HC Deb 20 February 1968 vol 759 c59W
Mr. Gresham Cooke

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government, what progress has been made in investigating the desirability of constructing a barrier against a tidal surge in the Thames.

Mr. Greenwood

Detailed engineering studies have been made of a movable barrier in Long Reach which, when withdrawn, would provide a clear opening 1,400 ft. wide for shipping. Such a barrier at this site would raise great technical difficulties and be extremely expensive. The possibilities of a movable barrier (which might have a substantially narrower opening), or a fixed barrage, further upstream, with strengthening of the riverside defences below it, should be studied. The Greater London Council have undertaken to investigate, in consultation with the Port of London Authority and the navigation interests, the relative advantages of these two types of structure and the most suitable site. I shall also be consulting the South East Economic Planning Council on the wider implications of these projects.

I am placing in the Library a report on this subject by Professor H. Bondi, F.R.S.

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