The City of London inspected the gates of the failed Springbank Dam, on the Thames River, City of London. Around $ 7 million in upgrades, including the installation of the steel gates that would make the dam easier to operate, were nearly complete in 2008 when one of the four gates was dislocated during testing. The Thames River has been flowing unimpeded through the dam ever since. A lawsuit is in the works.
“(The Thames) is actually getting healthier ever single year (the dam) has been left open,” said Rob Huber, president of the TRAA, told the Londoner in June. “The neat thing about what’s going on in London is we’ve actually (had an opportunity) to see what would happen if the dam wasn’t there for the first time in (over) 80 years.” Article here.
This drone flight shows the sludge already beginning to back up behind the gate that was lifted into place on Monday, the 13th of July. There are two upstream wastewater treatment facilities releasing treated, and sometimes untreated, effluent into the Thames.