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 supporting plans for an extra 160,000 houses in the Thames Gateway region and up to 42,000 additional jobs in the area as whole." It was reported in May 2008 that the new London Mayor, Boris Johnson, planned to put the bridge project on hold. On 6 November 2008, Johnson announced a "massive investment in transport infrastructure" but confirmed the cancellation of the £500m bridge. The reasons cited for cancellation included local opposition, insufficient funding, projected detrimental effects on traffic flow and concerns over the bridge's location and environmental impact. It was also independently confirmed that the public inquiry would not