Abingdon Weir Walkway

The weir walkway at Abingdon was re-opened on 30 September 2025.

Following further inspections and an assessment of the structure, procedures were put in place to identify the trigger points for the closure of the weir during high flows. When the hand radial gates are due to be operated, and the trigger point is reached the walkway will need to be closed until flows decrease.

The agreed trigger level has now been reached so the walkway unfortunately needs to be closed and the hand radial gates are in operation.

Once the flows have receded and the hand radial section of the weir is no longer required to operate there will be another inspection to assess if the structure has deteriorated. If there is no visible change then the weir walkway can be reopened to the public.

The walkway supporting structure continues to need refurbishment in order to achieve its full design strength. It therefore remains at risk from impact damage during high flows.

We appreciate our customers' patience while we progress this important work and remain grateful to everyone for continuing to use the footpath diversions when the weir walkway is temporarily closed.

Background

Abingdon walkway and weir structure were built in the 1960s.The walkway carries the Thames path from Abingdon lock to the Abingdon Meadows.

The most recent survey of Abingdon walkway revealed that several sections require refurbishment.  

We have taken many factors into consideration when making the decision to re-open the walkway including the current low flows and reduced likelihood of debris impacts on our weir. The structural survey and subsequent diver's surveys show that the supporting steel A frames are corroded along the weir walkways, especially on the small radial weir gate section.

The walkway supporting structure continues to need refurbishment in order to achieve its full design strength. It therefore remains at risk from impact damage during high flows. 

We appreciate all our customers' patience while we progress this important work and are grateful to everyone for continuing to use the footpath diversion when the weir walkway is temporarily closed

Next steps

We are evaluating the extent of the walkway strengthening work that can be carried out next financial year.

Site security

We have experienced repeated vandalism of our security measures since the walkway was closed to the public.  We will be reviewing our site security and will be putting in additional measures to ensure that if we need to close the walkway again, it will remain secure.

In order to keep members of the public safe, the weir walkway will be closed when the river flows are high and the trigger point for closure is reached.

Contact us

If you see damage at this site or any other of our assets, please call our 24 hour Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60. More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/report-environmental-problem(External link)

Please email us at enquiries_thm@environment-agency.gov.uk(External link) however please note that the most up to date information can be found here on this information page.

You can also phone our National Customer Contact Centre on 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).

picture of the section of the weir that requires refurbishment