Thames Tunnel, Railway tunnel in Rotherhithe, England
The Thames Tunnel is a railway passage beneath the river in Rotherhithe and Wapping, made of two parallel cylindrical sections that run for 396 meters. The structure measures 11 meters wide, with both tubes housed within a single shared brickwork shell.
Work started in 1825 under Marc Brunel, who deployed a movable iron shield to protect workers as they dug forward. The project faced repeated floods and opened in 1843 after nearly two decades of effort to complete the breakthrough.
The builders named the structure after the river it crosses beneath, and the arched brickwork chambers were lit with gas lamps at opening to show off the engineering design. Many early visitors came to walk through and marvel at the idea of standing under the riverbed itself.
The structure now forms part of the London Overground network and can only be experienced by train, not on foot. Travelers riding the East London Line pass through between Rotherhithe and Wapping stations, with the crossing taking a few minutes.
As the first tunneling project beneath a navigable waterway anywhere in the world, this marks a turning point for underwater construction. The structure still functions after more than 180 years and carries trains daily through the riverbed.
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