Celebrating 40 years of the Thames Barrier

The Engineers Collective

This month’s episode is dedicated to celebrating 40 years since Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Thames Barrier in London, the engineering marvel that protects London from disastrous flooding. We speak to two engineers who worked on its construction, which commenced nearly half a century ago.

Rory O’Grady was a section engineer for Costain on the project between 1975 and 1980 and has just published a book called We Gave A Dam: The Epic Race To Build The Thames Barrier, which recollects the people, struggles and ingenuity that contributed to the creation of the landmark infrastructure.

We also have future ICE president Richard Bayfield who spent six months in the very early part of his career on the barrier as an assistant planning engineer for Costain.

Together they discuss the Thames Barrier’s creation, its legacy and what its future looks like.

Prior to that, host Rob Hakimian and NCE reporter Thomas Johnson briefly discuss the announcement of a General Election in the UK and what that means for the country’s major infrastructure projects and policies.