A new public space close to Blackfriars Bridge, has been created by Tideway as part of their extensive work on London’s ‘Super Sewer’. I followed progress there on and off, somewhat randomly, and took photos as I passed over Blackfriars Bridge, or viewed the site from the opposite side of the river.
Co-ordinated work on the ‘Super Sewer’ began in 2016 “with activity taking place at two dozen construction sites from Acton in west London to Abbey Mills Pumping Station in Stratford, east London.” Over the ten years that the project took to complete, nearly 4000 people with a wide range of skills were able to deliver the project with only a slight delay and increase in costs, caused by Covid. With allowances made for the massive disruption caused by the pandemic, the enterprise was seen by the press as “a masterclass in bringing a major infrastructure project in on time and within budget.”, APM.
Wal Daly-Smith is just one of the several thousand workers employed by Tideway and has worked at several of the Tideway sites including at Blackfriars, where he was employed as a skipper responsible for crews working on maintenance and safety checks.
In spring 2026, I first visited the Bazalgette Embankment with my husband and we enjoyed seeing the extensive and well conceived planting over this 1.5-acre space, which includes trees, flowering shrubs, grasses, plants and ferns giving a sense of calm in the heart of the city.
The existing Lion’s Head mooring rings that lined the embankment at Blackfriars were carefully removed and restored, then replaced when work at the site was completed, as were the celebrated Vulliamy lampposts.
The building of this new riverside space means that the northern part of the Thames Path has now become fully accessible and a pleasant place to walk or to run.
Sir Joseph Bazalgette was Chief Engineer of The Metropolitan Board of Works, London’s civic authority. It was his talent, determination, and relentless energy that saw though the creation of London’s sewerage system after “The Great Stink” of 1858. It was a major undertaking, and a system that served London well for over a hundred years, until overflows and sheer quantity of raw sewage in recent years regularly ended up in the Thames. The answer: a new sewerage system on a massive scale. The construction of Tideway’s ‘Super Sewer’ was completed in 2024 and has been in service, fully connected, since 2025, now preventing pollution by diverting overflows through the 25 km tunnel into the treatment plant at Beckton.
There are places to sit at several levels and care has been taken to make most of them wheelchair accessible. There is even space at the end of some benches “to allow wheelchair users to sit alongside.”
The clean granite paving, imaginative planting, striking sculptures, and views of river activity make the Bazalgette Embankment an interesting and pleasant place to pass the time.
In my next article I will focus on the artwork.
Note
London Rivers Week 2026 Launch Event at the Bazalgette Embankment, May 23rd, 2026: Standing by the Thames.
Sources and further information
The Bazalgette Embankment: Tideway, Opened to public, January 2026
Cofferdam construction: Tideway Update , September 2020
Cofferdam removal: Tideway Update, October 2022
London Centric: ‘London’s Newest Open Space’ Jim Waterson, January 21, 2026
The Thames Path National Trail