Going underground: Tunnelling triumphs from The Engineer archive

This can involve the perilous task of building tunnels and in 1858 a major tunnelling endeavour was required to save London from The Big Stink, a putrid stench that had befallen the capital.

June 1858: Commissioning London’s sewers

MPs finally got to grips with London’s growing waste problem when it literally got up their noses. The Big Stink - caused by a combination of hot weather and untreated human waste and industrial effluent – had forced MPs from the House of Commons, prompting them to rush a bill through parliament to build a new sewage system. The Metropolitan Board of Works’ chief engineer, Joseph Bazalgette, was responsible for designing and building the huge system of intercepting sewers, which is still in use today.

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March 1876: Building a Channel Tunnel

Excavation is one of the greatest challenges in any tunnel project, and in 1876 The Engineer was in no doubt about the future success of plans by Sir John Hawkshaw and Sir James Brunlees, founders of the original Channel Tunnel Company, who proposed a 31-mile tunnel link.