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Rotherhithe Road Tunnel 2008 |
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 Rotherhithe entrance (G. Magold post card collection) |
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| Back to Rotherhithe & Bermondsey Local History Group | ||
| The Rotherhithe road tunnel beneath the Thames joins the boroughs of Tower Hamlets at Limehouse and Southwark at Rotherhithe. It should not be confused with the nearby Thames Tunnel built by Brunel, and now used by the East London line underground (which crosses beneath and south of Shaft 1 of the road tunnel). However, the tunneling shield concept used first on the train tunnel was subsequently used for the road tunnel. The entrance arches are the cutting edges of the original tunnelling shield, which measured 30 feet 8 inches (9.35 m) in diameter. | ||
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The
Rotherhithe Road Tunnel carries the A101
from the A200, Lower Road
in the south to Branch Road in the north. It provides a single 2-lane
carriageway with a footpath on each side. The primary construction is a
30ft diameter cast-iron lining formed from bolted segments. There is a
sub-tunnel under the roadway and 4 ventilation shafts (1 & 2 south
side, 3 & 4 north side).The
cast-iron section is finished in
glazed tiles on a concrete backing,
laid in a bonded pattern.
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Mechanical ventilation was introduced in the 1930’s to
vents 1 and 4
and enhanced in 1982 and replaced in 2001. The original lighting was
mounted over each footway on the shoulders of the bore and the sites of
the lamps can still be seen high up on the walls. These were replaced
in 1982 with a central lighting arrangement. The tunnel is closed every
Monday night for routine inspection and maintenance including testing
emergency equipment, changing lighting units, cleaning the tunnel
lining, replacing loose, damaged and discoloured tiles, sweeping the
carriageway and footways, structural inspections and emergency repairs.
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 Limehouse entrance 1925 (Portcities)
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The
Rotherhithe
tunnel was authorised by the Thames Tunnel (Rotherhithe and Ratcliff)
Act of 1900, and built on behalf of London County Council following
much local opposition as 3,000 local residents were displaced by the
work. It was designed by Sir Maurice Fitzemaurice, engineer to the
London County Council, to serve foot and horse-drawn traffic passing
between the docks on either side of the river. The roadways are
therefore narrow (8 feet (2.4 m) wide), there are footways on each
side, there is a maximum gradient of 1 in 36, to cater for
non-mechanised traffic and there are right-angled bends at the points
where the tunnel goes under the river bed to both avoid the local docks
on each side of the river, and prevent horses from seeing daylight and
bolting for the exit.
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 The narrow interior of the
Rotherhithe Tunnel (Wikipedia)
Back to Rotherhithe & Bermondsey Local History Group |
The
design of the tunnel compromises much modern transport, particularly
height and length both of which are restricted as are flammable goods.
A survey in 2003 rated the Rotherhithe Tunnel the tenth most dangerous
tunnel in the whole of Europe due to its poor safety features. There
are now however 9 CCTV cameras monitored by Police (100% coverage,
24hour monitoring), 20mph speed cameras, Air monitoring (CO and heat
detection) and Emergency Points (fire hose positions, fire
extinguishers and emergency telephones). It now carries 34,000 vehicles
per day which results in rush hour queing at both ends. It is estimated
that 40 bikes and 20 pedestrians also use the tunnel each day, now
likely to increase with the temporary closure of the East London Line
Rotherhithe to Wapping underground. The tunnel is closed at least one night a week for continual maintenance. A current £1m project is the installation of a communication system providing public address and continuation of in car radio programmes and mobile phone access. Any planned or emergency closure causes considerable jams at both ends, and additional pressure on adjacent river crossings although there is no formal warning or diversion. Dr Amanda Squires
February 2008 Sources: |
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