![]() The gates are hollow – they fill with water as they sink and empty as they emerge from the river.Īt 20.1m high and each weighing 3,700 tonnes, they were made by Cleveland Bridge UK on the River Tees. The flood gates are circular segments and move into the raised position by rotating. It divides the river into 4 spans - each span is 61m across.Įngineers chose the location as the banks were relatively straight at this point and the chalk river bed was strong enough to support the barrier.Ĭharles Draper came up with the concept for the barrier's flood gates, basing their design on the taps on his gas cooker. The barrier was built over a 520m wide stretch of the Thames near Woolwich in south London. The barrier is credited with having helped London grow into a global capital – transforming the lives of millions of people who have worked, lived in or visited London since it opened. Without the barrier, frequent tidal flooding of the Thames would submerge buildings along the river as well as the underground. The Thames Barrier is part of a system of flood defences in London. It was officially opened by the Queen in 1984. The barrier was finished by 1982 and first used in 1983. The former Greater London Council coordinated the barrier project with different contractors building the gates, shore machinery and upstream bank raising works.Ĭonstruction began in 1974. ![]() Research led the government to decide that the best long-term solution would be a flood barrier with moveable gates built across the Thames. Until the early 1970s the main flood defence for the capital meant building higher and stronger river walls and embankments.Īlthough walls are permanent and easy to maintain, making them higher and higher would eventually block out the Thames from view. ![]() A huge tide surge in 1953 killed 307 people in eastern England and sent high waters up the Thames to spill into the streets of London's East End and thousands had to flee. In January 1928 flooding hit Victoria and Chelsea in central London – 14 people drowned and thousands had to leave their homes. In 1663 diarist Samuel Pepys wrote of "the greatest tide that was ever remembered in England… all White Hall having been drowned, of which there was great discourse". Recorded history of the River Thames flooding goes back a long way. Protect London from flooding with a massive steel barrier that works like a tap
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