A tunnelling shield is a temporary support structure used to protect workers from cave-ins and falling material while excavating through soft, liquid or otherwise unstable ground. The engineer Marc Isambard Brunel developed the first successful rectangular tunnelling shield, patented with Lord Cochrane in January 1818, reportedly inspired by observing the shipworm, a mollusc that bores through submerged timber. Brunel and his son used the shield beginning in 1825 to excavate the Thames Tunnel under the River Thames, though the project was not completed until 1843.
Facts
SignificanceBrunel's shield was used to excavate the Thames Tunnel from 1825, opened in 1843 1 FAQs
Why did the Thames Tunnel take until 1843 to open if the shield was ready in 1825?
The shield let digging begin in 1825 but technical and financial difficulties delayed opening until 1843.
The tunnelling shield was used to start the Thames Tunnel in 1825, but the work ran into technical and financial difficulties. Parliament had authorised the tunnel in 1824 and work started in 1825, yet it was not opened until 1843. The company also went bankrupt, so the tunnel was first used by pedestrians rather than the horse-drawn traffic it was built for.
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In Field
Source Tunnelling shield, Wikipedia
Invented By
Source Tunnelling shield, Wikipedia
Sources
1. Tunnelling shield, Wikipedia
Article body, Brunel shield
The first successful rectangular tunnelling shield was developed by Marc Isambard Brunel and patented with Lord Cochrane in January 1818.
Article body, Thames Tunnel
Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel used it to excavate the Thames Tunnel beginning in 1825 (though the tunnel was not opened until 1843).
Invented By: Marc Isambard Brunel, Lead section
Although modern shields are commonly cylindrical, the first "shield", designed by Marc Isambard Brunel, was actually a large, rectangular, scaffold-like iron structure with three levels and twelve sections per level, with a solid load-bearing top surface.
In Field: Civil Engineering, Categories
Tunnel boring machines
In Group: Foundation, Excavation and Tunnelling Methods, Introduction
A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used during the excavation of large, human-made tunnels.
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