Richmond Lock and Footbridge is a lock and pedestrian bridge, situated on the River Thames in England. It is the furthest downstream of all the Thames locks and is the only one owned and operated by the Port of London Authority. It was opened in 1894.

Contents

1 Description 2 Location 3 See also 4 Sources

Description

Technically, Richmond Lock is a half-tide lock and barrage, which also incorporates a public footbrige. The footbridge crosses both the conventional lock and the barrage, which comprises three vertical steel sluice gates suspended from the footbridge structure. These gates weigh 32 tons each and are 66 feet in width and 12 foot in depth. The lock permits passage of vessels to a maximum dimension of 250 feet long by 26 feet 8 inches wide.

For about two hours each side of high tide, the sluice gates which make up the barrage are raised into the footbridge structure above, and ships and boats pass through the barrage unimpeded. For the rest of the tidal cycle the sluice gates are closed, and ships and boats must make use of the lock alongside the barrage. This has the effect of maintaining the water level between Richmond Lock and Teddington Lock (the next lock upstream) at or above half-tide level. The maximum fall of the lock is 10 feet.

Location

Richmond Lock is situated close to the centre of the town of Richmond upon Thames in the western suburbs of London.

Grid reference: TQ170751 (http://getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/getamap/frames.htm?mapAction=gaz&gazName=g&gazString=TQ170751)

See also

• Locks on the River Thames
  • Teddington Lock (next lock upstream)
• Crossings of the River Thames
  • Twickenham Bridge (next crossing upstream)
  • Kew Bridge (next crossing downstream)

Sources

• Web page http://www.thames-tideway.org/richlock.shtm, retrieved 14:49 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)
• Web page http://www.victorianlondon.org/ql/queenslondon105.htm, retrieved 14:55 21 Sep 2004 (UTC)