Carpenter's Road Lock

Carpenter's Road Lock is a rising radial lock in the London Borough of Newham, near Marshgate Lane in Stratford, England. This tidal lock was installed c. 1931, to allow navigation of the Bow Back Rivers between the Waterworks River and Old River Lea, as part of extensive flood prevention works.^[1][2] The lock supports an integral footbridge.

The 2012 Olympic stadium is sited about 100 metres (109 yd) south of the lock, on an island site between the Old River Lea and the City Mill River which branches just to the south of the lock. For the Olympic games, the lock has been restored and a wide bridge will has been constructed above the lock from Stratford City to the stadium.

The lock is unusual in being a pair of rising radial gates; this is where a section of a cylindrical surface forms the lock gate. The section is rotated into the lock bed to open the lock. This is used because the lock is tidal, and traditional gates would need to be of the bi-directional type – that is mounted in two pairs. It is not thought that another lock of this type exists within the British Waterways system.

The lock controlled access to the northern section of the City Mill River, the southern approach being controlled by the bottom lock. Two locks were needed as, when tidally controlled, there was insufficient headroom for barges passing beneath the Northern Outfall Sewer, which passes over the City Mill River.

A stop lock put in place as part of the London 2012 Games.^[2][3] Originally the Carpenter's Road Lock was set for restoration by British Waterways as part of the Olympic legacy.^[4]