| Tees Barrage International White Water Course | |
|---|---|
| Upper settling pool of the Tees Barrage White Water Course (2008) | |
| Other name(s) | Teesside White Water course |
| Locale | Stockton-on-Tees |
| Road access | via A66 in Thornaby-on-Tees |
| Maintained by | British Waterways |
| Managing agent | Tees Active Limited |
| Website | TBWWC |
| Main shape | loop |
| Loops | 1 and one short loop |
| Length | 250 metres (820 ft) |
| Width | 7 metres (23 ft) |
| Drop | 2.5 metres (8 ft) |
| Slope | 1:100 (1%) and 2:100 (2%) on short loop |
| Adjustable | yes |
| Water source | Tees Barrage on the River Tees |
| Pumped | optional |
| Flow diversion | yes |
| Flowrate | 10 cumecs (10 m3/s) |
| Class | 1 - 3 (4) |
| Water quality | grade A** |
| Practice pool | flatwater course |
| Surf wave | yes |
| Lighting | Flood and spot-lights |
| Canoe lift | yes |
| Facilities | day and overnight |
| Construction | 1991-1995 |
| Opening date | 1995-04-22 |
| Tees Barrage International White Water Course |
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Legend
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The Tees Barrage International White Water Course, formerly the Teesside White Water Course, is an artificial whitewater course on the north bank of the River Tees, in North East England. It is part of the Tees Barrage and is located in the town of Stockton-on-Tees, accessible by road only from Thornaby-on-Tees and best accessed by the A66. The course was built in 1995 at a cost of £2M.[1] It is currently closed for redevelopment, scheduled to reopen in October 2010.
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The course is owned by British Waterways but administered by Tees Active Ltd from the on-site watersports centre. The white water facility offers kayaking, whitewater slalom, playboating and white water rafting plus surfing on the 'surf wave'.
The centre's facilities include log cabins, a placid practice pool; watersports centre, shop and cafe; carparking, camping, picnicing and caravanning areas; bandstand and landscaped amphitheatre, The Talpore pub, a restaurant and hotel. The course itself is a 'U' shaped loop,[2] 250 m long, 7 m wide with a 2.5 m drop and a flow of 10 cumecs (m3/s).[1] The immediate environs of the white water course include the Teesdale Way cycle path (National Cycle Network), the River Tees, the Tees Barrage and the placid grade A two star waters of Barrage Reach on the river Tees; the David Lloyd Leisure racquet centre, a superstore and Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve.
The state of the course depends on the level of the tide in the River Tees. The course operates two or three hours either side of low tide[2] all year round and in hours of darkness can be flood-lit, and spot-lit on the two footbridges.
A £4.6M redevelopment of the course is being undertaken. The changes include the addition of a new shorter, steeper course and a canoe lift with disabled paddlers in mind. Four large 12 m long 3 m diameter Archimedes' screws will be installed to pump water from the bottom pool to the top pool guaranteeing water levels for paddlers at all states of the tide.[3][4][5][6][7] There are plans to generate electricity from the head of river water above the barrage by putting the Archimedes' screws into reverse when not pumping water around the course, making the course more energy efficient.[3][5][6] These improvements will make the site a world class training facility which is proposed as a training camp location for the 2012 Olympic games.[3][4][6][7] Work was reported as having started in March 2010 with completion planned for October 2010.[8]
The Tees Barrage White Water Course is not to be confused with The River Tees Watersports Centre, Dugdale Street, Stockton-on-Tees 1 km further upriver on the same side near the Princess of Wales Bridge or indeed the Castlegate Quay Water Sports Centre a little further up-river near Teesquay Millennium Bridge.
The tees barrage is now open once more under the new name TBIWWC (tees barrage international White water centre)
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