Visiting Thames Barrier
The Thames barrier is quite an underrated tourist attraction in London in the UK. That is a pity because I found it very interesting and educational when I went there.
The Thames barrier started operation in1982 and is located on the east side of the River Thames, The River Thames in London is very famous but unfortunately sometimes it suffers from flooding from the North Sea. The Thames Barrier helps to prevent London from flooding.
There are 10 big steel cylinder gates that make up the barrier and they stretch 520m across the River Thames.
The way the barrier gate works is like this model situated outside the learning center. When it is vertical like this, it is closed and it stops the water from gushing through. The gate is about 5 storeys high when closed and each one weighs 3300 tonnes. Since the Thames Barrier has come into operation, the gates have closed 183 times, of which 41 times were in 2013/14 when UK suffered a lot of of high tides.
There are some other models of the entire Thames Barrier inside the Learning Center, a lot of interesting information about tide formation and flood preventation, as well as a cafe and a little souvenior shop. All my photos of the inside have my friends in it so I cannot post it here,
However, I will share this photo of an artwork that was displayed outside. It is made of litter and as we all know this is becoming a more and more a serious issue nowadays.
My visit to the Thames Barrier definitely made me more aware of the issue of flooding and how a cosmoplitan city like London is potential at risk of being flooded. If you are ever in London, I highly recommend a visit to see one of the largest movable flood barriers in the world.
Location information
● The Thames Barrier, Unity Way, London, UK
Related link
● https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-thames-barrier#how-the-thames-barrier-works