Next week, one of Putney Bridge’s arches will close while a survey vessel takes fresh riverbed samples nearby. It may look like routine Port of London Authority (PLA) activity but is in fact a harbinger of greater things to come.
The location is the site of the proposed new Putney Pier and comes following a government requirement that has been blocking the application. Last December, scientists at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) told the Marine Management Organisation that Thames Clippers’ sediment data dates from 2010, fifteen years old and far beyond the three-to-five-year limit set by international guidelines. No dredging, they said, until fresh samples are taken and the environmental assessment redone.
The new pier cannot be built without dredging. And as we reported in January, the Environment Agency has raised a separate objection over flood defence concerns at the same site. Now a survey vessel is heading to the spot.
The survey takes place on 10 March, during daylight on a flood tide, and is expected to take one day. A vessel called Costal Surveyor will carry out the sampling. While it proceeds, the closed arch will be marked with three red discs during the day and three red lights at night, arranged in a downward-pointing triangle. Mariners wishing to pass through should use other arches. London VTS will broadcast further details on VHF Channel 14.
It means the pier application remains live and moving. The sediment survey is one of several conditions that must be satisfied before the Marine Management Organisation can grant Thames Clipper the marine licence it applied for late last year having already received planning permission (somewhat controversially) from Wandsworth Council in 2023. The process has been moving through objections and consultations since.
The PLA has also confirmed the 2026 Boat Race date, though a fuller notice will follow closer to the event. The CHANEL J12 Boat Race takes place on Saturday 4 April, with the river closing from Wandsworth Bridge to Kew Railway Bridge between 09:30 and 16:30. For those near the start at Putney, practice starts on Thursday 2 April close a shorter stretch (from Fulham Rail Bridge down to the lower end of Ranelagh Sailing Club’s moorings at the Putney hard) between 08:45 and 15:00.
Both dates are now confirmed for anyone who rows, kayaks, commutes by river, or plans to watch from the bank.
