Preserving London’s river piers

Blackfriars, Embankment, Westminster, Festival, Tower Millennium, Bankside, Temple, Greenwich and Millbank Piers were all inspected to determine the maintenance requirements over the next ten years including dry-docking to allow extensive investigation and repairs. All nine piers provide berths for the numerous riverbus, tourist and river cruise services that are an essential part of daily working life on the Thames. The work included a diving survey on each pier which could only be accomplished at night as the pier had to be closed. As well as the structural survey, Beckett Rankine also inspected and reported on the condition of the mechanical and electrical systems on each pier. For some piers including Embankment and Tower, the mechanical and electrical systems are complicated as the piers contain offices with air conditioning and sewerage systems.

By Peter Barker