biography
| name: |
Greathead, James Henry
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1844–96)
|
| biography:
| Civil engineer, born in Grahamstown, S South Africa. He went to England in 1859 and studied civil engineering. At the age of 24 he undertook to build a subway under the Thames in London (1869). To penetrate the very difficult water-bearing strata he greatly improved the tunnelling shield designed (1818) by Brunel for the Rotherhithe tunnel. He engaged in various other surface and underground railway contracts including the City and South London Railway tunnels under the Thames (1886), having in 1884 patented further improvements to his shield, incorporating the use of compressed air and forward propulsion by hydraulic jacks, an arrangement that is now in general use in tunnel construction. |
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