River Thames boaters to carry on cruising thanks to £1 million investment from Environment Agency
The Environment Agency have confirmed which locks on the non-tidal River Thames are in line for improvement works this financial year.
Grafton Lock in Oxfordshire. Environment Agency staff are checking the positioning of the new gates.
The Environment Agency confirmed yesterday (Tuesday 11 August) which of its 45 locks on the non-tidal River Thames are in line for improvement works during the remainder of this financial year.
In all, 8 lock sites will have a total of more than £1 million spent on them. The seven-figure investment will ensure the locks and associated structures remain in good working order for years to come, enabling boaters to carry on cruising throughout the 135 miles of navigable waterway from Cricklade in Wiltshire, near the river’s source, to Teddington in Middlesex where the river becomes tidal.
Work will start in November and continue through to March next year, avoiding the peak boating months to minimise disruption to river users. Included in the programme are iconic locks on some of the most tranquil and beautiful stretches of the river.
Most locks will be closed to boating throughout this period as lock chambers will need to be drained of water or lock gates completely removed for work to be carried out. Barrie Douglass, the Environment Agency’s Waterways Engineer for the River Thames explained:
Any work at a lock site, even a relatively minor repair, can be a complex undertaking. When we need to renovate a lock chamber for example, we have to install a coffer dam around it using sheet piling, then brace the chamber to maintain its structural integrity before pumping the water out so we can work in dry conditions.
When gates have to be removed, we need to get a mobile crane with a boom of around 80 feet onto site, to safely lift out the gates, each of which weighs several tonnes.
And before any of this happens, our in-house carpenters will have been hard at work fabricating new rubbing timbers, gate frames and other components out of solid lumps of sustainable tropical hardwood.
The Environment Agency cares for over 1000 individual navigation ‘assets’ in total on the Thames, with an estimated combined value of some £425 million. These include major structures like locks, lock houses, access roads and bridges. Many are significant heritage features. Barrie continued:
We’re proud to be the custodians of the navigation infrastructure on the non-tidal Thames, and we take the responsibility that comes with it very seriously.
Maintaining critical navigation assets in safe working order is our number one priority. It has to be, because if we allow them to fall into disrepair and become unfit for use, then boating on the Thames as we’ve known it for the last hundred years or so would just not be possible.
The income we get from boater’s registration fees isn’t enough to cover the cost of all the work we need to do each year, however. Fortunately, we receive a significant top-up from Government, which we invest very carefully to ensure maximum value-for-money for the taxpayer.
The current programme of work, which may be subject to change, is:
| St John’s Lock, Oxfordshire | 2 November 2015 to 4 March 2016. Re-sheeting the head and repairing the tail lock gates |
| Godstow Lock, Oxfordshire | 2 November 2015 to 4 March 2016. Re-sheeting the lock gates |
| Culham Lock, Oxfordshire | 2 November 2015 to 4 March 2016. Refurbishing the lock chamber |
| Day’s Lock, Oxfordshire | 4 January 2016 to 26 February 2016. Minor repairs to the lock chamber |
| Temple Lock, Buckinghamshire | 2 November 2015 to 26 February 2016. Refurbishing the lock chamber |
| Cookham Lock, Berkshire | 2 November 2015 to 18 December 2015. Replacing lock gate control system |
| Boulters Lock, Berkshire | 2 November 2015 to 18 December 2015. Re-sheeting the tail lock gates |
| Penton Hook Lock, Middlesex | 11 January 2016 to 4 March 2016. Repairing the tail lock gates pintle |
Notes to editors
Our investment programme is subject to change – the most up-to-date information is available at www.gov.uk/river-thames-conditions-closures-restrictions-and-lock-closures.
Boaters can also get the latest river information by calling our Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or 0845 988 1188. When prompted they should select option 1 followed by the quick dial number shown below:
- River conditions and strong stream 011131
- River works and lock closures 011132
- River events which impact navigation 011133
Current river conditions can also be viewed at www.gov.uk/check-river-conditions-and-closures/river-thames.