7th April 2008
K8 asked:
Dear IKB,
I am doing a project about you at the moment so need to ask you a
few questions. Why did you chose to become an engineer? What was your
favourite ship you built? What was your favourite bridge you built? What
was your worst injury?
Thankyou,
From K8
Dear K8
My best wishes for your project - your questions are quite interesting and I have enjoyed reflecting on the answers.
I cannot think of a time when I did not aim to become an engineer. As my father's only son I was always intended to follow in his footsteps, and I seem to have inherited his inventiveness, boldness and determination. My education started conventionally, but then my father sent me to his beloved France to learn from the most ingenious maker of scientific instruments of the time, Monsieur Breguet. When I returned to England I began to help him with the projects like the tunnel under the Thames at Rotherhithe, and when he became ill I took on his responsibilities, so by the age of 20 I was established, and so it went on.
My favourite ship was undoubtedly the Great Britain. The Great Western had a claim as my first-born, so to speak, but designing and building the Great Britain was a much greater challenge, and the success of the novel methods of construction we used meant that thousands of ships built over the following century derived their design from this the Great Britain. She proved to be able to do everything I had hoped for, and more, despite the misfortune which befell her on the Irish coast at Dundrum Bay.
As to my favourite bridge, that is quite difficult. The Clifton suspension bridge was extremely elegant, but it was never built entirely to my design, and was not completed in my lifetime. The bridge carrying the Great Western Railway over the Thames at Maidenhead was a thing of great beauty and a substantial technical achievement. There were many others, but I think I have to select the Royal Albert Bridge over the River Tamar at Saltash as my favourite, because the challenge of building the massive piers up from the river bed, and then hoisting the two huge spans up, inch by inch, into position was an unforgettable experience. The construction method was novel, and has stood the test of almost 150 years of use. Despite the huge advances of engineering in the last century, the Royal Albert Bridge is still doing the job for which it was designed.
I suffered a good many injuries in the course of a long and active life, especially when I was young and, you might say, rash. I received a good many frights, I can tell you, like when I climbed down a non-existent ladder in the Great Western on her trials voyage when a fire broke out. I was only saved because I landed on the unfortunate chief engineer. The injury which troubled me most was that which I received on the second occasion that the River Thames burst into my father's tunnel. I was swept along by the inrush of water and hurled against the staircase which led to the surface. It did not seem serious at first, but after a few days I became very unwell and it proved I had suffered serious internal injuries. These took several months to heal, and I believe I felt the effects for the rest of my life.
I hope these answers will prove useful
Yours
IKB
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