Blackwall Tunnel
Entering the western of the two bores
Info
Location	Blackwall / Greenwich
Coordinates	51°30′16″N 0°00′11″W / 51.504443, -0.003119Coordinates: 51°30′16″N 0°00′11″W / 51.504443, -0.003119
Operation
Owner	Transport for London
Technical
Electrified	yes

The Blackwall Tunnel is a pair of road tunnels underneath the River Thames in east London, linking the London Borough of Tower Hamlets with the London Borough of Greenwich, and part of the A102 road. This entry concerns the area of London known as Blackwall For the type of merchant sailing ship first built there and named after it see Blackwall Frigate Greenwich ( ˈɡrɛnɪtʃ GREN-itch /ˈɡrɛnɪdʒ/ GREN-idge or /ˈɡrɪnɪdʒ/ GRIN-idge is a district in south-east London, A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Transport for London ( TfL) is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the Transport system in Greater London in England. A tunnel is an underground passageway The definition of what constitutes a tunnel is not universally agreed upon The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The London Borough of Tower Hamlets ( is a London borough to the east of the City of London, England and north of the River Thames in East The London Borough of Greenwich ( (Greenwich ˈgrɛnɪtʃ is an Inner London borough in south-east London, England. The A102 is a road that starts in Clapton in the north London Borough of Hackney and ends in Kidbrooke in the south London Borough of Greenwich The northern portal lies just south of the East India Dock Road (A13) in Blackwall; the southern entrances are just south of the The O₂ (formerly the Millennium Dome) on the Greenwich Peninsula. This entry concerns the area of London known as Blackwall For the type of merchant sailing ship first built there and named after it see Blackwall Frigate The O2 is a large entertainment district including an indoor arena a music club a cinema an exhibition space piazzas and bars and restaurants built within a large dome-shaped The Millennium Dome, often referred to simply as The Dome, is the original name of a large Dome -shaped building originally used to house The Greenwich Peninsula, sometimes known as Blackwall Point, is a tongue of land bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames between the Isle of Dogs and Before the opening of the Dartford Tunnel in 1963, the Blackwall Tunnel was the easternmost Thames crossing for vehicles, excluding ferries. The Dartford Crossing joins Dartford and Thurrock across the River Thames, to the east of London.

The northern approach takes traffic from the A12 and the southern approach takes traffic from the A2, making the tunnel crossing a key link for both local and longer-distance traffic between the north and south sides of the river. The A2 is a major road in southern England, connecting London with the English Channel port of Dover in Kent. It forms part of a key route into central London from South East London and Kent. South East London may refer to SE postcode area eastern part of South London KENT (1400 AM) is a Radio station broadcasting a Adult Standards/MOR format For some years, the section north of the A2 Rochester Way Relief Road was classified as the A102(M) motorway, but this reverted to the A102 in September 1999 when the part of A102 north of the river was merged with the newly opened extension of the A12 through Wanstead, Leytonstone and Leyton. East Cross Route (ECR was the designation for the eastern section of Ringway 1, the innermost circuit of the London Ringways network a complex and comprehensive Motorway is a term for both a type of Road and a classification or designation Wanstead is a suburban area in the London Borough of Redbridge, East London. Leytonstone is an area of East London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Leyton is an area of East London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. This coincided with the GLA taking over responsibility for its own trunk roads as Transport for London had no authority to operate motorways. The Greater London Authority ( GLA) is the city-wide governing body for London, England. Transport for London ( TfL) is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the Transport system in Greater London in England.

History

The northern ventilation towers for the new Blackwall tunnel. (February 2006)

Plaque at the northern entrance to the tunnel

The older western tunnel was designed by Sir Alexander Binnie and built by S. Pearson & Sons, between 1892 and 1897. Sir Alexander Richardson Binnie (1839-1917 was a Civil engineer responsible for several major engineering projects including several associated with crossings of the River Pearson plc () is a London -based media conglomerate. It is the largest book Publisher in the UK, India, Australia It was originally commissioned by the Metropolitan Board of Works but responsibility passed to the London County Council when the former body was abolished in 1889. The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW was the principal instrument of London -wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889 London County Council (LCC was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889-1965 existence and the first London-wide general municipal The cost of the project was £1. 4 million, and seven lives were lost during construction. The tunnel was officially opened by the Prince of Wales on 22 May 1897. Events 334 BC - The Greek army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus. Year 1897 ( MDCCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common

It was then the longest underwater tunnel in the world at 4,410 feet (1,344 m) long. It was constructed using tunnelling shield and compressed air techniques; the shield pioneer James Henry Greathead was a consultant. A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used in the excavation of tunnels through soil that is too soft or fluid to remain stable during the time it takes to line the tunnel Compressed air James Henry Greathead ( 6 August 1844 - 21 October[[ 896]] was an Engineer renowned for his work on the London Underground railway Sir Joseph Bazalgette, the architect of the London sewerage system, was also involved in the original planning of the project. Sir Joseph William Bazalgette ( 28 March 1819 &ndash 15 March 1891) was one of the great English Civil engineers of To clear the site in Greenwich, more than 600 houses had to be demolished, including one reputedly once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh. Sir Walter Raleigh or Ralegh (c 1552 – 29 October 1618 was a famed English writer Poet, Soldier, Courtier and Explorer

Today the western bore is only used for north-bound traffic (and is not accessible to vehicles taller than 4 m). The southern portal features a striking gateway built of red brick. The tunnel itself has several sharp bends. Some suggest these were built so that horses would not bolt once they saw daylight (motor vehicles were rare in 1897), though the bends may also have been created so that the tunnel avoided the foundations of other structures; another theory suggests the bends avoided tunnelling through a Black Death burial ground. The Black Death, or the Black Plague, was one of the deadliest Pandemics in human history widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia The tunnel carries two lanes of traffic, though higher vehicles need to keep to the left-hand lane so that they do not hit the tunnel's inner lining.

The newer, eastern, tunnel, opened on 2 August 1967, is much wider, usable by vehicles up to 4. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. 72 m and has no sharp corners — very much designed for 20th century road traffic. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Its distinctive ventilation towers (right) were designed in 1961-2 by Terry Farrell when he was working as an architect for the London County Council. Sir Terry Farrell (born 1939 is a leading English Architect. His typical style is a combination of high tech and Post-modernism. London County Council (LCC was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889-1965 existence and the first London-wide general municipal The northern pair stand at Blackwall, while the southern are now contained within the Millennium Dome. This entry concerns the area of London known as Blackwall For the type of merchant sailing ship first built there and named after it see Blackwall Frigate The Millennium Dome, often referred to simply as The Dome, is the original name of a large Dome -shaped building originally used to house The towers were Grade II listed in 2000.

Traffic management

The north bound Blackwall Tunnel is a traffic bottleneck with tailbacks^[1] in the morning rush hour as traffic heads north from South East London and Kent towards the London Docklands, City of London, east and Central London. Metaphorically a bottleneck is a section of a route with a carrying capacity substantially below that characterising other sections of the same route Rush hour at Shinjuku 02JPG|thumb|right|250px|Rush hour at Shinjuku Station, Yamanote Line]] A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which Docklands is the semi-official name for an area in the east of London, England, comprising parts of several boroughs ( Southwark, Tower Hamlets For London as a whole see the main article London. The City of London is a geographically East London is the name commonly given to the north eastern part of London, England on the north side of the River Thames. The term Central London refers to the districts of London England which are considered closest to the centre To relieve the congestion, the tidal flow system was introduced in 1978 allowing northbound traffic to use the eastern tunnel. A reversible lane (called a counterflow lane or contraflow lane in Transport engineering nomenclature) is a Lane in which Traffic ^[2] Due to its sharp turns with restricted headroom, high-sided vehicles may only use the left-hand lane of the western tunnel meaning it is not suitable to operate a similar two-way flow in the evening. On 20 April 2007 the tidal flow was discontinued due to reports by Transport for London and the Metropolitan Policeof an increase in dangerous motoring behaviour, they cited poor driving, such as overtaking, for the decrease in safety during counterflow operations. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. "Metropolitan Police" redirects here See also Metropolitan police. ^[1][3]

This decision to end the counterflow system was made despite a 2006 independent report, commissioned by TfL, which concluded that "the proportion of accidents occurring in and around tidal flow operations is not significantly higher than would normally be expected on this type of road" and which recommended that "accident mitigation should be focused in the first instance on speed management aspects, and specifically on the deficiencies, limitations, and in some cases, inconsistencies in the signing, signalling and road marking regime". ^[4] Transport for London made the ending of the tidal flow with immediat effect without advance notice. A reversible lane (called a counterflow lane or contraflow lane in Transport engineering nomenclature) is a Lane in which Traffic The ending of the counterflow system has brought protests from users of the tunnel and those experiencing increased congestion due to the change. ^[5] Some of those protesting believe the motive for the change was not safety, but the furthering of other goals such as hidden agenda tunnel charges, hidden agenda congestion charging and the proposed Thames Gateway Bridge. Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of a Transport network in periods of peak Demand to reduce Traffic congestion The Thames Gateway Bridge is a proposed new crossing of the River Thames in East London. Mayor Ken Livingstone has stated that he has "absolutely no plans to set up a congestion charging zone to charge vehicles that use the Blackwall Tunnel or the Blackwall Tunnel Approach Road. The Mayor of London is an elected politician who along with the London Assembly of 25 members is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London (see Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945 is a British Socialist Politician. But if Greenwich wishes to do so on any of its roads then I will support them". ^[6]

Unofficial commercial street maps of London periodically show a third Blackwall Tunnel as proposed for construction, though this does not appear in the equally unofficial latest edition of the London A-Z. The A–Z, or in full the Geographers' A–Z Street Atlas is a name given to any one of a range of atlases of streets in the United Although congestion relief plans are regularly discussed, there are at present (2007) no specific plans for a third crossing at the site, although a 'reserved route' in an E-W direction does exist on the Greenwich Peninsula 'Master Plan'.

Maintenance and refurbishment

It is currently proposed to carry out major refurbishment of the Northbound tunnel as the levels of reactive maintenance are now compromising the proper working of the tunnel. An experts group has been convened and is developing a set of options for public consultation.

Work is likely to begin in early 2008 and will take up to 24 months, depending upon which pattern of closures is deemed best by stakeholders, experts and the public.

Nearest alternate crossings

The nearest alternative road crossings are the Rotherhithe Tunnel three miles (5 km) to the west, the Woolwich Ferry two miles (3 km) to the east and the distant Dartford Crossing a total of 12 miles (20 km) farther to the east. The Rotherhithe Tunnel is a road tunnel crossing beneath the River Thames in East London. The Woolwich Free Ferry is a boat service across the River Thames, London, UK, which is operated by the London Borough of Greenwich The Dartford Crossing joins Dartford and Thurrock across the River Thames, to the east of London.

For public transport there is Jubilee Line tube service from North Greenwich tube station (TfL) to Canning Town station on the east and Canary Wharf tube station on the west, and the Docklands Light Railway also passes underneath the Thames between Island Gardens at the southernmost point of the Isle of Dogs, and Cutty Sark in the centre of Greenwich. The Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground ("the Tube" in the United Kingdom. North Greenwich is a station on London Underground 's Jubilee Line, opened in 1999 Transport for London ( TfL) is the local government body responsible for most aspects of the Transport system in Greater London in England. Canning Town station is a major inter-modal transport interchange in East London. Canary Wharf tube station is a London Underground station on the Jubilee Line, between Canada Water and North Greenwich. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR is a Light rail system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of East London England. Island Gardens DLR station is a Docklands Light Railway station on the Isle of Dogs, just north of the River Thames. The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is surrounded on three sides (east south and west by one of the largest Meanders in Cutty Sark DLR station is a station on the Docklands Light Railway a short distance from the historic Cutty Sark ship in the centre of Greenwich in Greenwich ( ˈɡrɛnɪtʃ GREN-itch /ˈɡrɛnɪdʒ/ GREN-idge or /ˈɡrɪnɪdʒ/ GRIN-idge is a district in south-east London,

References

External links

• UK Roads Portal (Links to information about the UK road network)
• The ventilation towers (from the Terry Farrell practice's site)
• Video of the Tunnel (Chris' British Road Directory)