007 |work=Hospital Development Magazine |date=10 November 2005}}</ref>

His designs incorporated the necessities of [[hygiene]]: access to [[sanitation]], ventilation, drainage, and even rudimentary temperature controls. They were feted as a great success, with some sources stating that of the approximately 1,300 patients treated in the hospital, there were only 50 deaths.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hmswarrior.org/brunel/resources/palmerston_and_politics.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620002840/http://www.hmswarrior.org/brunel/resources/palmerston_and_politics.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=20 June 2007|title=Palmerston, Brunel and Florence Nightingale's Field Hospital|publisher=HMSwarrior.org|access-date=30 November 2006}}</ref> In the Scutari hospital it replaced, deaths were said to be as many as ten times this number. Nightingale referred to them as "those magnificent huts".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/britainsmodernbrunels.shtml|title=Britain's Modern Brunels|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=30 November 2006}}</ref> The practice of building hospitals from pre-fabricated modules survives today,<ref name="renkioi"/> with hospitals such as the [[Bristol Royal Infirmary]] being created in this manner.

===Proposed artillery===
In 1854 and 1855, with the encouragement of [[John Fox Burgoyne]], Brunel presented the Admiralty with designs for floating gun batteries. These were intended as siege weapons for attacking Russian ports. However, these proposals were not taken up, confirming Brunel's opinion of the Admiralty as being opposed to novel ideas.<ref>{{Cite book
 |last=Brindle |first=Steven
 |title=Brunel: The Man Who Built the World
 |year=2005
 |isbn=978-0-297-84408-2
 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson
 |pages=240–241
}}</ref>

== Locations of Brunel's works ==
{{stack|{{GeoGroup|section=Locations of Brunel's works}}}}
{{PoIgb start|type=collapsed}} 
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Bath Spa}}|51.3775| -2.3564 |ST7519764387  | | |name=Bath Spa station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Bradford-on-Avon}}|51.3448| -2.2527 |ST8240160721  | | |name=Bradford-on-Avon station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Bridgend}}|51.5069| -3.575 |SS9070579897  | | |name=Bridgend station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Bridgwater}}|51.1272| -2.9917 | ST3061036961 | | |name=Bridgwater station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Bristol Temple Meads}}|51.449| -2.58 | ST5969972437 | | |name=Bristol Temple Meads station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Charfield}}|51.628051| -2.399764 | ST7233192265 | | |name=Charfield station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Charlbury}}|51.872| -1.49 | SP3510819441 | | |name=Charlbury station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Chippenham}}|51.4625| -2.1154 | ST9198373785 | | |name=Chippenham station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Cirencester Town}}|51.7145| -1.9717 | SP0195401803 | | |name=Cirencester Town station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Crediton}}|50.7832| -3.6471 | SX8390299534 | | |name=Crediton station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Culham}}|51.654| -1.237 | SU5277795350 | | |name=Culham station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Exeter St Davids}}|50.7296| -3.5435 | SX9107793419 | | |name=Exeter St Davids station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Exeter St Thomas}}|50.7171| -3.5386 | SX9139692026 | | |name=Exeter St Thomas station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Liskeard}}|50.447| -4.469 | SX2472763775 | | |name=Liskeard station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Mortimer}}|51.3721| -1.0356 | SU6712064162 | | |name=Mortimer station}}
{{PoIgb|[[London Paddington station|Paddington]]|51.5173| -0.1774 | TQ2644681447 | | |name=Paddington station}}
{{PoIgb|[[Hilton London Paddington|Hilton Hotel, Paddington]]|51.5157| -0.1758 | TQ2655981272 | | |name=Hilton Hotel, Paddington}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|St Germans}}|50.394| -4.309 | SX3590157518 | | |name=St Germans station}}
{{PoIgb|[[Salisbury railway station#Great Western Railway|Salisbury]]|51.0709| -1.8045 | SU1369530251 | | |name=Salisbury (GWR) station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Stroud}}|51.745| -2.219 | SO8488105217 | | |name=Stroud station}}
{{PoIgb|[[Disused railway stations on the Bristol to Exeter Line#Weston Junction|Weston Junction]]|51.3393| -2.948 | ST3397260505 | | |name=Weston Junction station}}
{{PoIgb|{{stnlnk|Yatton}}|51.3909| -2.8278 | ST4240966142 | | |name=Yatton station}}
{{PoIgb|[[Angarrack viaduct]]|50.1933| -5.3855 | SW5839538138 | | |name=Angarrack viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[Avon Bridge]]|51.4497| -2.5578 | ST6124272503 | | |name=Avon Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Bishop's Bridge]]|51.5185| -0.1796 | TQ2629481574 | | |name=Bishop's Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Chepstow Railway Bridge|Chepstow Bridge]]|51.6436| -2.6669 | ST5385594133 | | |name=Chepstow Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Chippenham railway station#Chippenham viaduct|Chippenham viaduct]]|51.4612| -2.1192 | ST9171973642 | | |name=Chippenham viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[Clifton Suspension Bridge]]|51.4549| -2.6279 |ST5637773121 | | |name=Clifton Suspension Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Carnon viaduct|Carnon]]|50.2234| -5.1062 | SW7846240623 | | |name=Carnon viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[St Pinnock#St Pinnock Viaduct|St Pinnock]]|50.4531| -4.5685 | SX1768764692 | | |name=St Pinnock Viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[Cumberland Basin (Bristol)#Swing bridges|Cumberland Basin swing bridges]]|51.4480| -2.6194 | ST5695872355 | | |name=Cumberland Basin swing bridges}}
{{PoIgb|[[Bristol–Exeter line#Weston-super-Mare to Taunton|"Devil's Bridge", Uphill]]|51.3178| -2.9677 | ST3256858133 | | |name="Devil's Bridge", Uphill}}
{{PoIgb|[[Gatehampton Railway Bridge]]|51.5117| -1.1279 | SU6051179607 | | |name=Gatehampton Railway Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges|Hungerford Bridge]]|51.5061| -0.12 | TQ3046080304 | | |name=Hungerford Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Landore Viaduct]]|51.6453| -3.9340 | SS6619895879 | | |name=Landore Viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[Loughor Viaduct]]|51.6624| -4.0827 | SS5596998062 | | |name=Loughor Viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[Maidenhead Railway Bridge|Maidenhead Bridge]]|51.5211| -0.70167 | SU9006881096 | | |name=Maidenhead Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Moulsford Railway Bridge]]|51.55806| -1.1425 | SU5943984753 | | |name=Moulsford Railway Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Royal Albert Bridge]]|50.4076| -4.2034 | SX4345058802 | | |name=Royal Albert Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Bridgwater railway station#Somerset Bridge|Somerset Bridge]]|51.1164| -2.9860 | ST3099335755 | | |name=Somerset Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Three Bridges, London]]|51.5044| -0.3554 | TQ1412879722 | | |name=Three Bridges, London}}
{{PoIgb|[[Usk Railway Bridge|Usk Bridge]]|51.5911| -2.9945 | ST3111288552 | | |name=Usk Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Wharncliffe Viaduct]]|51.5108| -0.3442 | TQ1488880453 | | |name=Wharncliffe Viaduct}}
{{PoIgb|[[Windsor Railway Bridge|Windsor Bridge]]|51.4868| -0.6179 | SU9595077387 | | |name=Windsor Bridge}}
{{PoIgb|[[Box Tunnel]]|51.4213| -2.2262 | ST8427569219 | | |name=Box Tunnel}}
{{PoIgb|[[Cockett railway station#Cockett Tunnel|Cockett Tunnel]]|51.6353| -3.9720 | SS6354394837 | | |name=Cockett Tunnel}}
{{PoIgb|[[Flying arch#Notable examples|Llansamlet arches]]|51.6610| -3.8782 | SS7010697523 | | |name=Llansamlet arches}}
{{PoIgb|[[Sapperton Railway Tunnel|Sapperton Tunnel]]|51.7236| -2.1017 | SO9297502820 | | |name=Sapperton Tunnel}}
{{PoIgb|[[Sonning Cutting]]|51.4617| -0.9132 | SU7549474254 | | |name=Sonning Cutting}}
{{PoIgb|[[South Devon Railway sea wall]]|50.5871| -3.4551 | SX9700477450 | | |name=South Devon Railway sea wall}}
{{PoIgb|[[Thames Tunnel]]|51.5031| -0.0544 | TQ3501880083 | | |name=Thames Tunnel}}
{{PoIgb|[[Wellington Bank, Somerset]]|50.9585| -3.2825 | ST0993618522 | | |name=Wellington Bank}}
{{PoIgb|[[Brentford Dock]]|51.4818| -0.3022 | TQ1787877291 | | |name=Brentford Dock}}
{{PoIgb|[[Bristol Harbour]]|51.45| -2.6 | ST5831072560 | | |name=Bristol Harbour}}
{{PoIgb|[[Cumberland Basin (Bristol)|Cumberland Basin]]|51.4481| -2.6194 | ST5695872355 | | |name=Cumberland Basin}}
{{PoIgb|[[Underfall Yard]]|51.4468| -2.6174 | ST5709872214 | | |name=Underfall Yard}}
{{PoIgb|[[Millbay Docks]]|50.368| -4.148 | SX4725854284 | | |name=Millbay Docks}}
{{PoIgb|[[Westport Canal]]|51| -2.85 | ST4036222693 | | |name=Westport Canal}}
{{PoIgb|[[South Devon Railway engine houses|Starcross engine house]]|50.6266| -3.4470 | SX9766581829 | | |name=Starcross engine house}}
{{PoIgb|[[Steventon railway station#Headquarters of the GWR|Brook House, Steventon]]|51.6220| -1.3192 | SU4712591735 | | |name=Brook House, Steventon}}
{{PoIgb|[[Crew's Hole, Bristol#Tar works|Crew's Hole tar works]]|51.454| -2.537 | ST6269172970 | | |name=Crew's Hole tar works}}
{{PoIgb|[[The Crystal Palace#Crystal Palace Park|Crystal Palace water towers]]|51.42209| -0.0760 | TQ3375971041 | | |name=Crystal Palace water towers}}
{{PoIgb|[[The Crystal Palace#Crystal Palace Park|Crystal Palace water towers]]|51.42209| -0.0760 | TQ3375971041 | | |name=Crystal Palace water towers}}
{{PoIgb|[[Great Exhibition]]|51.5031| -0.17 | TQ2699979876 | | |name=Great Exhibition}}
{{PoIgb|[[Malmaison Hotel, Reading]]|51.4574| -0.9718 | SU7143173713 | | |name=Malmaison Hotel, Reading}}
{{PoIgb end}}

==Personal life==
On 10 June 1830 Brunel was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Brunel Collection |url=https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/library/documents/special-collections/brunel-collection.pdf |website=University of Bristol |access-date=1 July 2021 |archive-date=10 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210710102337/https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/library/documents/special-collections/brunel-collection.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Search Results |url=https://catalogues.royalsociety.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Persons&id=NA7961&pos=1 |website=The Royal Society |access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>

Brunel married Mary Elizabeth Horsley (b. 1813) on 5 July 1836. She came from an accomplished musical and artistic family, being the eldest daughter of composer and organist [[William Horsley]]. They established a home at Duke Street, Westminster, in London.<ref name="brunel200-1830s">{{cite web |url=http://www.brunel200.com/1830s.htm |title=The 1830s |publisher=Brunel 200 |access-date=16 August 2009 |archive-date=5 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905171733/http://www.brunel200.com/1830s.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Brunel Family Grave -Kensal Green Cemetery -5July2006.jpg|right|thumb|alt=A cubical white marble work of masonry, approximately three feet wide, 18 inches deep and two feet high, inscribed with names of members of the Brunel family, surrounded by marble chippings|The Brunel family grave, [[Kensal Green Cemetery]], London]]

While performing a [[magic trick|conjuring trick]] for the amusement of his children in 1843 Brunel accidentally inhaled a [[Half sovereign|half-sovereign]] coin, which became lodged in his windpipe. A special pair of [[forceps]] failed to remove it, as did a machine devised by Brunel to shake it loose. At the suggestion of his father, Brunel was strapped to a board and turned upside-down, and the coin was jerked free.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dyer|first=T.F. Thiselton|year=2003|title=Strange Pages from Family Papers (1900)|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=978-0-7661-5346-2|pages=282–83}}</ref> He recuperated at [[Teignmouth]], and enjoyed the area so much that he purchased an estate at Watcombe in [[Torquay]], Devon. Here he commissioned William Burn to design [[Brunel Manor]] and its gardens to be his country home.{{sfn|Tudor|2007|page=19}} He never saw the house or gardens finished as he died before it was completed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Judy |title=Isambard's Kingdom: Travels in Brunel's England |date=2006 |publisher=Sutton Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=0-7509-4282-7 |page=208}}</ref>

Brunel, a heavy smoker,<ref>{{cite web |author=Ignacio Villarreal |url=https://artdaily.cc/news/43931/Churchill--The-Windsors-and-420-Million-Year-Old-Tree-Trunk-Star-in-Bonhams-Gentleman-s-Library-Sale--#.YL8q-zZKjOQ |title=Churchill, The Windsors and 420 Million Year Old Tree Trunk Star in Bonhams Gentleman's Library Sale |publisher=Artdaily.com |date=6 January 2011 |access-date=22 December 2012 |archive-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608083439/https://artdaily.cc/news/43931/Churchill--The-Windsors-and-420-Million-Year-Old-Tree-Trunk-Star-in-Bonhams-Gentleman-s-Library-Sale--#.YL8q-zZKjOQ |url-status=live }}</ref> who had been diagnosed with [[Bright's disease]] ([[nephritis]]),<ref>{{Citation | last = Lambert | first = Tim | title = A brief Biography of Isambard Kingdom Brunel | date = 14 March 2021 | url = http://www.localhistories.org/brunel.html }}</ref> suffered a stroke on 5 September 1859, just before the ''Great Eastern'' made her first voyage to New York.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cadbury|first=Deborah|year=2003|title=Seven Wonders of the Industrial World|publisher=Fourth Estate|isbn=978-0-00-716304-5|page=43}}</ref> He died ten days later at the age of 53 and was buried, like his father, in [[Kensal Green Cemetery]], London.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=bSZ8p4r59oEfaPyWrWfUqQ&scan=1|title=Index entry|access-date=14 August 2016|work=FreeBMD|publisher=ONS|archive-date=6 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106185527/https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=bSZ8p4r59oEfaPyWrWfUqQ&scan=1|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Grave of Isambard Kingdom Brunel|url=http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=196|publisher=Engineering Timelines|access-date=13 December 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222102603/http://www.engineering-timelines.com/scripts/engineeringItem.asp?id=196|url-status=live}}</ref> He is commemorated at [[Westminster Abbey]] in a window on the south side of the nave.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Alfred Ruper|title=The Abbey Scientists| page=41|place= London|publisher= Roger & Robert Nicholson|date= 1966 |oclc=2553524}}</ref> Many mourned Brunel's passing, in spite and because of his business ventures; an obituary in ''[[The Morning Chronicle]]'' noted:

<blockquote>Brunel was the right man for the nation, but unfortunately, he was not the right man for the shareholders. They must stoop who must gather gold, and Brunel could never stoop. The history of invention records no instance of grand novelties so boldly imagined and so successfully carried out by the same individual.<ref>{{cite book | last=Dugan | first=James | title=The great iron ship | publisher=Sutton | publication-place=Stroud | date=2003 | isbn=0-7509-3447-6 | oclc=52288259}}</ref></blockquote>

Brunel was survived by his wife, Mary, and three children: [[Isambard Brunel Junior]] (1837–1902), [[Henry Marc Brunel]] (1842–1903) and [[Florence Mary Brunel]] (1847–1876). Henry Marc later became a successful [[civil engineer]].<ref name="BrisUniArchive">
{{cite web |url=http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/03021207.html |title=Brunel Collection: Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859) papers |publisher=Archives Hub |access-date=16 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531080733/http://archiveshub.ac.uk/features/03021207.html |archive-date=31 May 2012}}</ref>{{sfn|Buchanan|2006|pages=7–8}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Isambard Kingdom Brunel - Bronze - Temple - London.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A bronze metal sculpture of a nineteenth century man wearing a long jacket or coat, trousers, waistcoat, with draughtsman's tools in his hands|Bronze statue of Brunel on the [[Victoria Embankment]] in London]]
A celebrated engineer in his era, Brunel remains revered today, as evidenced by numerous monuments to him. In London, there is a [[Statue of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Victoria Embankment|statue of Brunel]] on the [[Victoria Embankment]] (pictured), and further statues at [[Brunel University]] and Paddington station. Other statues are in Bristol, Plymouth, Swindon, Milford Haven and Saltash. A statue in [[Neyland]] in [[Pembrokeshire]] in [[Wales]] was stolen in August 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-11062264 |title=Brunel statue stolen from plinth |work=BBC News |date=23 August 2010 |access-date=22 December 2012}}</ref> The topmast of the ''Great Eastern'' is used as a flagpole at the entrance to [[Anfield]], Liverpool Football Club's ground.<ref>{{cite book | last1 =Pollard | first1 = Richard | last2 = Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |last3=Sharples |first3=Joseph | title = Lancashire: Liverpool and the southwest | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 2009 | page = 397 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Dl_ghLUNVGsC&q=flagpole%20great%20eastern%20liverpool&pg=RA1-PA397 | isbn =978-0-300-10910-8 }}</ref> Contemporary locations bear Brunel's name, such as [[Brunel University]] in London,<ref>{{cite web | title = History | publisher = Brunel University | year = 2009 | url = http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/history | access-date = 11 September 2009 | archive-date = 4 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131004112914/http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/history | url-status = live }}</ref> shopping centres in [[Swindon]] and also [[Bletchley, Milton Keynes]], and a collection of streets in Exeter: Isambard Terrace, Kingdom Mews, and Brunel Close. A road, car park, and school in his home city of Portsmouth are also named in his honour, along with one of the city's largest public houses.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-isambard-kingdom-brunel |title=The Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Portsmouth &#124; Our Pubs |publisher=J D Wetherspoon |date=12 April 2006 |access-date=22 December 2012 |archive-date=21 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121012101/http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/the-isambard-kingdom-brunel |url-status=dead }}</ref> There is an engineering lab building at the University of Plymouth named in his honour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Facilities at the University of Plymouth's Brunel Laboratories |url=https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/about-us/university-structure/faculties/arts-humanities-business/student-hub/digital-design-fabrication |access-date=28 February 2022 |website=University of Plymouth |language=en}}</ref>

In a public poll conducted by the [[BBC]] in 2001 to select the [[100 Greatest Britons]], Brunel was placed second, behind [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Churchill voted greatest Briton | publisher = BBC News online | date = 24 November 2002 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2509465.stm | access-date = 4 June 2009 | archive-date = 12 October 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091012181422/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2509465.stm | url-status = live }}</ref> Brunel's life and works have been depicted in numerous books, films and television programs. The 2003 book and BBC TV series ''[[Seven Wonders of the Industrial World]]'' included a dramatisation of the building of the ''Great Eastern''.

Many of Brunel's bridges are still in use. Brunel's first engineering project, the Thames Tunnel, is now part of the [[London Overground]] network. The [[Brunel Engine House]] at Rotherhithe, which once housed the steam engines that powered the tunnel pumps, now houses the [[Brunel Museum]] dedicated to the work and lives of Marc  Isambard and Isambard Kingdom Brunel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk/ |title=Brunel Museum |publisher=[[Brunel Museum]] |access-date=16 August 2009 |archive-date=17 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917091931/http://www.brunel-museum.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many of Brunel's original papers and designs are now held in the Brunel Institute alongside the {{SS|Great Britain}} in Bristol, and are freely available for researchers and visitors.<ref>{{cite web |title=Visit the Brunel Institute {{!}} Visit Bristol's No. 1 Attraction {{!}} Brunel's SS Great Britain |url=https://www.ssgreatbritain.org/brunel-institute/visit |website=www.ssgreatbritain.org |publisher=The SS Great Britain Trust |ref=the-brunel-institute |language=en}}</ref>

Brunel is credited with turning the town of Swindon into one of the fastest-growing towns in Europe during the 19th century.<ref>{{cite news |last=Tye|first=Stephanie|date=20 January 2006|url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/675915.how_town_was_put_on_the_map_by_brunel|title=How Town was put on the map by Brunel|publisher=Swindon Advertiser|access-date=22 September 2009}}</ref> Brunel's choice to locate the Great Western Railway locomotive sheds there caused a need for housing for the workers, which in turn gave Brunel the impetus to build hospitals, churches and housing estates in what is known today as the 'Railway Village'.{{sfn|Beckett|2006|pages=115–22}} According to some sources, Brunel's addition of a Mechanics Institute for recreation and hospitals and clinics for his workers gave [[Aneurin Bevan]] the basis for the creation of the [[National Health Service]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/england/wiltshire/article_4.shtml|title=A Model for the NHS? |publisher=BBC Legacies|access-date=30 November 2006|archive-date=14 December 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041214075553/http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/work/england/wiltshire/article_4.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> <!--The current hospital in Swindon is named the [[Great Western Hospital]] in commemoration, and contains the Brunel Treatment Centre.-->

[[File:43003 Isambard Kingdom Brunel.JPG|thumb|right|[[First Great Western|FGW]] [[British Rail Class 43 (HST)|HST]] 43003 power car]]
[[GWR 4073 Class|GWR Castle Class]] steam locomotive no. 5069 was named ''Isambard Kingdom Brunel'',{{sfn|le Fleming|1960|page=H18}} after the engineer;{{sfn|Davies|1993|p=P127}} and [[Western Region of British Railways|BR Western Region]] [[British Rail Class 47|class 47]] diesel locomotive no. D1662 (later 47484) was also named ''Isambard Kingdom Brunel''.{{sfn|Marsden|1984|p=66}} GWR's successor [[Great Western Railway (train operating company)|Great Western Railway]] has named both its old [[British Rail Class 43 (HST)|InterCity 125]] power car 43003 and new [[British Rail Class 800|InterCity Electric Train]] 800004 as ''Isambard Kingdom Brunel''.{{Citation needed|date=April 2020}}

The [[Royal Mint]] struck two [[£2 coin]]s in 2006 to "celebrate the 200th anniversary of Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his achievements".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalmint.com/RoyalMint/web/site/PackedSets/UKIBSP.asp |title=2006 Brunel The Man £2 Silver Proof|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522223227/http://www.royalmint.com/RoyalMint/web/site/PackedSets/UKIBSP.asp |archive-date=22 May 2006|publisher=Royal Mint|access-date=16 August 2009}}</ref> The first depicts Brunel with a section of the [[Royal Albert Bridge]] and the second shows the roof of Paddington Station. In the same year the Post Office issued a set of six wide commemorative stamps (SG 2607-12) showing the [[Royal Albert Bridge]], the [[Box Tunnel]], [[Paddington Station]], the ''Great Eastern,'' the [[Clifton Suspension Bridge]], and the [[Maidenhead Railway Bridge]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Shoesmith |first1=Kevin |title=Brunel's stamp of success celebrated |url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/690765.brunels-stamp-of-success-celebrated/ |website=Swindon Advertiser |access-date=24 January 2024 |language=en |date=17 February 2006 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124204631/https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/690765.brunels-stamp-of-success-celebrated/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Brunel 200 Legacy: The British Postal Museum & Archive |url=http://www.brunel200.com/legacy/brunel_200_events/british_postal_museum.htm |website=www.brunel200.com |publisher=Brunel 200 |access-date=24 January 2024 |archive-date=24 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240124205118/http://www.brunel200.com/legacy/brunel_200_events/british_postal_museum.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The words "I.K. BRUNEL ENGINEER 1859" were fixed to either end of the [[Royal Albert Bridge]] to commemorate his death in 1859, the year the bridge opened. The words were later partly obscured by maintenance access ladders but were revealed again by [[Network Rail]] in 2006 to honour his bicentenary.<ref>
{{cite press release
|url=http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=1840&NewsAreaID=17&SearchCategoryID=-1
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040247/http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=1840&NewsAreaID=17&SearchCategoryID=-1
|archive-date=28 September 2007
|title=Brunel Bicentennial Celebrations
|publisher=www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk
|date=16 June 2009
|access-date=22 July 2009
}}
</ref>

Brunel was the subject of ''[[Great (1975 film)|Great]]'', a 1975 [[animated film]] directed by [[Bob Godfrey]]. It won the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film]] at the [[48th Academy Awards]] in March 1976.<ref name="Oscars1976">{{Cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1976 |title=The 48th Academy Awards (1976) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2 October 2011 |work=oscars.org |archive-date=9 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109220920/http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1976 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the [[2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony]], Brunel was portrayed by [[Kenneth Branagh]] in a segment showing the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Danny Boyle Welcomes The World To London |first=Danny |last=Boyle |url=http://descrier.co.uk/uk/2012/07/london-2012-danny-boyle-welcomes-the-world-to-london/ |work=The Descrier |date=28 July 2012 |access-date=28 July 2012 |archive-date=8 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208134933/http://descrier.co.uk/uk/2012/07/london-2012-danny-boyle-welcomes-the-world-to-london/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Brunel is a central character in [[Howard Rodman]]'s novel [[The Great Eastern (Rodman novel)|''The Great Eastern'']], published in 2019 by [[Melville House Publishing]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Great Eastern » Melville House Books |url=https://www.mhpbooks.com/books/the-great-eastern/ |website=Melville House |date=4 June 2019 |access-date=1 July 2021 }}</ref>

A fictionalized version of Brunel is a key figure in the construction of Even Greater London in the alternate-history comedy podcast Victoriocity.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thecambridgegeek.com/posts/2019/01/20190123-a.php |title=Victoriocity – Podcast Review |website=The Cambridge Geek |access-date=19 April 2024}}</ref>

Two [[Tunnel Boring Machine]]s (TBMs) used by [[Crossrail#Tunnel boring machines|Crossrail]] were named for Brunel's wife Mary and his mother Sophia.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 March 2012 |title=Names of our first six tunnel boring machines announced |url=http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/site-news/names-our-first-six-tunnel-boring-machines-announced |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414213314/http://www.crossrail.co.uk/news/site-news/names-our-first-six-tunnel-boring-machines-announced |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 April 2012 |publisher=Crossrail}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Trains}}
* [[Lindsey House]]&nbsp;– Brunel's childhood home

==Notes==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Beaufoy
 | first = Mark
 | title = Nautical and Hydraulic Experiments, with numerous Scientific Miscellanies
 | editor-last = Beaufoy
 | editor-first = Henry
 | publisher = Privately published by the editor
 | place = South Lambeth, Surrey, UK
 | volume = I
 | year = 1834
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Y6I_AAAAcAAJ
 | access-date = 26 December 2014
}} Only the first of a planned three volumes was published
* {{Cite book
 | last = Beckett
 | first = Derrick
 | year = 2006
 | title = Brunel's Britain
 | publisher = David & Charles
 | isbn = 978-0-7153-2360-1
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/brunelsbritain0000beck_o9n7
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Billington
 | first = David P
 | year = 1985
 | title = The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering
 | publisher = Princeton University Press
 | isbn = 978-0-691-02393-9
 | url = https://archive.org/details/towerbridgenewar00bill
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last1 = Binding
  |first1 = John
  |title = Brunel's Cornish Viaducts
  |date = 1993
  |publisher = Atlantic Transport Publishers
  |location = Penryn, Cornwall
  |isbn = 0-906899-56-7
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Brunel
 | first = Isambard
 | year = 1870
 | title = The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, civil engineer
 | publisher = Longmans, Green & Co.
 | oclc = 3202088
  }} (This is Isambard Brunel Junior, IKB's son.)
* {{Cite book
 | last = Buchanan
 | first = R. Angus
 | date = 2006
 | title = Brunel: the life and times of Isambard Kingdom Brunel
 | publisher = Hambledon & London
 | isbn = 978-1-85285-525-3
  }}
* {{Cite EB1911
 | wstitle = Brunel, Isambard Kingdom
  }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Davies
 | first = Ken
 | title = The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part fourteen: Names and their Origins&nbsp;– ...
 | date = April 1993
 | publisher = [[Railway Correspondence and Travel Society|RCTS]]
 | location = Lincoln
 | isbn = 978-0-901115-75-1
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last1 = Dumpleton
 | first1 = Bernard
 | last2 = Miller
 | first2 = Muriel
 | year = 2002
 | title = Brunel's Three Ships
 | publisher = Intellect Books
 | isbn = 978-1-84150-800-9
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Garrison
 | first = Ervan G.
 | title = History of Engineering and Technology: Artful Methods
 | publisher = CRC Press
 | year = 1998
 | edition = 2nd
 | isbn = 978-0849398100
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Gillings
 | first = Annabel
 | year = 2006
 | title = Brunel (Life & Times)
 | publisher = Haus Publishers Ltd
 | isbn = 978-1-904950-44-8
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/brunel0000gill
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last = le Fleming
 | first = H.M.
 | editor-last = White
 | editor-first = D.E.
 | title = The Locomotives of the Great Western Railway, part eight: Modern Passenger Classes
 | edition = 2nd
 | date = 1960
 | orig-year = 1953
 | publisher = [[Railway Correspondence and Travel Society|RCTS]]
 | location=Kenilworth
 | isbn = 978-0-901115-19-5
  }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Marsden
 | first = Colin J.
 | title = BR Locomotive Numbering
 | date =  1984
 | publisher = [[Ian Allan Publishing|Ian Allan]]
 | location = Shepperton
 | isbn = 978-0-7110-1445-9
 | id = EX/1184
  }}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Nokes
 | first = George Augustus
 | title = A History of the Great Western Railway
 | year = 1895
 | url = https://archive.org/details/ahistorygreatwe00nokegoog
 | access-date = 13 December 2015
| publisher = Digby, Long & co.
  }} (373 pages) Online at Internet Archive
* {{ cite book
 | first = L.T.C. |last=Rolt
 | title = Isambard Kingdom Brunel
 | year = 1989
 | orig-year = 1957
 | publisher = Prentice Hall Press
 | isbn = 978-0-582-10744-1
  }}
* {{cite book
 | last = Tudor
 | first = Geoffrey
 | date = 2007
 | title = Brunel's Hidden Kingdom
 | location = Paignton
 | publisher = Creative Media Publishing
 | isbn = 978-0954607128
  }}
* {{cite book
 | first = Adrian
 | last = Vaughan
 | year = 1991
 | title = Isambard Kingdom Brunel: Engineering Knight-Errant
 | publisher = John Murray
 | isbn = 978-0-7195-4636-5
}}
* {{Cite book
 | last = Wilson
 | first = Arthur
 | year = 1994
 | title = The Living Rock: The Story of Metals Since Earliest Times and Their Impact on Civilization
 | publisher = Woodhead Publishing
 | isbn = 978-1-85573-301-5
  }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite book
 | author = Steven Brindle
 | year = 2004
 | title = Paddington Station: Its History and Architecture
 | publisher = English Heritage
 | isbn = 978-1-873592-70-0
}}
* {{cite book
 | author = Isambard Brunel
 | title = The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer
 | orig-year = 1870
 | year = 1970
 | publisher = David & Charles
}} Written by Brunel's son
* {{cite book
 |author = John Canning
 |title = 50 Great Horror Stories
 |year = 1971
 |publisher = Guild Publishing
 |isbn = 978-0-5171367-1-3
 |url = https://archive.org/details/50greathorrorsto00cann
}}
{{page needed|date=March 2018}} Anthology of true historical events with elements of horror
* {{cite book
 | author = Celia Brunel Noble
 | title = The Brunels, Father and Son
 | year = 1938
}} Written by Brunel's granddaughter, it adds some family anecdotes and personal information over the previous volume
* {{cite book
 | author = Eugene Byrne and Simon Gurr
 | title = Isambard Kingdom Brunel: A Graphic Biography
 | year = 2006
 | publisher = Brunel 200
}}
* {{cite book
 | author = Andrew Mathewson and Derek Laval
 | title = Brunel's Tunnel...and Where It Led
 | year = 1992
 | publisher = Brunel Exhibition Rotherhithe
 | isbn = 978-0-9504361-1-1
}}
* {{cite book
 | editor = Sir Alfred Pugsley
 | year = 1976
 | title = The Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel: An Engineering Appreciation
}} A technical presentation of Brunel's opus
* {{cite book
 | author = Rob Powell
 | year= 1985
 | title= Brunel's Kingdom&nbsp;– Photography and the Making of History
 | publisher = Watershed Media Centre
 | isbn = 978-0-9510539-0-4
}} A study of how early photography portrayed Victorian industry and engineering, including the celebrated picture of Brunel and the launching chains of the ''Great Eastern''.
* {{cite book
 | author = Christopher Silver
 | title = Renkioi: Brunel's Forgotten Crimean War Hospital
 | year = 2007
 | publisher = Valonia Press 2007
 | isbn = 978-0-9557105-0-6
}}
* {{cite book
 | author = Derek Webb
 | title = Is
 | year = 2010
 | publisher = Parthian Books
 | isbn = 978-1-906998-11-0
}} Children's book about the reincarnation of IKB with KeyStage 2 UK curriculum links.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Isambard Kingdom Brunel|<br/>Isambard Kingdom Brunel }}
* ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/41210 The life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Civil Engineer]'' by Isambard Brunel Junior, at [[Project Gutenberg]]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Isambard Brunel}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Brunel%20Obituary.html |title=Obituary in |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704081013/http://www.vauxhallsociety.org.uk/Brunel%20Obituary.html |archive-date=4 July 2008 |url-status=dead }} ''[[The Times]]'' 19 September 1859
* [http://www.designmuseum.org/design/isambard-kingdom-brunel Brunel biography with additional images] from the [[Design Museum]]
* {{cite web
|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/brunel_kingdom_isambard.shtml
|title=Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859)
|work=BBC History
|access-date=27 August 2009}}
* [http://www.ikbrunel.org.uk Brunel portal]
* {{cite web
|url=http://www.bris.ac.uk/is/library/collections/specialcollections/archives/brunel/
|title=Brunel Archives
|publisher=University of Bristol
|access-date=9 September 2009
|archive-date=7 June 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607072041/http://www.bris.ac.uk/is/library/collections/specialcollections/archives/brunel/
|url-status=dead
}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.mrsite.co.uk/usersitesv34/willrobinsonwriter.com/wwwroot/page6.htm|title=Review of 'The Intemperate Engineer' by Adrian Vaughan|publisher=Will Robinson|access-date=12 May 2011|archive-date=30 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190830153111/http://www.mrsite.co.uk/usersitesv34/willrobinsonwriter.com/wwwroot/page6.htm|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web
 |url = http://www.josephwallace.co.uk/independent-film#/brunel/
 |title = 'The Life and Death of Isambard Kingdom Brunel' Short film
 |access-date = 3 May 2016
|url-status = dead
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160429185828/http://www.josephwallace.co.uk/independent-film#/brunel/
 |archive-date = 29 April 2016
|df = dmy-all
}}
* [http://www.brunel200.com/legacy/index.html Brunel 200 Legacy]

{{Brunel}}
{{Navbox track gauge}}
{{GWR Locomotives}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunel, Isambard Kingdom}}
[[Category:Isambard Kingdom Brunel| ]]
[[Category:1806 births]]
[[Category:1859 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century British inventors]]
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