The Thames Tunnel

[@ronalddevine9587]

Both of the Brunnels were geniuses. Britain truly prospered because of them. Thanks, Lance.

[@johngregg5735]

Speaking of tunnels, the City of Chicago has an network of freight tunnels. These tunnels were used to transport all manor of goods, like coal, around the city without blocking traffic on the streets. The tunnels were closed in 1959 and quickly forgotten. Chicago was remined of the tunnels on April 13, 1992 when a construction project punched a hole in one of the tunnels and 250,000,000 gallons of river water poured through the breach.

[@srice8959]

I also remember reading about how popular the tunnels were during Prohibition for sneaking the booze where it was needed. I also remember watching a video on the history channel back when they had tv shows about actual history. How in NYC how the mayor had a tunnel that connected City Hall and the 21 Club with its secret room where all the big wigs had their liquor hidden away at. Even Teddy Roosevelt who was the one time police commissioner, and the mayor Jimmy Walker, and Beau Coup celebrities like JFK, Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Richard Nixon, Marilyn Monroe just to name a few of the hundreds of politicians and movie stars

[@goodun2974]

@@srice8959 , I remember seeing a TV show about enormous saltmine caverns a half mile underneath Chicago.

[@srice8959]

@@goodun2974 That would have been really cool to see. I know that down here in South Louisiana we have quite a few HUGE salt domes. The one’s that’s old, and no longer mined anymore is where America keeps it’s Oil reserves for Incase of war. America keeps at least enough to power its military for one month. Plus we also have some underneath where Tabasco Sauce is made. I did a tour a long time ago and they said that everything to make the sauce is either grown or mined on location. I think it would be so cool to be able to tour the one under Chicago

[@goodun2974]

@@srice8959 , I recommend the history book "Salt" by Mark Kurlansky. Its fascinating!

[@tomh6183]

I remember the tunnels flooding as obviously it was a big story in Chicago.

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

My mother was a native Londoner, and lived and worked in London all through WW-II. She spent a fair amount of time in the Tube (subway) tunnels under the river, as they were used as air raid shelters.

[@malcolmbacchus866]

The stations on the Tube lines were used as air raid shelters but not the tunnels under the river.

[@christopherkerzel2165]

As a Canadian Civil Engineer living in Britain for 22 years, IKB is one of my heroes. He changed the modern world and his father laid the foundation for his achievements. You should do an episode on the sounding arch bridge in Maidenhead. Completed in 1838, it was the longest, flattest brick arch in the world at the time. It still transports 100s of commuters daily into London today. Absolute genius that we need to take more pride in.

[@jamesmills9240]

My wife and I used the Greenwich foot tunnel when visiting the Cutty Sark 25 years ago. It was over 90 years old at the time and I was quite impressed with it. Walking under a river!

[@marymanning5150]

It’s still there with kids running through screaming. Was my playground as a kid.

[@unclefart5527]

Everything I.K. Brunel did was fascinating. - And deserves to be remembered.

[@steveskouson9620]

He DID have that "interesting"middle name. The only more interesting last names I can think of, Brian Wilson's brothers. By themselves, Carl and Dean, not so weird, but Dennis Carl, and Carl Dean? Dennis the drummer, and Carl the lead guitar, as well as one of the most gifted singers in pop music. steve

[@dziban303]

Every shit he took: fascinating Every extracted booger: fascinating

[@almostfm]

He's also one of the few commoners to appear on a circulating British coin.

[@dsc4178]

Also his appearances on Danger Mouse.😀

[@RolloTonéBrownTown]

I've come to realise that, no matter how disinterested I am in a topic, I enjoy your style so much that I find it fascinating.

[@LondonAndy70]

The museum mentioned is small, but interesting and well worth a visit. For Americans it is across the street from The Mayflower pub where the ship set sail from, and Captain Jones in buried in the churchyard of St Mary's, very close to the museum.

[@JEFFERYSJOHNSON]

I first discovered the tunnel and learned about the Brunel’s traveling from The Mayflower to The Prospect of Whitby. You can learn a lot of history in a British Pub and sometimes traveling between a few.

[@ChrisShute62]

This small, fascinating museum is run by volunteers. Both Brunels deserve to be better remembered in Britain. Shakespeare has whole theatres built to celebrate his achievements, but our engineers are are rarely seen as heroes or creative geniuses. Interesting to hear that the Duke of Wellington supported Brunel Senior. If the royal-leaning Brunels hadn't fled revolutionary France, the French Navy might have benefited from Marc Brunel's mechanised block production during the Napoleonic wars.

[@MysticMountainGems]

Time Team and Walking Through History, both with Tony Robinson are a couple of my favorite shows of all time....and I'm from Calif.

[@coling3957]

interesting video on Brunel snr. an often overlooked 19th century character who did great engineering work .. his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel is more famous - bridges, railways and ships,. I live near the Royal Albert Bridge , Brunel's design and one of last projects. Prince Albert officially opened it in may 1859. Brunel died later that same year and his name is emblazoned on it as a memorial to him. it has been in continuous use carrying rail traffic between Devon and Cornwall. and looks set to continue to do so forever.

[@stevehayward1854]

I too live near that bridge and it will always be Brunel's bridge not Prince Albert's

[@JamesThomas-gg6il]

Didn't Isambard also have something to do with the Great Eastern? The jinxed ship.

[@coling3957]

@@JamesThomas-gg6il he designed her. ship was launched around about time of his death. idk about jinxed, this was a formidable ship, largest in the world at launch and had a career which included ferrying troops to Canada and successful Atlantic crossings, it survived a hurricane which damaged its paddles and tore it sails off, it reached safe harbor with just one screw propelling it. it laid the Transatlantic Telegraph Cable and served for many years. it seems to have survived some incidents that would have doomed many other ships. so maybe it was a lucky ship after all that suffered some hardships. good sailors aren't made in calm waters.

[@nickhall5959]

It nearly cracked in the 50's when troops were ordered to break step when crossing. My mum used to jump off the bridge as a dare when swimming in the Thames until the boy in front of her jumped and never came up stuck in the mud.

[@crisslastname9417]

Anything with Tony Robinson! 👍

[@larryjohnson7591]

I didn't know that the tunnel was built that far back in History. Thank You for the lesson.

[@davidbowman2716]

I'm very proud of having worked on the Línea Dorada tunnel here in the Mexico City. Even with the most modern technology from the guys of Robbins it's a very difficult endeavor.

[@danielhayton9438]

An Anniversary Dinner was held on a train running back and forth through the Tunnel. Excellent food and finished off with calvados from the Brunel family farm in Hacqueville. We ran, just post rush hour, from Harrow-on-the Hill to New Cross/New Cross Gate.

[@joanhoffman3702]

This video has given me a greater appreciation of tunnel building. Growing up in Queens, NYC, I certainly traveled through many a subway and traffic tunnel to get from here to there!

[@leggonarm9835]

I always found it amazing that people in the past made all these remarkable construction projects, and we can barely fix a road nowadays.

[@Onewheelordeal]

Big difference between roads/bridges built for a couple dozen horse carts vs trucks weighing 10s of thousands of pounds by the thousands

[@kleinjahr]

According to some, it was all done by aliens. Suuuure

[@rcnfo1197]

Yes, it's amazing what can be done with cheap labor and men considered expendable (by today's safety standards). Although, to be fair, only twelve men killed is remarkable for such a large project with so many unknowns and at the limits of technology.

[@meemo32086]

I would say that current civil engineers are reaching new skills as well. Look at the Chunnel. All the way under the English channel. And Japan's airport on a man made island.

[@brianhanley2933]

It’s because there to much red tape and do gooders tree huggers and people who can’t stay out of peoples business. We will never build an amazing thing in America because of this. No way we could get the Hoover dam or golden gate built now.

[@robertdragoff6909]

What really impresses me is building this tunnel with the technology that was available at the time. Even before steam power was harnessed! Interesting video

[@Dave_Sisson]

Steam pumps were used to remove the water that seeped into the construction site.

[@goodun2974]

@@Dave_Sisson ,the air in the tunnel presumably wasn't pressurized to slow leaks and its not explained here if fresh air was being pumped in. It must have been difficult to breathe, let alone work, under those conditions.

[@gorilladisco9108]

Ackchually .. steam power had been harnessed for a hundred years by that time (before James Watt engine in 1750, there were already existing less efficient steam powered pumps). The problem was the continuing water seepage that would make the tunnel unsuitable for traffic.

[@jonathanbrown4933]

You have a great voice for narrating historical subject material like this. Thanks, I love reading about or listening to historical engineering projects. They are amazing, and to conceive them without proper aid would be impossible so to have them explained is a treat.

[@cherimolina2121]

Thank you. Finally an "underground type "documentary" I can watch that doesn't have nauseating camera movements and distorted lighting! Interesting..actually remarkable content too!

[@InglouriousBradsterd]

Your videos are comforting to me.

[@noahway13]

It is astounding how a few great people have led the way and pulled the rest of us along.

[@mattgeorge90]

Always love how you bring such unique history to us. Thank you! 👍

[@JJ-of1ir]

I have been through this tunnel and never gave thought to its history. Your video was a revelation. I had no idea of the failures, the involvement of the Brunels, or of the years it took. No idea of what a challenge it was or that it was a marvel of its Time. The story you relate is nail-biting - so many twists and turns and dramas. Thank you for yet another great video. All the best.

[@magellantv]

The result of an extraordinary mastermind!

[@CrazyPetez]

In 1970 I visited London, toured the great English clipper ship, Cutty Sark, and walked the nearby tunnel side to side and back. I felt pretty proud of the achievement, but everybody I told about had never heard of the tunnel.

[@simongleaden2864]

You visited the Cutty Sark just two years after I first did, and first walked through that Tunnel in 1976. I've never been through the Brunels' Thames Tunnel but I'll get round to it someday.

[@joegordon5117]

It's remarkable to think that Brunel's shield design for tunnelling is basically what is often used even now, a couple of centuries on - the enormous boring machines like that used for the Channel Tunnel may be far more complex, but the basic principle derives from his ideas. Good engineering is good engineering, in any century...

[@goodun2974]

Apparently it took the French and their concepts of working below sea level in caissons filled with pressurized air to evate tunnel and bridge construction to new depths 🤔😁. Before the advent of deep-sea diving, the "bends" were known as "caisson disease".

[@richardmourdock2719]

Truly a fascinating story. Thanks H.G... got my morning off to a good start.

[@DavidMartin-ym2te]

The tunnel is used by trains as Lance said. They sprayed the tunnel walls with special concrete mix to shore it up in the 90s and the tunnel floor is absolutely flat - the train doesn't shake side to side at all. When I lived down the road in Surrey Quays 25 yrs ago I was taken into the "cookie cutter" which you generally could not see. Fascinating.

[@billshiff2060]

4:03 The portsmith block works deserves a full scale video on it's own and another video detailing the life of Henry Maudslay who built the block works under Brunnell then went on to revolutionize manufacturing machinery as we know it today.

[@davidclare4983]

Thanks!

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Thank you!

[@NickRatnieks]

Marc Brunel's Block Mill at the Portsmouth Dockyard was the first mass-production manufactory and a landmark in the Industrial Revolution. Pulley blocks of good quality were essential to the Royal Navy and this works contributed massively to the defeat of the French Navy at that time- something that is overlooked as there is a tendency to concentrate- quite rightly on the Admirals and their strategies but these would have been stymied with pulleys that were not of a good quality.

[@stanzahero]

I have a book that is about masonry and bricklaying that was written before the tunnel was completed. It has plates in it showing the tunnel, the tunneling machine and the descents with carriages depicted. The book also describes the original bridge across the Thames at Hammersmith in detail.

[@zounds010]

I visited the Brunel Museum this year. It's unfortunate the tunnel itself is no longer accessible due to the trains now running through it. The museum hosts tours of the entrance shaft, but that's now been walled off above the tunnel level.

[@henrysevern]

Good video, interesting and concise, I have used the Rotherhithe Tunnel several times over the years.

[@ElGrandoCaymano]

I believe this was the first tunnel ever under a major river. The Romans may have had some small tunnels under streams and canals, but nothing as deep as the wide and fast moving Thames.

[@MikeGeerts]

@4:00 big thumbs up to the line drawing of the horse powered tunnel digging machine....

[@lawrencepsteele]

What a timely video. I had no idea there were pedestrian tunnels under the Thames until last month when I took the Greenwich foot tunnel from Isle of Dogs south to Greenwich. I don't believe it's the same tunnel though the entrances were similar to Brunel's. Fortunately, these include elevators (oops, pardon my American dialect: "lifts"). Watching this video gave me perspective about the tunnel I walked.

[@Smokey298]

You dont need to apologize for using the proper terminology for an elevator.

[@dk50b]

I was more surprised to discover the Rotherhithe Tunnel, opened in 1908 and used by autos, features a sidewalk for pedestrian use. As I began to descend, the smell and lack of separation from traffic quickly turned me around. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4ivfGBsaayFbMU

[@notpublic7149]

Love you videos and also I love it when the sponsor is something, relevant. I know it is hard as a content creator being contacted by some kitchen supply company with 400% profit margins. Hard to resist a monthly deal just to say "slices and dices"!! (Breaks on second use). Magellan?? Thats fantastic! More knowledge!

[@petermostyneccleston2884]

Those were the days of the real Engineers. They could not use computers, but what they built lasted longer than most of the Engineering work that was built using them. Being told, in my 40s that I could not study Engineering, because I cannot use a computer, really annoyed me, but my comeback was that neither could either of the Brunel's.

[@robertpatrick3350]

The people who did the calculations by hand were known as computers….. before mechanical and electronic calculators were available

[@backwashjoe7864]

Without the persistence of Brunel, the project never would've gotten under the ground!

[@williammerkel1410]

The 2002 PBS special Building Big made the building of this tunnel really scary, and it was.

[@jetsons101]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Augustus Pugin and Joseph Bazalgette three of the best of the UK....

[@goodun2974]

From daring prison breaks and stealthy bank robberies to transcontinental railways and infrastructure construction, all the best stories include tunnels! 😁

[@michaelwalton3202]

...And pirates!😁

[@srice8959]

You’re so right! There’s just something about tunnels that just stirs the imagination! All the best Heist movies involves a tunnel. Just like the best prison breaks, and especially the WW2 NotSee Stalag breakouts

[@goodun2974]

@@srice8959 i read a fascinating book about the construction of railroad ( and later, automobile) tunnels connecting New Jersey and New York. If you've ever ridden or driven through one of those tunnels, thank a "sandhog", many of whom died building those tunnels.

[@goodun2974]

@@srice8959 , there's a really good movie (can't remember the title) about an infamous real-life jailbreak in Argentina or Chile where a bunch of political prisoners dug their way out of prison. Its a nail-biter! Narrow, unstable tunnels tend to bring even non-claustrophobics to the edge of panic.

[@steveskouson9620]

@@srice8959, my HS principal was a resident of Stalag Luft III. His Thud (P47 Thunderbolt) wasn't shot down, until after The Great Escape. Sadly, I didn't ask him for his memories. Ralph F Kling. Good German name, but quite a SERIOUS American! steve

[@glenns5627]

Once in awhile I'll see a THG title and think "meh, maybe not this one". Later I'll watch, and invariably have regretted initially passing them up. This was one of those, and now ranks among my favorites!

[@tommytrinder.1226]

I have walked through this tunnel.Wonderous.

[@Loupskywalker]

Enjoyed the video. Thanks ✌️

[@tonyperez4791]

Great video , Thank you for sharing ! What No Pirates ???? Hope you have a great weekend.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

There was a point where the tunnel became a haven for “thieves and prostitutes.” At least one article referred to the petty criminals of the tunnel as “under river pirates.”

[@tonyperez4791]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel I knew that they must be hiding somewhere in the video ! 😁😁 Those Pesky Pirates !

[@skeelo69]

Thanks THG , Iv'e travelled through that original tunnel many times (London Overground), there were further tunnels built , the Rotherhithe and Blackwall Road tunnels, IKB was also involved in London's first Major Sewer tunnel, the original pump house (not in use) is a great looking building. Woolwich also has a pedestrian tunnel.

[@stevedietrich8936]

Outstanding. I think THG introduced us to Brunel before, but I can't recall in which episode, or for what reason.

[@HemlockRidge]

I do believe it was about his ship SS Great Eastern (1858), which laid the 1st Transatlantic Cable. Or maybe all three of his famous ships, SS Great Western (1837), SS Great Britain (1843). Each being the largest ship in the world at launching.

[@absalomdraconis]

@@HemlockRidge : According to another poster, that was actually his _son,_ who was also mentioned in this video.

[@HemlockRidge]

@@absalomdraconis Yes. Yes it was the son. Marc Isambard Brunel designed no ships. And to the best of my memory the previous video that Steve is referring to, is about Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the son.

[@robsterTN]

I have a suggestion for future videos: 1) The 1916 public hanging of Mary the Elephant 2) The 1969 Stonewall riot

[@willevans429]

I often used the Greenwich foot tunnel as a kid, over in North Greenwich there was a football club, Millwall, in 1910 they moved to New Cross and all the old fans used it to go to the game when they changed the location, every second saturday it was bustling in that tunnel,lot of history in this place, all a bit more peaceful now but lots of shenanigans went on in that part of London

[@sprint955st]

Lance, I hope you’ve seen at least some of Blackadder, where you’ll see Tony Robinson in a totally different guise, retelling some kinda-history…and if you have I’d love to hear your opinions. If you haven’t, don’t be put off by Series 1 being not quite as good as Series 2 and beyond. S2 is where it really gets going. This was a great video, thanks.

[@Markrspooner]

Wow, this was a fantastic episode, something I had no idea about, even after living in London and travelling on the tube many times.

[@nitro105]

I had no idea such a tunnel was built at that time, wish it had been part of the wonders of the industrial world series.

[@karlakirkpatrick2214]

Oh the Chunnel, I remember reading about this, in a history book I mean it's been talked about and tried here and there throughout time until they got together and actually did it.

[@brucemoriarty9964]

Just a brilliant builder.

[@Telepathic_Snail_Overlords]

Dude that is wild

[@ElValuador]

Impressive engineering and technology for the time.

[@28Cryptic743]

These episodes are very enjoyable and while watching this episode I noticed the TARDIS on the bookshelf in the back ground. I think I have seen this at least once before in another episode.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

The items on the shelves are constantly changing. 😁 I watch comments to see if people notice anything new back there.

[@Guangrui]

part of the pioneering years for the industrial revolution era

[@carlos-ju7ce]

I often cross the Tamar border between Devon and Cornwall at Plymouth and IKB's railway bridge looks amazing, everytime I do.

[@pamelamays4186]

Perhaps somewhere THG videos are being used in a history class curriculum.

[@jasonz7788]

Great work Sir thank you

[@gregsmith1719]

Persistence, indeed! Which always seems to be at the origin of all great endeavors.

[@fastbike175]

Thank you so much THG

[@JackLowry1313]

I recently visited Bristol UK to see the Brunel museum, SS Great Britian and Clifton Suspension Bridge.

[@dalebarkwell1807]

You should make a video on how many times things have been labeled the 8th wonder of the world. Seems to be many.

[@philmanson2991]

Fascinating!

[@davidholder3207]

IKB is my 'Avatar". An engineer I've always admired. You may not know but when he constructed the Great Western Railway a tunnel was built at Box Hill, near Bath. The GWR ran broadly East to West so he aligned the Box Hill tunnel such that on his birthday the sun rose directly through the eastern portal!!

[@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt]

thanks

[@millwrightrick1]

You should do a video on Brunel's ship, the Great Eastern. That was an engineering feat.

[@TennesseeHomesteadUSA]

First trans-Atlantic cable...

[@BasicDrumming]

Great video.

[@johnwestover5784]

I hope you can make a video on CY O'Connor - the first engineer of Western Australia. Designed the port of Fremantle in the river and the water pipeline to the goldfields

[@j1st633]

Wonderful channel.

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you. Knew nothing of this tunnel or the Brunel's. Thank you for enlightening me.

[@Bob-gl6cg]

That was very interesting thank you

[@rickharold7884]

Wow that was super fascinating.

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

[@billshiff2060]

Fascinating those times were. Add that Henry Maudslay's path also crossed Brunnels and let to the machine tool revolution.

[@debbralehrman5957]

Most enjoyable thank you. 👏🏻👏🏻

[@WildWestGal]

Honestly, the things I learn on this channel!!! And thank God for the minority of people who insist on thinking for themselves... outside the box.

[@51WCDodge]

The Times of London in the 1890's complained that if traffic in London wasn't dealt with , by the 1950's it would be 12 foot deep in horse dung. Puts air quality in its palce. Britan by drone, must be ten years old now. You can get most of it free.

[@Joedirt3349]

like yo mama?

[@steveshoemaker6347]

Thanks to THG🎀.... Shoe🇺🇸

[@5ynth3ticNZ]

It would be nice if just once I heard someone say "It is history that deserves to be remembered" about my birthday :(

[@minixg4857]

Gave you another thumbs up. Great show. Also… loving the casual bow tie. Not too tight, not too loose. 👀

[@evensgrey]

There has been no fundamentally new tunneling methods put into use since the tunneling shield was invented, only improvements to the tunneling shields. As for the younger Brunnel, you could do a huge number of videos on his projects. For pretty much every type of infrastructure built in the 19th century in the UK, he built at least one major example, often with multiple projects at once, including laying the first trans-Atlantic telegraph cable and building the only ship in the world at the time able to do such a cable laying in order to do it. (Mind you, the ship was a commercial failure because it was simply to BIG to be practically used with the port facilities of the time, and it took a long time to get the telegraph cable working properly because nobody understood the physics of a signal cable that long.)

[@donkeydan5996]

Lol they had a “diving bell” , sounds terrifying !

[@LMacNeill]

One wonders how long it would've been until tunnels were used regularly for under-city and under-river traffic, had Brunel not finally succeeded with this tunnel. Every engineer after the failure of this tunnel, had it been allowed to fail, would've had everyone pointing at its failure, and thus would be quite discouraged in the attempt. Might it have been a century or more before we would've tried tunnels again? Luckily it did succeed (eventually) and now we have amazing tunnel-digging technology at our disposal.

[@carolynduval6905]

I recently found your channel. I'm still finding interesting videos after watching for awhile. There are lots of Boston videos. I'm from Mass so I love hearing the history..like the fire at Fenway. My house caught on fire this past week and I was talking to the firemen about the Wisconsin Fire that killed 1500-2500 on the same day as TGCF. Also about The 📐 👕 🏭. The way you told it - I thought I was on the street wanting to help. You are an amazing story teller. I live in Myrtle Beach. I would love you to do a video an the Confederate's Salt Mine here. I guess it was 600 Union soldiers that destroyed 12 buckets of salt. I'd like to hear details. Withers Marsh. Thank you vm for the entertainment. ❤️ A big fan.

[@167curly]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have walked through Marc Brunel's foot tunnel under the Thames at Greenwich, built in the early 1800s.

[@lesleyhahn8682]

[@robertpatrick3350]

Renkioi is another Brunel project which is forgotten history… but worthy of remembrance

[@markmeeker2300]

Since there is no way to contact you directly, hopefully this gets through to you. Here is a suggestion. The Avro Jetliner... a small 33 passenger four engine jet powered airliner, built along side the Avro Arrow for Trans Canada Airlines. One was built, and flew three weeks after the British DeHavilland Comet. What happened to it, is worth your time. It's still a sensitive subject in Canada .

[@toastrecon]

It's gotta be a red flag if your public works project for a tunnel has the tagline: "beneficial for adventurers". I'll have to check out the museum next time I'm in London!

[@Dave5843-d9m]

Brunel wanted to use pozolanic (Roman) cement because it cures under water. It very existence allowed the ancient Roman Empire to build its huge infrastructure of roads and water supplies.

[@jeffreyyoung4104]

Tragically, an earlier tunnel attempt was recently, (within 10 years?), closed permanently. But that one was never completed.

[@honorladone8682]

That river is forever cursed.

[@genebohannon8820]

I didn't remember the father! Thanks History Guy.

[@Jbot123]

For more info on Ismbard Brunel and a couple of his other projects, you can look up the video for the song Brunel by The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing.

[@Jbot123]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kH-qmYKpoM6DpMk

[@TimMiddleton]

"I have a cunning plan, my Lord..."