III.

The Thames in London

The part of the river immediately below London Bridge is called the Pool. Two embankments have been formed, one on the northern shore from Blackfriars Bridge to Westminster and one on the southern shore from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall. Between Hampton Court and the Tower of London the river is crossed by 20 road and 9 rail bridges. The world's first bored tunnel was built under the Thames by Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel from 1825 to 1842. The latest road bridge is the QEII Bridge opened by Elizabeth II in 1991. Sited east of the city, it joins the counties of Essex and Kent, and is the north-south link of the M25 London orbital motorway (the Dartford tunnels are the south-north link).

In June 2000 the Millennium Bridge opened, London’s only dedicated pedestrian bridge across the Thames. It was also the first new bridge to be built over the river in the capital for more than 100 years, and connects St Paul's Cathedral to the new Tate Gallery of Modern Art in Southwark. However, the bridge was forced to close the day after it opened due to safety concerns. After proposed modifications were undertaken the bridge reopened in early 2002. In January that year, the first inland emergency lifeboat service in England was launched along the Thames in London, with stations at Chiswick Pier, Gravesend, Teddington, and Tower Pier, and with headquarters at the Thames Barrier.