The Thames Barrier may need to be replaced 20 years earlier than planned because severe weather is putting the flood defence under strain, it has been reported.
Senior officials at the Environment Agency have told ministers that because the gates are being used more often than anticipated, the barrier may need to be replaced between 2050 and 2060, according to the Financial Times.
When the barrier opened in 1984 it was anticipated that the structure would last until 2030, but the Environment Agency later said it could stay in place until 2070.
Flood defences between Charlton and Teddington are already due to be strengthened between now and 2050 to reduce reliance on the barrier.
The Environment Agency has also intervened in planning applications close to the barrier, warning against homes on ground floors – damaging local groups’ hopes that future development in the area would be low-rise.
Greenwich Council’s draft local plan now proposes taller buildings along the Charlton riverside, which has long been earmarked for redevelopment.
A new barrier would be further east and could take as long as 30 years to build, costing at least £20 billion. The original barrier cost £535 million in 1982, or £2.6 billion at today’s prices.
Pressure to build a barrier came after the catastrophic flood of 1953, with the site in Woolwich Reach chosen in the late 1960s. Work began in 1974. Queen Elizabeth opened the barrier ten years later, ending decades of fears of a repeat of the flooding, with a network of sirens occasionally tested and advertising urging Londoners to plan for an emergency.
The gates were only due to be closed a few times a year, but with climate change the number has grown since then. The FT reported that gate closures were expected to reach 50 per year by 2035 – affecting not just wear and tear but planned maintenance.
Five years ago, a group of architects launched a push for a pedestrian and cycle bridge to be built next to the barrier.
Caroline Douglass, executive director for flood and coastal risk management at the agency, told the FT: “Flooding has a devastating impact on communities and will only worsen as our climate changes.
“We are actively assessing options for managing tidal flood risk, including consideration of options for upgrading or replacing the Thames Barrier and other associated barriers.”
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