James Brunlees

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James Brunlees
James Brunlees

James Brunlees (1816 - 1892) was a Scottish civil engineer. He was born in Kelso, Scottish Borders in 1816.

In 1850, Brunlees worked on the Londonderry and Coleraine Railway. For this job he was obliged to build an embankment over Rosse’s Bay on the River Foyle, surmounting great difficulties [1] [2].

[edit] A Railway across Morecambe Bay

Brunlees was the Construction Engineer for the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway. This was a short but difficult and important railway to link the Furness Railway network to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway line and thence to all points further South in the British network. The route was planned by McClean and Stileman at 19 miles in length of which ten miles comprised embankments and viaducts across tidal water. Much of this was sand running to a depth of 30 to 70 feet. This made it very challenging to build. In business terms the Manchester-based railway contractors John Brogden and Sons were the prime movers of this railway.

The Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway Act received the Royal Assent on 24 July 1851 but work was not in full progress until September 1853 because workers and accommodation for them were not readily available. McClean and Stileman had resigned as engineers in the previous February so another engineer had to supervise construction. Brunlees was chosen because of his success with the River Foyle project.

The line was opened on 26 August 1857. Brunlees wrote a paper on this project for the Institution of Civil Engineers in which he described the design profile of the embankments and a novel design of drawbridge for the viaducts to withstand the winds and waves[1]. His work on the U&L earned him praise from men like Locke and Hawkshaw[2]. Viaducts were built across the estuaries of the rivers Kent and Leven and these were designed and built by W & J Galloway of Manchester using a novel piling system involving waterjets[3] [2].

[edit] Other Work

Brunlees served as a railway engineer in the construction of the Mersey Railway, connecting Liverpool and Birkenhead, and the Sao Paulo Railway between Sao Paulo and Porto de Santos.[4]

He also worked in maritime engineering and was responsible for the construction of the docks at Avonmouth and Whitehaven[4] as well as the piers at Southport[2][4] and Southend[4].

There is evidence that Brunlees also worked with the Brogdens on their New Zealand projects[5]

He served as president of the Institution of Civil Engineers between December 1882 and December 1883.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Brunlees, James (1855), “On the Construction of the Sea Embankments, across the Estuaries Kent and Leven, In Morecambe Bay, for the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway”, Proc. Inst. Civil Engineers 14: 239-250 
  2. ^ a b c d Marshall, J.D. (1958 reprinted 1981), Furness and the Industrial Revolution, Michael Moon, Beckermet, Cumbria, p. 216, ISBN 0904131262 
  3. ^ Richardson, Joseph (1870), Furness Past and Present, vol. 1 of 2, p. 23 
  4. ^ a b c d Gazetter of Scotland
  5. ^ A search for Brunlees in the New Zealand National Archives *[1] gives: “5 September 1877 - Notice of assignment to J Brunlees and J Brogden of contracts between the Governor of New Zealand and Messrs Brogden and Sons” Search made 9 March 2008
  6. ^ Watson, Garth (1988), The Civils, London: Thomas Telford Ltd, p. 251, ISBN 0-727-70392-7 
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