What would happen to London without the Thames barrier?

Without the barrier the Houses of Parliament, the O2 arena, Tower Bridge and areas of Southwark, Beckton, West Ham, Whitechapel would all be submerged in flood water. It took eight years to build the structure, costing £535m (£1.6 billion in todays money) and became fully operational in 1982.



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The solution was to build embankments and higher river walls, but floods in 1928 and 1953 led to the development of proposals to raise the height of bank levels and install a barrier with movable gates. The 1972 Thames Barrier Act and Flood Protection Act followed and the GLC set to work.

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