Earlier this week we had the highest tide of the year - 7.7m - 25ft or
thereabouts in old money.

The combination of tides, wind and wash - from everything from fast
craft to cruise ships - explains why piers on the tidal Thames have to
be substantial pieces of civil engineering - costing more than £1m a go
- and why working on one can be a thrill, although that's not what I
used to call it when I was working until 2200hrs or later in the winter.

Ken


On 2006-10-06 09:51:50 +0100, "Rob" said:


Paul Terry wrote:
In message , Dave Arquati
writes

I'm told that the tidal nature of the Thames has an adverse impact on
the cost of running the services, although I admit to some trouble
understanding this.

In addition to the points already made, the strong tides and big
differences between high and low water require expensive, substantial
piers and relatively slow docking procedures.

In contrast, the very low tide-fall in Venice (normally only a few
inches) means that piers can be very lightweight and docking takes just
a few seconds, resulting in much faster and more efficient services.

--
Paul Terry

Just checking out the timetable and Blackfriars to Canary Wharf by boat
works out at 19 mins. By Tube/DLR - between 19 and 23 minutes. River
services usually seem on time when Ive used them for this journey.

Rob