The Tees Barrage is a barrage and road bridge across the River Tees, Northern England, just upriver of Blue House Point and is used to control the flow of the river, preventing flooding and the effects of tidal change. It is between the towns of Stockton-on-Tees and Thornaby, road access is only by the latter with limited road access to the Tees's north bank.
The Tees Barrage comprises a river barrage, road bridge, footbridge, barge lock, fish pass and access point to a white water course. The waters above the barrage are permanently held at the level of an average high tide and are used for watersports such as canoeing, jet skiing, dragonboat racing and incorporates a 1 km rowing course.
The Tees Barrage and Tees Barrage International White Water Course were developed by the defunct Teesside Development Corporation.
Design
The concrete base of the barrage is 70 m wide, 32 m long, and 5 m thick; it is supported by five concrete piers. In between the piers are four 8 m tall, 50 tonne fish belly plates to control the flow of water, operated by 21 tonne hydraulic rams. The 600 ton road bridge is of a tubular steel arched viaduct design specified at 45 units of HB motorway loading. The bridge has eight welded tubular steel arches each 17.5 m wide with a 5 m rise but only the four central arches actually cross the waters of the river Tees. The arches are sprayed with green chlorinated rubber paint and are sealed against corrosion. Some 16,500 cubic metres of reinforced concrete and 650 tons of structural steel went into the building of the barrage.
On the downstream side of the central pier is a 29 m tower of lights with reflective globes and plates, supported by guy ropes. Illumination is provided by four lights on the concrete barrage base for ease of maintenance.
The barrage has two pavilions, one on the south bank, and a little-used one on the north bank, both extending under the road bridge. The south bank pavilion houses the barrage control room and the offices of the SMi – ''Stockton Middlesbrough Initiative'. A visitors' centre is also planned for the barrage. The barrage has a design life of 120 years. The project also included the regeneration of 100 ha of adjacent derelict land producing riverside walks, parkland and leisure facilities.
Construction
The Teesside Development Corporation proposed a barrage across the Tees in an act of Parliament and then organised a design competition for the barrage bridge that was won by Ove Arup and the Napper Partnership. The barrage was constructed by Tarmac Construction. Construction work was started on 4 November 1991. The construction method chosen by Tarmac was to divert the River Tees around the barrage site to allow the barrage to be built "in the dry" and avoid the need for providing time-consuming and expensive cofferdams and jetties in the existing river. To prevent uplift of the dry river bed, deep pressure relief wells were required which needed to be fully functional until the barrage was built and the site flooded. The wells were installed and maintained by WJ Groundwater Limited under a subcontract with Tarmac.
Operation
The barrage was opened on 22 April 1995
with an international competition on the white water course, and inaugurated on 17 July the same year by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. In April 2001 ownership of the Tees Barrage and white water course was passed to British Waterways (now the Canal & River Trust) from its original owners English Partnerships.
The Canal & River Trust are also responsible for managing the 11 miles of navigable grade A two star waters of the river Tees from the barrage up to the Low Moor Weir at Low Worsall beyond Yarm. Operation of the river below the barrage is the responsibility of the Tees and Hartlepool Port Authority. Large quantities of natural debris such as branches are being washed down and caught by the barrage that otherwise would have been taken out to sea, and there are ongoing studies looking into the feasibility of burning this debris for power generation in waste-to-energy power stations.
Barge Lock
The lock is a single-rise lock with two pairs of lock gates to allow light river traffic to negotiate the barrage. The dimensions of the lock are length 24.88 m, beam 6.08 m, height 5.37 m with a draught of 2.48 m. If necessary, when the lock is in use, a single leaf steel bascule lifting bridge over the lock is raised to allow the passage of lock traffic. There is no charge to use the lock however users must have permits to use the river both above and below the barrage.