Blackwall-Tunnel
The Blackwall Tunnel is a road tunnel under the River Thames in London. It connects the London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the north side with the Municipality Royal Borough of Greenwich on the south and consists of two separate tunnels, which were opened in 1897 and 1967 respectively. The southern tunnel portal is located directly at the Millennium Dome. The tunnel connects the two highways A2 and A12 together and was up to the opening of the Dartford Tunnel in 1963, the eastern river crossing for vehicles (excluding ferries).
History
The older western tunnel was designed by Alexander Binnie and built by the company S. Pearson & Sons in 1892. She was originally commissioned by the Metropolitan Board of Works in order, but the responsibility was transferred to the London County Council, which replaced the former authority in 1889. The cost was £ 1.4 million, during the construction of seven people were killed. The official opening took place on 22 May in 1897 by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII
With 1344 meters of the Blackwall Tunnel was then the longest underwater tunnel in the world. It was built with shield tunneling and air pressure method. James Henry Greathead, the pioneer of shield tunneling, acted as advisor. Also included in the planning was Joseph Bazalgette, the chief engineer of the London sewerage system. To make room for the site in Greenwich, had 600 houses to be demolished, including one that is supposed to have been once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh.
Today, the Western tunnel will only drive in a northerly direction, it is also not approved for vehicles with a height of over 4 meters. The southern gateway is made of red bricks. The two-lane tunnel has some tight curves, where there are several explanations for this: the curves are to be built, so that the horses not be burned as soon as they saw the light of day (1897 were motor vehicles still extremely rare). Another theory is that this an old Pestfriedhof to have been bypassed.
The eastern tunnel was opened on August 2, 1967, and is far better adapted to the requirements of modern traffic. It is much wider, up to 4.72 meters high vehicles can be driven and has no tight bends. The distinctive ventilation shafts were designed in 1961-62 by Terry Farrell, when he was an architect of the London County Council at the time. The northern pair is in Blackwall, while the southern pair is now integrated into the Millennium Dome. The shaft towers are under monument protection since 2000.