Prescott Lock opens to traffic
The Three Mills Lock in east London - also known as Prescott Lock - has opened to traffic, the first new lock to be built in London for more than 20 years.
The lock at Prescott Channel, Bromley-by-Bow, opens-up the Bow Back Rivers, a network of waterways in and around the Olympic Park for the first time in decades, creating a green gateway for freight barges to enter the Olympic construction zone.
“We want the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be the greenest games ever. Funding the Three Mills Lock will not only take many lorries of local roads, reducing thousands of tonnes of CO2 and local congestion, it will also provide a green freight route for the redevelopment of East London, and open up the waterways for boaters, walkers, and cyclists,” said Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.
“The revitalisation of this network of canals after decades of decline heralds a new age of water transport in the capital. By shifting noisy, dusty and heavily polluting freight vehicles from busy roads onto water, we can free up traffic and drastically improve the quality of our environment,” said London mayor Boris Johnson.
“This vital investment means a steady flow of boats will soon be carrying a substantial proportion of the materials needed to create the Olympic Park that would otherwise have travelled by road, sealing a legacy beyond the duration of the Games themselves.”
Freight deliveries to the Olympic Park are scheduled to take place later this month. In the longer term the works will allow new opportunities for leisure boats, water taxis, trip boats and floating restaurants creating a major boating destination in the area.
Tony Hales, Chairman, British Waterways said: “As guardians of the UK’s canals and rivers, I am thrilled to see Three Mills Lock open today, and show everyone how the waterways can play an integral role in making the London 2012 Olympic Games the most sustainable yet. Rejuvenating the waterways of East London has been a long term goal for British Waterways, and the Olympics provided a catalyst to kick-start this process.
“The lock is just the beginning though, British Waterways is working with its partners to ensure that the maximum benefit can be delivered using these waterways, with everything from water taxis, waste removal by water and new marinas planned for the future.”
Olympic Delivery Authority Chairman, John Armitt, said: “This investment in Three Mills Lock is a significant sustainability milestone, contributing to our tough targets. Large barges will now have access to the Olympic Park, further cutting down on the amount of lorries travelling on our roads.
“The Olympic Park is characterised by a series of waterways, acting as green corridors running through the heart of the Olympic Park and this is just one of the many projects the ODA are involved to enhance them. We have recently started dredging these waterways, improving water quality and opening up the navigation to allow freight boats to carry construction materials in, and waste out of the park,”he said.
In numbers:
The new lock will be 62 metres long, 8 metres wide and 2.4 metres deep, and will be able to hold two 350t barges. The nearby Lee Navigation locks are limited to about 120t).
The lock structure incorporates two large rising radial gates for flood control in the Bow Back Rivers.
The lock comprises twin water control gates, a footbridge, lock control building, fish pass and fixed weir.
Who’s Who:
- Contractor: Volker Stevin
- Design: Tony Gee & Partners LLP, Bennett Associates, Clague Architects and Weetwood Environmental Engineering.
- Co-funded by: British Waterways, the Department for Transport, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Olympic Delivery Authority, London Development Agency and Transport for London.
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