Rotherhithe Tunnel
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The Rotherhithe entrance of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, 1909 |
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The same entrance now. (February 2006) |
The
Rotherhithe Tunnel is a road tunnel crossing beneath the
River Thames in East
London.
It connects
Limehouse in the
London Borough of Tower Hamlets north of the river to
Rotherhithe in the
London Borough of Southwark south of the river. It was constructed between
1904 and
1908 by Sir
Maurice Fitzmaurice, partly using a
tunnelling shield and partly through
cut-and-cover methods. The entrance arches standing at the entrances of the tunnel are in fact the cutting edges of the original tunnelling shields used by Fitzmaurice.
The Rotherhithe Tunnel consists of a single bore 4,860 feet (1,481 m) long, carrying a two-lane carriageway 48 feet (14.5 m) below the high-water level of the Thames. It also has two spiral entrance shafts for pedestrians, now closed to the public, located just before the points where the tunnel goes under the river bed. It was opened in 1908 by
George Prince of Wales, and
Richard Robinson, Chairman of the
London County Council. It should not be confused with the nearby but earlier and much more historic
Thames Tunnel, designed and built under the supervision of
Marc Isambard Brunel and his son
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, which is now used by the
East London Line of the
London Underground.
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Sectional map of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, 1906 |
The tunnel was originally designed to serve foot and horse-drawn traffic passing between the
docks on either side of the river. This accounts for some of its more unusual design features. Its route includes sharp, nearly right-angled bends at the points where the tunnel goes under the river bed. These served two purposes: avoiding the local docks on each side of the river, and preventing horses from seeing daylight at the end of the tunnel too early which might make them bolt for the exit. Unfortunately, this has made it difficult for motorised vehicles to traverse it safely. Large vehicles cannot easily pass the sharp bends and are therefore banned from the tunnel. The
speed limit of 20
miles per hour is enforced with
speed cameras but is frequently exceeded. A
2003 survey rated the Rotherhithe Tunnel the tenth most dangerous tunnel in the whole of Europe. [
1]
Cyclists may use the tunnel, although it is not the safest option for crossing the River Thames. It is safer to make a detour to the West and use
Tower Bridge, or to the East and use the
Greenwich foot tunnel. Cyclists may also take their bike on the whole of the East London Line outside of peak hours (which are 07:30 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 19:00 Monday to Friday) [
2] - Rotherhithe station is almost adjacent to the southern tunnel entrance, whilst Wapping is the closest station on the north side to the tunnel entrance in Limehouse. Pedestrians may also use the tunnel, although only approximately 20 do so per day. [
3]
*
Crossings of the River Thames*
List of tunnels in the United Kingdom*
Tunnels underneath the River Thames
