Port of London Authority unveil new upriver maintenance team


PLA team working on revetment by Hammersmith Bridge, Barnes

The Port of London Authority (PLA), the custodians of the tidal Thames, have recently announced plans to get the river walls ship shape, by recruiting a designated maintenance team.

The PLA unveiled their plans to launch the new workforce at a public meeting in Putney last week. As part of the PLA’s civil engineering department, the new upriver maintenance team will be made up of four staff tasked with repairing river walls and revetments that protect the riverbank on PLA land between Kew and Putney.

The recruitment process is set to begin in the next few weeks and site work will start once induction and training have been completed.

Needed work has been identified during detailed inspections of walls and revetments by the PLA’s Civil Engineers. Work will be carried out on assets owned by the PLA, rather than on assets owned by riparian land owners or works that have been licensed by the authority.

The team’s other duties will include repair of revetment steps and “low-level” vegetation management.

PLA civil engineer Derek Maynard said: “We think the team will be a great addition and we’re currently looking for a suitable location for a permanent site to accommodate the team, somewhere along and/or near the riverbank.

“Despite ad hoc repairs over the years, the river walls and revetments along that stretch of the tidal Thames, have continued to degrade and the recruitment of a designated team to get the revetments back into prime condition is much needed.”

This is an important ongoing and focused programme of work to protect the integrity of the towpath and flood defences behind the revetment in areas of west London.

March 8, 2019