New Thames Barrier & International Airport

Why a New Thames Barrier?

On 2 November 2004, the Natural Resources Defence Council declared ‘’the polar ice cap as a whole is shrinking. Images from NASA satellites show that the area of permanent ice cover is contracting at a rate of 9 percent each decade. If this trend continues, summers in the Arctic could become ice-free by the end of the century’’. It goes on to say that, ‘’since 1979, the size of the summer polar ice cap has shrunk more than 20 percent’’. 1

According to the UK’s Environment Agency, “global mean sea level has increased by 1.0 to 1.5mm per year during the 20 th century. Best estimates predict a rise of around 4mm per year over the 21 st century.” 2

These quotes are just a few pulled from thousands of articles testifying to rising sea levels, indicating a genuine and widespread concern for the future of low altitude, densely populated areas around the world. London has already taken precautionary measures against more conventional flooding with the construction of the Thames Barrier, begun in 1974 and officially opened in 1984. An alarming article called ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ by Richard Girling from the 27 March 2005 Sunday Times states, ‘’Since its completion…the Thames Barrier has been closed against surges 90 times — a rough average of four a year. In the record year of 2003 there were 18. At the same time, between 1999 and 2002, the mean sea level at Sheerness rose 10cm above Met Office predictions. Londoners quaked like Venetians’’.3

Of the world’s movable flood barriers, the one spanning a third of a mile across the Thames at Woolwich Reach is second in size only to Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands. Its design specifications, based on data available at the time, offered London protection from a 1000-year event. Even then, engineers projected the barrier’s life-span would reach only to the year 2030, an estimate which accounted for a rise in high water levels related to various factors such as the geological settling of southern England and the influence of human activities like embanking and dredging. However, global warming was not factored into these calculations and if current ‘most likely’ projections of a .3 meter sea level rise are accurate, the barrier’s design allowances could be exceeded before 2030. It would seem a new solution is required, and indeed a proposal has been made to build a new barrier spanning from Sheerness in north Kent to Southend in Essex, a staggering distance of 10 miles. As spelt out by the Sunday Times Science Editor, Jonathan Leak, on 9 January 2005, ‘‘by 2030 it (existing Thames barrier) will have become inadequate because London is still sinking at a rate of about 8in a century while the global sea level is rising. The current prediction is for sea levels to rise by 2ft to 3ft by 2100 but it could be more if the Antarctic ice cap starts melting. There are indications this may be happening’’.4

The new Thames Barrier will change the face of the South East and should be seen as an important opportunity to transform the Thames Estuary into a fantastic gateway to the Capital. This construction will be one of the biggest engineering projects that Britain has ever undertaken, needless to say, at a vast cost. It is our view that this enterprise should therefore be combined with other complementary projects, ranging from a tidal hydroelectric power station to a new international airport.

 

The Importance of a New International Airport

Heathrow’s importance as London ’s main airport came about through sheer coincidence with its birth in 1946. It was initially a wartime airfield that expanded into Britain’s main aeroplane thoroughfare without much thought given to the repercussions. As a result, the airport has grown piecemeal into an architectural carbuncle from the outside, with badly planned spaces on the inside – low ceilings, endless corridors, poor ventilation, bad lighting and negative ambience. BAA boasts that “Heathrow is the world's busiest international airport. Regarded as the hub of the aviation world, around 90 airlines have made Heathrow their base. The airport has four terminals (with a fifth under construction) and serves over 180 destinations in 90 countries”. 5 At present, a staggering 67.7 million passengers pass through it annually on half a million flights, with only two runways and one cross-wind runway. In the future, when Terminal 5 is operational, Heathrow will need at least two more runways to accommodate the air traffic using it. The increase in the volume of air traffic will mean that all of the existing problems at Heathrow will become intensified.

Heathrow’s location is far from perfect for many reasons, some of which are obvious, others less so. For example, with the ever increasing air traffic the subsequent noise pollution over London and the South East will reach a point where only a small handful of hours during the night will be free of noise. With Heathrow presently requesting an extension of its operating hours, 24 hour noise pollution seems likely in the not too distant future.

The idea that thousands of flights pass over central London every year is somewhat unnerving, especially if one contemplates the safety aspects and the ‘what ifs’…What if there was an engine failure? What if there was a terrorist hijack of planes? Within a very short span of time, a plane‘s course could be diverted to the Houses of Parliament, or to other high density areas, such as the City or Canary Wharf. The time lapse would be so insignificant that preventative measures would likely be impossible.

Heathrow is the busiest airport in the world and the most important in Europe. It is one of the main air travel interchanges for transit passengers, which not only generates enormous revenue for BAA, but also boosts tourism and other sectors nation-wide. This enviable position is one that Britain needs to retain, and should not take for granted. There will come a time when Heathrow reaches a saturation point, where it will no longer be allowed to expand and will therefore lose its appeal for airlines as a European base. Already Heathrow ranks very low in customer satisfaction; according to a recent TripAdvisor poll widely reported in the mainstream media, Heathrow ties Chicago’s O’Hare as the world’s worst airport. “News of the airport's poor placing emerged as American Airlines started a New York service from Stansted while British Airways continued its search for continental slots for transatlantic flights.” 6 Business could easily filter off to France, Holland, Germany and other key European destinations. Once the damage is done, it would be very difficult for Britain to reverse the trend and regain the lost air traffic. For these reasons, and many more, it is time for a bold new vision for an airport of the future, one that can properly serve the travelling public and allow London to retain its preeminence as a world transport hub.

 

The New Airport & Thames Barrier

The new Thames Barrier project holds the key to the solution. The barrier itself could comfortably host the runways and most of the terminal structures could be built on reclaimed land in the estuary. This location for a new international airport has several important advantages.

The cost of developing an airport on the new Barrier would be relatively low in comparison to building a new airport elsewhere or to expanding existing airports, such as Heathrow and Gatwick, as both options require the acquisition of land. Also, many of the materials used in the building of the Barrier can be put to dual use when constructing the airport.

A Thames Estuary-based airport would ensure that aeroplanes take-off in a westward direction, utilising the prevailing winds, enabling them to bank either northward or southward, depending on their destinations, and thus skirt the city. Meanwhile, aircraft landing at the airport would fly in from the North Sea. Therefore, both departing and arriving aeroplanes would avoid flying over London altogether. With regard to circling, flights are presently forced to stack and circle over London and the South East until a runway has been allocated. The potential hazard posed by this problem would be removed if the airport was located on the Thames Estuary, as circling would take place over the North Sea.

Architecturally, there is vast scope for building an attractive, eye-pleasing airport for the 21 st Century that properly serves London and the South East. Few people would say such a description applies to the Capital’s current airports but this need not be the case. Presently, airport layouts in general have evolved little from the early days of aviation and are in desperate need of a re-think. This would again be the ideal opportunity for Britain to pave the way.

Road congestion is another serious issue that has to be planned in at an early stage. Congestion could be avoided by the development of a ‘next generation’ hanging magnetic bullet train travelling a parallel course to the Thames from the new Barrier into the centre of London. Such a mode of transport would greatly reduce the need for other infrastructure and the reduction in road use to the airport in favour of the magnetic train would also have obvious environmental benefits. This train could become an important iconic feature of London, just like the London Eye, and would look majestic gliding silently up the Thames at enormous speeds.

Pollution, sustainability and environmental considerations are impacted favourably under this new airport and barrage proposal. For example, the barrage could be equipped with a tidal hydroelectric power station and wind turbines that would not only generate electricity for the South East but would also contribute to the airport’s self sufficiency. The location of the aircraft approach over the North Sea instead of London or any other built up area means the angle of approach would be less dramatic and therefore more fuel efficient, resulting in far less jet fuel being dumped over the city. Aircraft fuel could be transported to the barrier directly from tankers or a pipeline from the North Sea, thereby reducing both road congestion and the number of fuel handlers at different stages of transport. Noise levels within the GLA would also be greatly reduced.

Due to the removed location of the envisaged airport, there would be fewer constraints upon the number of runways, which means multiple landings and take-offs, less stacking and a greater airport handling capacity, ensuring that the edge now enjoyed by Heathrow will be retained in the future.

One of the key factors a project of this scale benefits from is the land that Heathrow presently occupies, which could very quickly be reclaimed and developed into new housing. Rather than developing new greenfield sites, this enormous brownfield site presents the perfect solution to the housing shortage in the South East. In addition, Heathrow and Gatwick could be amalgamated in this new airport, freeing even more land for new housing and development, whilst protecting more of the lovely British countryside. The transport infrastructure that is already in place for Heathrow and Gatwick is ideal to connect these potential new cities to London and the South East or indeed the rest of Britain. Luton and Stansted would remain back-up airports, just as they are at the moment for Heathrow & Gatwick.

Surely this plan makes more sense than building tens of thousands of homes on the tidal floodplain of the Thames Estuary. According to the Association of British Insurers, one-third of the 200,000 new homes the government hopes to have built in the South East by 2016 are on the floodplain, 7 despite assertions by that organisation that “avoiding building new developments in high flood risk areas is the most sustainable solution to managing flood risk in the long term”.8 And in a government-commissioned report issued in April 2004, it is estimated that by 2080, the yearly cost of flooding will at least double and could rise “20-fold” if major investments are not made to improve the country’s defences. 9 This figure can only increase as building and development intensify in the South-East.

The challenges faced by London, and all of the UK, now and in the coming decades are immense. Population growth coincides with housing shortages. Demands on air transport and other infrastructure reach all time highs while space is at a premium. And perhaps most significant, the effects of global warming, already becoming apparent, threaten to profoundly impact not only our physical landscape but our entire way of life in the future. However, with great challenges and pressures come great opportunities. This crisis is really the perfect occasion to address the longstanding problems of housing, infrastructure and flood defence in one bold, visionary masterplan, rather than patching up the existing system in an ad hoc, reactionary way. There is no question this will require ‘out-of-the box’ thinking and long-term commitment on a scale equal to Victorian ambitions to excavate miles and miles of tunnels for an underground railway system. Looking back now, would anyone hesitate to endorse the foresight which resulted in the world’s first, and still best, subway system? The question is, does Britain still possess the imagination and audacity to lead and inspire the world? We believe the answer is yes.