The Thames Barge Driving Race under oars' or "sweeps" and ride tidal river currents alone, up river. The event commemorates the skills of lightermen who moved freight this way along the Thames up until the 1930s and in a wider context it encourages ongoing interest in moving cargo via water and as a way to recruit younger people back into river trades.The teams are normally made up of employees of Thames Lighterage companies, Port of London Authority or are sponsored by local businesses. The best places to view the race are Tower Bridge, London Bridge and Westminster Bridge. During the 1970s Britain suffered a major
Thames Gateway Bridge foot tunnel, the Woolwich foot tunnel and Woolwich Ferry, or the Docklands Light Railway, from King George V station under the river to Woolwich Arsenal station, which opened in early 2009. For vehicles, the nearest other Thames crossings are the Blackwall Tunnel (A102), the Dartford Crossing (M25) and the Woolwich Ferry. The design and the location were similar to the East London River Crossing, which was proposed and approved by two public inquiries from the 1970s to the 1990s but subsequently dropped by the Department for Transport. In July 2004, a new bridge on the site was proposed, with planning