// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Bazalgette Embankment say? "I'm drained.
The Bazalgette Embankment is an embankment on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of London. It was created in 2025. Named for the engineer Joseph Bazalgette,[1] it is the first embankment created in London in 150 years.[1] Part of seven planned embankments created by the construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel,[1] it is 250 meters in length and was designed by the architects Hawkins\Brown.[2]
It is situated next to Victoria Embankment, to the west of Blackfriars Bridge.[1] The embankment features five permanent concrete sculptures by Nathan Coley:[3] Stage, Zig Zag, Waterwall, Twins, and Kicker.[3] Coley described his sculptures as "... chunky, abstract, brooding objects that don't reference anyone or anything. They can be joyful, beautiful and brutal at the same time."[2] The Bazalgette Embankment also features 71 trees and 3,000 plants.[4]
The Bazalgette Embankment was visited by King Charles III on 7 May 2025. He arrived by the Thames Clipper water bus.[4] The embankment opened to the public in January 2026.[5]
Gallery
[edit]
The embankment under construction in 2023
The embankment nearing completion in September 2025
Ventilation shafts
Monoliths
An inscribed manhole cover
Lion mooring ring and foliage
Waterwall sculpture
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 "City Corporation names London's first new embankment in 150 years". City of London Corporation. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
- 1 2 Wainwright, Oliver (12 August 2025). "World's swankiest manhole covers? A thrilling tour of the new embankments concealing London's £4.6bn super sewer". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
- 1 2 "Stages by Nathan Coley". Tideway. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
- 1 2 "The King boards Thames Clipper to visit the Tideway Tunnel Project". British royal family website. British royal family. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
- ↑ Foster, Aurelia (14 January 2026). "Thames public space opens on sewer building site". BBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2026.
