page_title: Bow Back Rivers
section_title: Olympics
hierarchical_section_title: Bow Back Rivers / Olympics
caption_attribution_description: English: Construction of Olympic Park, London — (Oct. 2009). Construction of 2012 Olympic Stadium in London.
context_page_description: Bow Back Rivers or Stratford Back Rivers is a complex of waterways between Bow and Stratford in east London, England, which connect the River Lea to the River Thames. Starting in the twelfth century, works were carried out to drain Stratford Marshes and several of the waterways were constructed to power watermills. Bow Creek provided the final outfall to the Thames, and the other channels were called Abbey Creek, Channelsea River, City Mill River, Prescott Channel, Pudding Mill River, Saint Thomas Creek, Three Mills Back River, Three Mills Wall River and Waterworks River.
  The rivers have been subject to change over centuries, with Alfred the Great diverting the river in 896 to create a second channel, and Queen Matilda bridging both channels around 1110 by paying for the construction of Bow Bridge.
  Because the river system was tidal as far as Hackney Wick, several of the mills were tide mills, including those at Abbey Mills and those at Three Mills, one of which survives.
context_section_description: The Olympic Stadium for the London 2012 Summer Olympics is constructed on former industrial land between the Lea Navigation to the west and the City Mill River to the east. The land was formerly bisected by the remains of the Pudding Mill River, but this was filled in to provide a site which was large enough. As part of the construction phase for the event, Three Mills Lock was constructed on the Prescott Channel. This consists of a barge lock, suitable for 350-tonne (344.5-long-ton; 385.8-short-ton) barges, and an adjacent sluice, which enables the water levels above the structure to be regulated, rather than navigation being subject to the tides. The lock was built to allow construction materials to be delivered to the site and spoil to be removed, and the final cost was £23 million, which included a sluice on the Three Mills Wall River. Work began in March 2007, and the project lasted for just over two years. Despite hopes that it would transport 1.75 million tonnes while the stadium was being built, very little commercial traffic used the new lock.
  With water levels above the structure remaining fairly constant, £400,000 was spent on refurbishing City Mills Lock. Although some work had been carried out in 2006, including the fitting of new metal gates, it was not operational, and had not been used for around 40 years. The second phase of restoration included fitting the equipment to automate its operation. The first public use of the lock occurred on 31 July 2010. British Waterways hoped to restore the Carpenters Road Lock soon afterwards, but the project was postponed until after the completion of the Olympic games, as temporary 'Land Bridges' were erected over the site of the lock to enable pedestrians to reach the stadium, some of which will be removed after the event. Following the Olympic games, it is hoped the waterways will continue to be used by both commercial and leisure craft.
  The Olympic Delivery Authority took the decision to culvert more of the Channelsea River, where it crossed the northern part of the site. It remains a designated main river, and so they had to liaise with the Environment Agency on matters of flood-risk management, and a site was identified which would provide compensation for the loss of habitat caused by the culverting. Much of the old River Lea was inaccessible to the public prior to the project, but is a central feature of the northern parklands that have been created. Two 'wetland bowls' were designed, which have been planted with water-loving plants such as reeds, rushes, sedges and iris. They also provide spawning grounds and refuges during flood conditions for fish, as well as providing storage capacity for flood water. It was the largest aquatic planting scheme ever carried out in Britain when it was completed, and most of the 350,000 plants were grown in Norfolk from seeds and cuttings removed from the site. At the southern end of the site, the Waterworks River was reconstructed. Improvements in the 1930s created channels with vertical concrete sides, and little thought for habitat. The channel was made 26 feet (8 m) wider, with sloping banks and ramps down to the water's edge, and was improved visually and ecologically by the planting of aquatic marginal plants.
  Following the Olympics, there was extremely limited access to the waterways through the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and reconstruction of Carpenters Road Lock was delayed. However, the £1.8 million project to rebuild it and fit new radial gates was almost completed by May 2017, when the new gates were craned into position. The Heritage Lottery Fund provided £680,000 towards the cost of the project, with other grants coming from the London Legacy Development Corporation and the Inland Waterways Association. As well as acting as a lock, the radial gates allow water to be distributed around the Bow Back Rivers for flood prevention purposes. The gates were due to be tested during the summer months, with a formal opening scheduled for the East London Waterways Festival in August. Public access to the waterways around t
caption: The Olympic Stadium under construction among the Bow Back Rivers. (Waterworks River and City Mill River at left, Lea Navigation at bottom right, Three Mills Wall River and Prescott Channel at top left.)
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