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The Rotherhithe entrance of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, 1909

The same entrance (as at February 2006)

The Rotherhithe Tunnel is a road tunnel crossing beneath the River Thames in East London. It connects the Ratcliff district of Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets north of the river to Rotherhithe in the London Borough of Southwark south of the river. It is designated as the A101. It was formally opened in 1908 by George Prince of Wales (later King George V), and Richard Robinson, Chairman of the London County Council.

It should not be confused with the nearby but earlier and much more historic Thames Tunnel, designed and built under the supervision of Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, which is now used by the East London Line of the London Underground.

Designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, the Engineer to the London County Council, the tunnel's construction was authorised by the Thames Tunnel (Rotherhithe and Ratcliff) Act of 1900 despite considerable opposition from local residents, nearly 3,000 of whom were displaced by the tunnel works.^[1]

The work took place between 1904 and 1908, executed by the resident engineer Edward H. Tabor and the contractors Price and Reeves at a cost of about £1 million. The tunnel was excavated partly using a tunnelling shield and partly through cut-and-cover methods. The entrance arches of the tunnel are in fact the cutting edges of the original tunnelling shield, which measured 30 feet 8 inches (9.35 m) in diameter,^[2] forming in effect a loading gauge for the tunnel.

The narrow interior of the Rotherhithe Tunnel

Sectional map of the Rotherhithe Tunnel, 1906

The Rotherhithe Tunnel consists of a single bore, 4,860 feet (1,481 m) long, carrying a two-lane carriageway 48 feet (14.5 m) below the high-water level of the Thames, with a maximum depth of 75 feet (23 m) below the surface. Four shafts were sunk alongside the tunnel to aid construction and to serve later as ventilation and entrance shafts. The two riverside shafts, built in red brick with stone dressings, were fitted with iron spiral staircases to serve as pedestrian entrances. They are now closed to the public (the roofs were damaged during WWII, and the iron staircases became dangerous), and currently the only entrance to the tunnel is via the main portals at each end (the bases of the staircases can still be seen as you pass through the tunnel). Pedestrian (and cycle) access is still permitted in the Rotherhithe bore, however, the distances involved for pedestrians increased significantly when the spiral staircases closed because rather than just crossing the river, a pedestrian has to follow the carriageway ramp all the way back to the surface. However, the shafts have recently had new roofs fitted, and there are rumoured plans to reopen the spiral staircases.

The tunnel is entered via a sloping brick-lined open-air cutting at each end, leading to the entrance portals, followed by a short cut-and-cover section of tunnel until the first of the tunnel's four shafts are reached. The tunneled section is situated between shafts 1 and 4, measures 3,689 feet (1,125 m) long and is lined with cast iron segments.^[3] At the time of its construction, the tunnel was said to be "the largest subaqueous tunnel in existence".^[4]

The Rotherhithe Tunnel was originally designed to serve foot and horse-drawn traffic passing between the docks on either side of the river. This accounts for some of its more unusual design features. The roadways are narrow, with each lane only some 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and two footways of between 4 and 6 feet (1.2 to 2 m) wide on each side. The tunnel is shallow, with a maximum gradient of 1 in 36, to cater for non-mechanised traffic. Its route includes sharp, nearly right-angled bends at the points where the tunnel goes under the river bed. These served two purposes: avoiding the local docks on each side of the river, and preventing horses from seeing daylight at the end of the tunnel too early which might make them bolt for the exit.

This has unfortunately made it difficult for motorised vehicles to traverse the tunnel safely. Large vehicles cannot easily pass the sharp bends and are therefore banned from entering the tunnel. The speed limit of 20 miles per hour is enforced with speed cameras but is frequently exceeded. A 2003 survey rated the Rotherhithe Tunnel the tenth most dangerous tunnel in the whole of Europe due to its poor safety features.^[5] Its proximity to the river also made it vulnerable to flooding, as happened in the 1928 Thames flood.^[6].

Like London's other tunnels and bridges, the Rotherhithe Tunnel now carries far more traffic than it was designed for. It was well-used from the start, with 2,600 vehicles a day using it soon after it opened - a figure which was seen as easily justifying the expense of its construction. By 1955, usage had quadrupled to 10,500 vehicles a day^[1] and by 2005 usage had tripled again, to over 34,000 vehicles a day.^[7] The tunnel's heavy usage, particularly during rush hours, can lead to significant congestion and tailbacks in the vicinity.

Cyclists may use the tunnel, although it is not the safest option for crossing the River Thames due to the fumes and heavy traffic. Alternatives include Tower Bridge to the west or the Greenwich foot tunnel to the east. Cyclists may also take their bike on the whole of the East London Line outside of peak hours (07:30 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 19:00 Monday to Friday) [1]. Rotherhithe station is almost adjacent to the southern tunnel entrance, whilst Wapping is the closest station on the north side to the tunnel entrance in Limehouse. Pedestrians may also use the tunnel, although only approximately 20 do so per day.^[7]

• Crossings of the River Thames
• List of tunnels in the United Kingdom
• Tunnels underneath the River Thames

1. ^ ^{a b} "Rotherhithe Tunnel Jubilee", P.L.A. Monthly, Port of London 1955
2. ^ Rolt Hammond, Civil Engineering Plant and Methods, p. 150. (Benn, 1952)
3. ^ Denis Smith, London and the Thames Valley, p. 17. (Thomas Telford, 2000)
4. ^ Henry Jephson, The Making of Modern London: progress & reaction: twenty-one years of the London County council, p. 62. (The London Liberal Federation, 1910)
5. ^ "UK's 'dangerous' road tunnels", BBC News Online, 24 April 2003
6. ^ "The South Side. Damage In Tooleystreet Area." The Times, 9 January 1928
7. ^ ^{a b} "Rotherhithe Tunnel to close on Tuesday nights", Transport for London, 5 May 2005

Coordinates: 51°30′18″N 0°02′49″W / 51.505, -0.047

	A roads in Zone 1 of the Great Britain road numbering scheme	edit
A1	A10 • A11 • A12 • A13 • A14 • A15 • A16 • A17 • A18 • A19
	A100 • A101 • A102 • A103 • A104 • A105 • A106 • A107 • A109 • A110 • A118 • A120 • A124 • A127 • A129 • A130
	A135 • A140 • A143 • A146 • A148 • A149 • A151 • A153 • A156 • A157 • A158 • A159 • A160 • A165 • A167
	A170 • A171 • A172 • A173 • A174 • A177 • A179 • A180 • A182 • A183 • A189 • A194
	A1000 • A1018 • A1058 • A1066 • A1068 • A1073 • A1078 • A1079
	A1081 • A1082 • A1086 • A1101 • A1107 • A1151 • A1156 • A1198
	A1200 • A1202 • A1205 • A1231 • A1300 • A1303 • A1309
	List of A roads in Zone 1