In
1833 Robert Stephenson was appointed
chief engineer of the London & Birmingham
line. Many people living on the proposed route were bitterly opposed
to the railway. This included a group of landowners in Northampton
who forced Stephenson to make the line pass some distance from their
town.
As a result of this change, Robert Stephenson
now had to build a tunnel through Kilsby Ridge. Over 1,250 navvies
moved into the area and set up a camp of tents and mud huts. Soon
after starting on the project the roof of the tunnel collapsed and
a deluge of water burst in. The men working on this part of the tunnel
were only saved from drowning, according to Samuel
Smiles, "by means of a raft on which they were towed by one
of the engineers swimming with the rope in his mouth to the lower
end of the shaft".
Stephenson discovered that the problem was caused by a layer of quicksand
under a 40 feet thick bed of clay. Several miles wide, the waterlogged
sand was about 120 feet below the surface. For a time Stephenson considered
abandoning the tunnel but after talking to his father, George
Stephenson, it was decided to try and pump out the water from
the top by powerful engines erected over each shaft. These engines
possessed an aggregate power of 160 horses and had to be used non-stop
for 8 months. On average, these engines pumped out 2,000 gallons of
water per minutes.
The 2,400 yard long tunnel took 1,250 men nearly two years to build.
The original estimated cost of the tunnel was £99,000 but by
the time it was completed, the London &
Birmingham Company had spent nearly £300,0000 on the Kilsby
Tunnel.
The Building of Kilsby Tunnel
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