It consists of two beautiful Arches, extending to the opposite side of the river. It connects the Ratcliff district of Limehouse in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets north of the river to Rotherhithe in the London Borough of Southwark south of the river. The whole apparatus was estimated to weigh 1,000 tons.The mode in which this great excavation was accomplished was by means of a powerful apparatus termed a shield, consisting of twelve great frames, lying close to each other like as many volumes on the shelf of a book-case, and divided into three stages or stories, thus presenting 36 chambers of cells, each for one workman, and open to the rear, but closed in the front with moveable boards. The tunnel is shallow, with a maximum gradient of 1 …

"Safety is our top priority and these restrictions are absolutely essential to ensure that people can continue to use the Rotherhithe Tunnel safely"Stricter enforcement of Rotherhithe Tunnel’s vital safety restrictionsTfL is making enforcement of vital safety restrictions in the Rotherhithe Tunnel stricter to stop vehicles that are more than two metres (six foot six inches) wide or two metres high, or goods vehicles weighing more than two tonnes, from endangering other road users by entering the tunnel.Since February, enforcement of the weight restriction has been carried out by cameras and people driving prohibited vehicles through the tunnel have been fined up to £130 per day.To give people the chance to get used to the new restrictions, for the first two weeks, TfL sent letters to drivers caught breaking the rules rather than issuing fines. The sharp bends and narrow lanes do however make the tunnel unsuitable for large vehicles and as a consequence are banned from the tunnel. The front was placed against the earth to be removed, and the workman, having removed one board, excavated the earth behind it to the depth directed, and placed the board against the new surface exposed. It is followed by a short cut-and-cover section until the first of the four shafts is reached.

The shafts are numbered 1 to 4, south to north. It contains ventilation fans that supply fresh air to the tunnel. If your vehicle does not comply please use alternative river crossings to complete your journey. Woolwich Foot Tunnel: south lift closed for repairs; Wet cleaning. And thus you go down – down – to the bottom of the shaft eighty feet; the walls meanwhile, being studded with pictures, statues, or figures in plaster, &c. Arrived at the bottom, you find yourself in a rotunda corresponding to that you entered from the street, a round room, with marble floor, fifty feet in diameter. There are alcoves near the walls in which are all sorts of contrivances to get your money, from Egyptian necromancers and fortune-tellers to dancing monkeys. The The tunnel bore was originally lined throughout with white glazed tiles, installed by two separate contractors, Boote's installed the tiling for north half and Edwards for the south. Shortly after opening 2,600 vehicles a day, mostly horse-drawn, and 14,000 pedestrians a day soon were using the tunnel — figures which were seen as easily justifying the expense of its construction. Four shafts were sunk alongside the tunnel to aid construction, later ventilation and entrance shafts. White glazed brickwork is used externally on the approach roads. Shaft 3 is the corresponding shaft on the north side located by the river in King Edward VII Memorial Park. The Thames foot tunnel to Wapping was the first underwater tunnel in the world. The Rotherhithe Tunnel was originally designed to serve foot and horse-drawn traffic passing between the docks on either side of the river. The original ventilation system consisted of two fans supplying fresh air in each of shafts 1 and 4 to a duct below the roadway which in turn feed via 28 grilles spaced evenly along the road into the tunnel.