LONDON-UNDER-SEA
By: Daisy Haywood
Week 1
The Thames Barrier has protected London against flooding for the past thirty years, and was expected to carry on doing so until 2050. However, in recent years, the barrier’s structural integrity is being compromised due to rising sea levels and pluvial flooding. Engineers, planners, designers and policy makers have begun to question whether we need to rethink London’s flood risk management. My project will challenge landscape architects, urban designers and architects to engage with the challenge of climate change, and imagine an alternative future for London’s flood defenses.
By initiating these conversations in the run up to the UN climate change negotiations in Paris this December, I hope to inspire students and professionals to use their skills and creativity to make our cities fit for the future. The main output for the project will be a zine, which is a tool often used by professionals in the design sector to disseminate research and project ideas, and stimulate conversation. The zine will be available online and as a hard copy. It will document the history of the Thames Barrier, the challenges it faces, and possible alternative solutions, based on interviews and research I carry out. The zine will be launched at a public event at Greenwich University during the first week of the UN climate change conference.
You can follow me and learn more about my activities on my blog: https://unearthinglandscapes.wordpress.com
Week 2
The River Thames has defined the culture, trade and significance of London for centuries, although at some considerable cost.
In 1236, the Thames overflowed “and in the great Palace of Westminster men did row with werries in the midst of the Hall”. And in 1663, “there was...the greatest tide that ever was remembered in England to have been in this River all Whitehall having been drowned”. The last time that central London was flooded was on 6 January 1928 when a northerly gale caused water levels in the Thames to rise which led to the collapse of a section of the embankment near Lambeth Bridge. The Thames flooded into basements of nearby houses so quickly that people were unable to escape and fourteen people drowned.
Up until the mid-20th Century, the accepted solution to flooding was to build higher and stronger river walls and embankments, as encouraged by the Thames River Prevention of Floods Act 1879. However, the North Sea flood disaster of 1953 prompted a rethink of London’s flood defenses. A huge tide saw sea levels rise by more than five metres and overwhelm coastal defences in Scotland, Belgium and, most horrifically, the Netherlands, where 1,836 lives were claimed. Over 300 people lost their lives in the east coast of England, and an estimated £50 million damages were caused. Central London narrowly escaped.
A 1966 report by Sir Herman Bondi analysed potential flood risk management solutions for London. Building higher flood defence walls was not an option, as they would need to be as high as the Victorian streetlamps along some stretches of the river, thus completely depriving Londoners of their river. Instead, it was decided that the best solution was bank-raising together with a flood barrier with movable gates across the river. The Thames Barrier Flood Prevention Act 1972 initiated the huge infrastructure project.
The Thames Barrier was created by engineer Charles Draper, who based the design of the rising sector gates from domestic gas taps. The site at New Charlton was chosen because of the relative straightness of the banks, and because the underlying river chalk was strong enough to support the barrier.
The former Greater London Council Department of Public Health Engineering coordinated the barrier project, which cost £535 million - all funded by central and local government. Construction started in 1974 and was completed in October 1982. It was first used in February 1983, and formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 8 May 1984.
The barrier currently protects 48 square miles of London, including an estimated 1.25 million people and £200 billion worth of property and infrastructure. The Thames Barrier is the second largest flood defence barrier in the world after the Oosterscheldekering Barrier in the Netherlands.
Week 3
The future of the Thames Barrier
2013/14 was the wettest winter on record, and wrought havoc across southern and western Britain. From early December 2013 to the end of February 2014, the Thames Barrier was closed 50 times. Previously, the barrier had closed only 124 times since it began operating in 1982. Whilst it was an exceptional winter, there has been a strong, overall upward trend: it was closed four times in the 1980s, 35 times in the 90s, and 75 times in the 2000s. There have been 65 closures already since 2010..jpg)
When the Thames Barrier was designed, it was initially thought it would be closed on average once every six years, and anticipated a breach once every 2,000 years. However, with four one-in-a-hundred year floods already having occurred four times this century (2003, 2007, 2013 and 2014), it’s prompting some to question the future of the Thames Barrier.
Dr Richard Bloore, a civil engineer who was part of the original project management team for the Thames Barrier has said a new river defence should be planned urgently. “When the Thames Barrier was designed, we didn’t know about climate change or global warming. We never even anticipated it would be used to prevent fluvial flooding in west London. The environmental criteria we used are completely obsolete.”
Climate change increases flood risk from tidal surges. The high water mark at London Bridge has gone up by over 1.5 metres since 1780. Research from the Met Office suggests that climate change could raise sea levels between 20 and 90 centimeters by the end of the century. This, combined with the fact that parts of southern England, Wales and southern Ireland are predicted to sink by up to five centimetres this century as a result of changes from the last ice age, adds up to greater flood risk from storm surges for London in the future.
Fluvial flooding, due to high rainfall events, is also on the rise. The UK is expected to receive about 10 per cent more rainfall on average per year by 2100, compared to 1986-2005.
In 2007, the environment minister, Phil Woolas, said that the government was due to make an “urgent” decision on building a new barrier “within the next year” and further declared that England and London’s exposure to flood risk and extreme weather was no longer an “academic debate but a real threat”. However, since then, the Environment Agency has changed its mind, stating that “the present standard of protection is much higher than originally expected”. So what made them change their mind?
The Thames Estuary 2100 (TE2100) report, published in 2012, sets out the Environment Agency’s flood risk management plan over the next century. The report states that the barrier was designed to accommodate for an 8mm rise in sea level per year until 2030. This rise in sea level has not been realised, and so the Environment Agency has argued the barrier will not need to be replaced until 2070, based on current sea level predictions.
Rather than a new barrier, TE2100 instead proposes a triple-phased maintenance and upgrade programme. Phase 1 will essentially continue current operations until 2034 with additional emphasis on replacing wildlife habitats potentially disrupted by rising sea levels. Phase 2 will see the renewal and replacement of other non-barrier Thames flood defences until 2050. From 2050 onwards, TE2100 will be reviewed to ensure that “new arrangements” are in place by the forecast end of the barrier’s current life-cycle in 2070.
Dr Richard Bloore remains unconvinced of the Environment Agency’s strategy. “The Thames Barrier gives London world-class protection and is a marvellous, world-beating feat of engineering. But it took 30 years to plan and build; we can’t wait until 2070 for a new one, we need to start thinking about it now. The recent dreadful weather has been extraordinary, sea levels are rising and weather is clearly becoming more extreme. Who would have thought something like Hurricane Sandy would devastate New York the way it did? London needs to be prepared before it’s too late.”
Week 4
The Spine: A new barrier for the Thames?
While the Environment Agency might not think we need a new barrier until 2070, there is a growing body of professionals who think we do. The architects Foster + Partners and engineers Halcow have been busy progressing plans for a new barrier, called the Spine in the Thames Estuary. Huw Thomas, of Fosters says, “The Environment Agency somehow estimate that the current barrier will protect London until 2070 but that’s based on what we know now, it doesn’t incorporate what we may learn in the future. At the moment the Thames Barrier just protects London’s core, but the Spine will also protect the eastern areas beyond Woolwich into which London will inevitably expand.”
Fosters and Halcrow are proposing a new barrier between Tilbury in Essex and the Hoo Peninsula in Kent, approximately 30 miles downstream from the current barrier. The Spine forms part of the ambitious Thames Hub infrastructure integration programme, which seeks to facilitate comprehensive urban regeneration and expansion across the Thames Gateway. The £50bn Thames Hub project comprises an international airport, railway terminus, freight depot, port, tens of thousands of new homes, along with the new flood barrier.
The new barrier is designed to perform multiple functions. Hydropower generators integrated into the barrier and a floating hydropower array located in the water beside it could generate up to 525GWh of renewable energy per year - potentially enough to power 76,000 of the households earmarked for the Thames Gateway. New road and rail links will also be built into the foundations of the barrier, offering a new connection across the Estuary.
According to Thomas, “With our strengthening economy we’re perhaps unique in Europe at the moment in having the opportunity to use this new barrier to help create a total, integrated economy. We could really do something extraordinary.”
Week 5
Restoring natural processes
There are 38 tributaries of the River Thames. Many of these have been covered up and encased in concrete channels over the past century, in order to free up more land for development and maximise the conveyance of flood flows directly into the River Thames.
The Thames Barrier is increasingly being used to prevent fluvial floods, due to intense rainfall events. In these instances, the barrier closes at low tide, keeping the sea out and creating a ‘gap’ where additional river water can flow during the few hours of high tide. About two thirds of closures last year were to prevent fluvial floods.
Research carried out for the TE2100 Project suggests that there could be 40 per cent more water flowing from tributaries into the Thames by 2080, due to high winter rainfall. Higher rainfall will not only increase pressure on the Thames Barrier, but will also put more Londoners living in urban river catchments at risk of flooding. It is estimated that 24,000 properties are currently under significant threat from fluvial flooding, in areas such as Kingston, Barnet and Waltham Forest. Increasing occurrences of localised flooding, due to culverts getting blocked with debris, natural floodplains being lost, and channels’ capacities being exceeded with excessive flood water, has led to a shift in flood management approach.
Integrated flood management offers an alternative strategy to the typical command-and-control approach of flood control, by restoring the river’s natural processes, and allowing natural storage areas to hold more water upstream and release it slowly downstream. The approach involves removing culverts and weirs, restoring the river’s natural course and reconnecting rivers with their floodplains. Integrated flood management schemes can deliver multiple benefits, including improving the ecological value of rivers and providing new recreation spaces.
The Quaggy River Flood Risk Management scheme, involving a 4.3km length of river in Lewisham, Greenwich and Bromley, is cited as a good example of integrated flood management. At the centre of the scheme is Sutcliffe Park. What used to be an underused piece of amenity grassland, is now a popular park and rich wildlife habitat. The river, which originally meandered through the park, was recovered, and has been repopulated with native flora and fauna. In the event of high water levels, the park is closed and water is released from culverts upstream and enters a large excavated ‘bowl’ in the park, storing excess water that would otherwise flow downstream to Lewisham. The improvements have resulted in a 73% increase in park visitors, and was certified as a Local Nature Reserve due to the important habitats it now provides for wildlife.
Week 6
UN Climate Change Conference 2015
Six years ago, I was a young British delegate at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen. Despite the media frenzy and huge public support, the talks failed to deliver a strong outcome. I left Copenhagen disheartened, and spent the next few years figuring out how I could play my part in the climate movement. I eventually decided that training to be a landscape architect was my best bet.
As the next round of UN climate change talks get underway in Paris (known as COP21), I wanted to explore the role that landscape architects must play in the climate crisis.
The Rt Hon Hilary Benn, previous Secretary of State for DEFRA said during an address to landscape architects:
…you bring together the skills, knowledge and passion that we need for the 21st century in the way that engineering shaped the 19th century. We need you in the fight against climate change. You can show people how it can be done.
Despite this rallying call, the Landscape Institute’s Position Statement on climate change is eight years old, and the profession as a whole remains a muted voice in climate policy. However, I’ve come to understand that this just seems to be the landscape architect’s way. We’re not very good at shouting about things as a profession – we’d rather just get on with it. And indeed, we’re doing just that.
The annual Landscape Institute Awards, held last week, saw a host of pioneering projects tackling climate change mitigation and adaptation challenges head on. The Fellows Award for Climate Change Adaptation went to OOBE Ltd’s Littlehaven Promenade project, a sea defence and public realm design which protects a stretch of South Shields’ seafront in north east England from increasingly intense sea storms and rising sea levels.
The scheme demonstrates how a conventional sea defence scheme can, with appropriate innovation in design and attention to detail during construction, be delivered to provide both a robust sea defence function and significant enhancement to a local community.
And, by the looks of how talks are going on in Paris, we’re going to be relying on those sea defences more and more in the future. My Whole Earth Fellowship Project, London-Under-Sea, which I will be publishing next week, explores the implications of climate change on London’s flood defences in the future.
Pledges made by 146 countries in the run up to Paris (known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions) are insufficient to meet the internationally agreed safety limit of two degrees warming – instead, they’re expected to reduce warming to around 2.7C. This is not to belittle the pledges that have been made. Indeed, its a huge achievement and marks a real step change in ambition. The challenge facing climate negotiators in Paris is now to agree on how to give the INDCs a clear legal status, and how to raise ambition in future so as to ultimately comply with the 2C limit.
Week 7
After six weeks of working on my Whole Earth Fellowship, I’ve finished my London-Under-Sea zine. I distributed hard copies of the zine during a launch event at Stockwell Street last week. I’ve also made an online version, which can be read here.
I’m very grateful to the Sustainability Hub for being given the opportunity to carry out this project.
If you want to read more about my interests and thoughts on landscape architecture (and my other ramblings!), please visit my personal blog: www.unearthinglandscapes.wordpress.com
Week 8
A cause for celebration
What a happy way to end the Whole Earth Fellowship programme. The UN climate change talks concluded in Paris with an international agreement, hailed as “historic, durable and ambitious”.
The Paris agreement requires developed and developing countries to limit their emissions to relatively safe levels, of 2C with an aspiration of 1.5C, with regular reviews to ensure these commitments can be increased in line with scientific evidence. Finance will be provided to developing nations to help them cut emissions and cope with the effects of extreme weather.
The agreement was reached precariously near the close of the conference, and was welcomed by exhausted delegates and diplomats with cheers and tears. The overwhelmingly positive reaction to the agreement stands in stark contrast to the last global attempt to resolve climate change in Copenhagen in 2009, which collapsed.
The ambitious targets set by the agreement require drastic and urgent action if the world is going to meet them. Bill McKibben, founder of international climate change campaign group 350.org, lays out the challenge ahead:
“You’ve got to stop fracking right away (in fact, that may be the greatest imperative of all, since methane gas does its climate damage so fast). You have to start installing solar panels and windmills at a breakneck pace – and all over the world. The huge subsidies doled out to fossil fuel have to end yesterday, and the huge subsidies to renewable energy had better begin tomorrow. You have to raise the price of carbon steeply and quickly, so everyone gets a clear signal to get off of it.”
So, we still have a mountain to climb if we are going to avert catastrophic climate change. However, I’m going to pause, just for today, and celebrate the first good news we’ve had about climate change for a long long time.