The Thames Tunnel

 

In this edition of London Life we celebrate one of the great engineering achievements of all time - the first tunnel to be built under a river anywhere in the world - the Thames Tunnel.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who was born 200 years ago in 1806, and his father were the engineers behind this historic tunnel.

Before you listen to the programme look at these comprehension questions. You can hear the answers in the programme. You can download this programme in mp3 format and follow it with a transcript.

1: Who built the Thames Tunnel?
2: Why did they need to build a tunnel?
3: Who uses the tunnel today? 

Vocabulary from the programme

civil engineer
someone who plans, designs and builds roads, bridges and public buildings
Example
In her work as a civil engineer she designed and built motorways and bridges

to sink
to move downwards
Example
After the two boats hit each other they both started to sink

tower
a tall, narrow building
Example
Her office was on the 19th floor of a very high tower block

hacking
the act of cutting at something with a sharp tool
Example
He spent hours hacking away at the big pile of branches

northwards
towards the north
Example
The army trekked northwards for four days.

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Extras
 Try the London Life quiz
Programme script (pdf - 21k)
Download this programme (mp3 - 1.6mb)

Original BBC page here

Script

Anna: Hello, I'm Anna Jones and this is London Life. 

Two hundred years ago in 1806 Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born. He was 

the son of a French civil engineer – civil engineers plan, design and build roads, 

bridges and public buildings. And Isambard Kingdom Brunel was destined to 

follow the same career path as his father and become one of the world’s most 

famous engineers. During his life Brunel designed and built docks – enclosed 

areas of water where ships are loaded, unloaded and repaired. He also designed 

and built railways, steamships and much more. With his father, Brunel 

designed and built the historic Thames Tunnel which is now used by the East 

London line of the London Underground train system. The Thames Tunnel is 

35 feet wide and 1,300 feet long, beneath the River Thames between 

Rotherhithe and Wapping. A BBC reporter recently met Robert Holse who is 

the director of the Brunel Museum in East London. As you listen to Robert, try 

to answer this question – why did they need to build the tunnel?

ROBERT HOLSE: 

They needed a way of moving stuff across the river as well as up and down it. You can’t build 

a bridge here because you’ve got 3,000 tall-masted ships. The only way to do it is to move 

stuff under the river but no-one had ever done that before and we’re standing more or less 

directly above the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world 

Anna: Did you hear why they needed to build the tunnel? Well Robert said that they 

needed to move stuff - things and people - across the river as up and down or 

along the river. It was not possible to build a bridge because at that time 

there were as many as 3,000 ships with very tall masts using the river. Robert 

explains that the only solution was to build a tunnel under the river but no-one 

had ever done that before. Here’s Robert again – this time try to listen out for 

several prepositions that he uses. I’ll give you the first one – its across – 

across ,but there are four more. Good luck!. 

ROBERT HOLSE: 

They needed a way of moving stuff across the river as well as up and down it. You can’t build 

a bridge here because you’ve got 3,000 tall- masted ships. The only way to do it is to move 

stuff under the river but no-one had ever done that before and we’re standing more or less 

directly above the first tunnel under a river anywhere in the world 

Anna: Did you get the four other prepositions? They were: up, down, under and above.

Robert goes on to explain how Brunel and his father decided to go about 

building the tunnel. What did they decide they had to do? 

ROBERT HOLSE 

For the first time anywhere in the world they understood the best way to build below the 

ground is to build above the ground and sink it. 

Anna: Well they decided that the best way to build a tunnel was to start building it 

above the ground and let it sink – allow it to move downwards. Listen out for 

the two prepositions that he uses. 

ROBERT HOLSE 

For the first time anywhere in the world they understood the best way to build below the 

ground is to build above the ground and sink it. 

Anna: Well he uses the prepositions below and above. Robert explains how they 

start to build the tunnel. What is the first thing they build and why? 

ROBERT HOLSE 

They build here on the river bank a 50-foot tall tower – now that’s taller than any of the 

buildings here now. And as the weight of the bricks gets heavier and heavier it sinks under its 

own weight into the soft earth. And then they lower people inside … 

So the shaft sinks itself under its own weight, the men go down 50foot, when they hit the 

bottom, they start digging, hacking at the walls and they’re heading northwards across to the 

other side of the river. 

That’s right. 

Anna: Robert explains that they build a 50-foot tower – a tall narrow building just 

over 15 metres high. They build the tower in soft earth and it slowly sinks into 

the soft earth under its own weight. They then put people inside the shaft - or 

underground tower which then sinks about 50 feet. Once they are at the 

bottom the men inside the shaft start to mine – they dig or hack away at the 

walls and they start to move northwards – they are heading towards the north 

bank of the river and starting to build the tunnel. Listen again and try to listen 

out for the prepositions.

ROBERT HOLSE 

They build here on the river bank a 50-foot tall tower – now that’s taller than any of the 

buildings here now. And as the weight of the bricks gets heavier and heavier it sinks under its 

own weight into the soft earth. And then they lower people inside … 

So the shaft sinks itself under its own weight, the men go down 50foot, when they hit the 

bottom, they start digging, hacking at the walls and they’re heading northwards across to the 

other side of the river. 

That’s right. 

Anna: That’s all from London Life – join us next time.