# Brunel's Thames Tunnel, Rotherhithe



## godzilla73 (Jan 24, 2010)

In the 1820's French engineer Marc Brunel and his young son Isambard had the idea of building a foot tunnel under the Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping. Not to be confused with the nearby Rotherhithe road tunnel, this venture was the first ever tunnel to be built under water anywhere in the world. Brunel revolutionised tunnel building by means of his Tunnel Shield machine, which was a huge metal barrier on wheels, filled with cages in which miners worked at digging out small parts of the river bed. Leading down to the tunnel on either side of the river were two massive shafts, which Brunel built above ground out of concrete and brick and then very gradually let them sink under their own weight until they reached a level parallel with the river bed (and people wondered why the tunnel took 18 years to build!). The shaft on the Rotherhithe side of the tunnel - or what remains of it - is pictured here. Somewhat imperiously called "The Grand Entrance" it is being restored by the people at the Brunel Museum which is housed in the old engine house which used to drain water from the tunnel. The tunnels themselves now form part of the East London line, though they had arches all along them where people sold stuff. The floor of the shaft has been concreted to just above the level of the tunnels, so in the old painting included below, you cant go anyfurther down the stairs than the circular bit above the tunnels







You enter the shaft through a very small passage that you have to crawl through





At the moment because it is being restored there is scaffolding everywhere, but if you look up you can see the circular shape of the Entrance shaft and some of the riveted beams which were part of the original structure













The main original feature that is left is the imprint of the staircases that went around the outside of the shaft, with some of the joists still in place that held the treads up










From these pictures, you can't really get an idea of the scale of it, but I reckon that the shaft is as long as the chimney on the engine house which sits next to the top of the shaft.









Enjoy! 
GDZ


----------



## godzilla73 (Jan 25, 2010)

Oh and I meant to say that at the end of March, they're opening up the arcade bit of the tunnel. TfL have apparently given permission for people to look at it before the overground trains start using it - when the East London line becomes part of the Overground Network. Let me know if anyone fancies going.
GDZ


----------



## Neosea (Jan 25, 2010)

Looks cool, would love to see this.


----------

