Boost for water freight in London

Waterways Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced the funding today as part of a visit to Prescott Lock and Water Control Structure.

The new lock development will help secure a water freight route along the River Lee Navigation and its tributaries known as the Bow Back Rivers, which flow in and around the Olympic Park in East London.

The money comes from Defra’s Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, which aims to reduce the environmental impacts of production and transport of gravel, sand and rock, and to benefit areas affected by quarrying.

2012 Olympics to be ‘greenest games ever’

The state-of-the art lock will provide access to the area for 350-tonne barges, taking hundreds of lorry journeys a week from local roads, saving thousands of tonnes of CO2 and creating a platform for a new ‘Water City’ to emerge in East London. Work on the lock began in March 2007, and it is due for completion in early 2009.

Huw Irranca-Davies said: “We want the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be the greenest games ever, and sustainability is at the heart of building the venues and infrastructure.

“By funding the Prescott Lock project we can help boost environment-friendly transport in East London not just for the Games but long into the future.”

British Waterways’ Chief Executive, Robin Evans, added: “The funders of Prescott Lock and Water Control System are very pleased to receive these additional monies from the Aggregates Levy Fund. The funding will go some way towards meeting the additional costs incurred by the project, which have been largely due to the unforeseen amount of contaminated soil and silt on-site, resulting in a costly, but necessary clean-up process.

Prescott Lock will help enable the Olympic Delivery Authority to reach its target of delivering 50% of materials to the Olympic Park by sustainable means. The £2 million from Defra means that we can keep to schedule and deliver a great waterway asset to the people and businesses of East London.”

The Prescott Lock and Water Control Structure is funded by British Waterways, Defra, the Department for Transport, London Thames Gateway Development Corporation, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), and Transport for London. It will re-establish full navigation on the Bow Back Rivers for the first time in decades. The £20 million project comprises twin water control gates, a 62m x 8m tidal lock, footbridge, lock control building, fish pass and fixed weir.

The works will create a major boating destination

The lock will open up the rivers in the area for the sustainable movement of materials by water, providing access for barges carrying construction traffic and recyclables between Stratford and the Thames. In the longer term the works will allow new opportunities for leisure boats, water taxis, trip boats and floating restaurants creating a major boating destination in the area.

Construction of the new lock is being managed by British Waterways and undertaken by design and build contractors Volker Stevin Ltd, with a supporting team including Tony Gee & Partners LLP, Bennett Associates, Clague Architects and Weetwood Environmental Engineering. Works began in March 2007 ensuring that the lock is accessible for barge traffic by the start of the peak of the Games construction period. For more information visit: www.britishwaterways.co.uk/olympics.